Make a Dreamcatcher

We moved into the Sunny House at the end of July. It is a constant wonder to live in such a lovely home and I walk around my countrified palace in the city with a constant smile on my face.

But, there has been one hitch to our eternal happiness… one little tiny thorn in our side. Teddy has had a hard time getting used to sleeping in his new room. He LOVES his new room… but he just can’t sleep in it. I would love to be a co-sleeper as it gels with all of my child-rearing beliefs… but… try as I may, I sleep terribly with a wiggling child next to me.

So, in a effort to make him feel safe in his new room, we made the most beautiful dreamcatchers together. As we made them, I told him the story of a young American Indian boy who had a dreamcatcher, just like the one we were making, hanging above his sleeping hide in his wigwam. I told Teddy how the dreamcatcher protected the little boy as he slept… how it brought him happy dreams and scared away the bad ones. Teddy listened with rapture to the story as he made his dreamcatcher. When it was done, we hung it over his bed and Teddy couldn’t wait to see the dreams it brought him.

This is how we made his dreamcatcher :

We needed:

* A bamboo hoop (this is a purse handle found at a local craft store but a vine wreath will work just as well)
* Lots of lovely colorful embroidery thread
* A few wood beads
* Some colorful feathers (found at a craft store)

 To begin, we tied a strand of embroidery thread onto the hoop and started to ‘spider web’ it over the hoop.

 When the first piece of thread was well ‘webbed’, we tied it off onto the hoop and started with another color.

 We did this many times, with lots of beautiful, bright colors.

When the hoop was full of dream-catching color, we tied two long threads of embroidery thread onto the bottom end of the hoop and attached our gorgeous beads and feathers on to the ends.

We hung it in Teddy’s room, above his bed.

I’m not saying it’s going to last forever but I’m happy to report that Teddy slept the whole night in his own bed last night! And, when he woke up this morning, he reported having had a wonderful dream. Hmmmmm… the power of the mind OR the power of the dreamcatcher?

I’d love to hear what other clever ways you have used to get your children to sleep well.

And, one last thing, today is the last day to enter our Giveaway to win a Winter Magic Craft Box ($60)…CLICK HERE to enter… Winning a Magic Craft Box will be a gift for you and your children, that’s for sure :-)

Blessings and magic,

Donni