On this beautiful afternoon, several friends came over for Heritage Arts Day. In case you didnt know, 4-H refers to certain crafts as *heritage arts*. That would be anything created from fibers, cloth, thread or yarn. I have wondered what makes it a heritage art in particular. But one of the girls visiting today explained that she had learned some of her sewing techniques from her grandmother. Aha! So quilting, sewing, knitting... these things are best learned by being passed on from generation to generation. It all makes sense now.
Today the children made little felt sachets filled with wonderful smelling herbs and spices. We focused on two senses: touching the different textured wool felts and flosses, and smell: crushing different dried plants to discover their intense scents!
Each child cut out a shape for her sachet. Some chose to 'doodle stitch' designs or faces on their felt. Then each child chose some dried herbs or spices to put inside the sachet. Nutmeg and cinnamon were grated on a fine cheese grater. More friable herbs were ground in a mortar and pestle creating a fragrant powder. Some spices, such as cloves and cardamom had to be pulverized in a heavy stone grinding bowl designed for grains.
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| Two types of morar and pestle plus the ingredients for a handicraft fest! |
Then the children stuffed their sachets with the spice/herb mixture and little bits of felt scrap filling. They turned out just adorable!
After rice crispie treats, little birthday mousies and hot cocoa, most of the kids ended up outside playing in the dirt. (Sorry moms!) And of course the moms got to chat...although I am sure we would happily have chatted much longer.
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| The kids enjoy grinding wheat berries and other things in this MOLCAJETE. |
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