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Ilona Barnhart

@ilonabarnhart

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freebird turned whimsy homeschooling mum of two 🧜‍♀️ & 🐬
Waldorf inspired🪱 🧺 🍄🕯️
in my witchy, crafting & baking era 🌞
founder @unravelbliss

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make your own forever Waldorf Star in six steps 🌈⭐️🪡🧶

Wool roving @bellalunatoys
Felters canvas & needles @feltedskystudio
Inspired by the watercolor version of the star @wondergarten_earlychildhood
Your guide @ilonabarnhart

🕊️🌞💎🍄‍🟫✨ by @ilonabarnhart

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19 days ago

our forever seasonal Waldorf star is complete!

in our home we use it to indicate what season and in-between season we currently are in.

And on the autumn equinox (Sept 22nd) we hung our star with the orange point up, while singing “seasons come and seasons go, the colors on our star will show; orange, the autumn princess comes to bring us golden leaves 🍂 “

I learned this tradition and song from the beautiful @wondergarten_earlychildhood curriculum 🧺🍄‍🟫💎🌞 by @ilonabarnhart

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22 days ago

A for Autumn 🍂

I dream of the one day I’ll get to care for alpacas 🦙 in exchange for their beautiful cozy nourishing and regulating wool.

I’m obsessed with this medium and my soul wants to create beyond homeschooling crafts. Yet this is my gateway…

more to come soon

( Needle felting letter ‘A’ for autumn ) by @ilonabarnhart

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a day ago

comment “STAR” to receive details about the upcoming felt along 🪡🧶🌈⭐️

seeing and hearing so many of you wanting to make one or already making one of your own I thought it’d be so cool if we made one together ✨ I’ll dm you all the info, comment STAR to get the details

The original needle felted Waldorf star by Ilona Barnhart by @ilonabarnhart

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4 days ago

it snowed the day we got married at the cultural center in the heart of downtown Chicago. we stayed at Palmer House that night

came back this week with our 1 and 4 year old, most beautiful Chicago day, felt like SoCal came with us

same place, different season ❄️ 🍂 🌀 ✨

wedding photos by @carey.primeau.photography

ps we settled on a few traditions and one of them was a first dance which we did to home @esmzeros taken in Palmer House Hilton by @ilonabarnhart

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5 days ago

We went to find fall 🍂

Chicago didn’t disappoint taken in Chicago, IL by @ilonabarnhart

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8 days ago

should we make these together? Or would you rather buy one? Tell me below, gauging interest for a small felt-along.

A few weeks ago I had a faded kite paper Waldorf star in my window that I made a year ago. Which inspired the forever felted version you all have absolutely LOVED. It is that stunning irl.

Now I’m inspired to make one with you. Curious who would felt with us and who would just want one. Let me know. by @ilonabarnhart

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11 days ago

Two mistakes and one pro tip 👉🏽

Few weeks ago I didn’t know where to begin, so I improvised, and I made mistakes, things that made me stop and say…hmmm next time I would do this instead. Well I’d like to share those with you so you can make an even better forever star.

🍄‍🟫 First, use a ruler when drawing out your star. Really, take the time to learn how to draw an 8 pointed star and follow those instructions. I created a stencil and my points are a bit off bc it wobbled while I traced it. It’s cute it has personality but I’ll be using a rule next time for sure.

🌈 use a lighter color to trace /draw your design with. I used black (it was a bit stressful to try and cover up the black border especially on the lighter wool point tbh). A blue or better yet, use tracing paper for quilts, I didn’t know those existed until yesterday. I will also be using this next time, if there is a next time…

⭐️ use a different color “felters canvas”. When you cut your star out some of the background you felted on will show as a border. You can paint the sides, I used @stockmarcolours watercolor paints. Or I imagine you can use a different color canvas all together and call it a day.

let me know if you have any questions- and remember to tag me I’d love to see your creations 🪡🧶 by @ilonabarnhart

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16 days ago

LOVE me a multipurpose toy

Super durable felted pumpkin made sustainably by @taratreasures - got here just in time too 🍁

Corn dolls made by yours truly and Rumi earlier this month, they hold up so well! by @ilonabarnhart

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16 days ago

this is what you can look forward to with your needle felted Waldorf star

remember to tag me when you create yours, I’d love to see your stars 🍄‍🟫🌈⭐️🧶🪡 by @ilonabarnhart

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17 days ago

A verse and tradition for everything 🍄‍🟫

Figuring out family traditions when you’re from a different country is hard. But centering our home around the seasons and simple Waldorf rituals has been such a grounding gift for us. It strips away all the noise and leaves just pure warmth. by @ilonabarnhart

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a month ago

Last year we used a traditional kite paper window star to anchor our homeschool rhythm. It was beautiful, but the sunlight eventually faded it away.

Since our star is an active tool that guides our seasonal transitions, solstices, and halfway points, I decided we needed an heirloom that would last.

I’m currently needle felting our new seasonal Waldorf star onto a 100% wool backing sheet, layering the colors thickly to give it a rich, tactile feel. It hasn’t been a perfect process, I’m learning a LOT. I actually ran out of canvas space on one of my points and had to get creative with stretching the wool!

Once the colors are all filled in, the next step is the most nerve-wracking part 👉🏽 getting the whole thing soaking wet to fuse the fibers together (I did this once before with a bar of soap). I’m a bit unsure on how to finalize my vision, but I’m really happy with how it’s turned out so far. Even if it’s a bit uneven! ⭐️ by @ilonabarnhart

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a month ago