hope wish prayer flags

Oh is summer great ... being free, spontaneous, eating an abundance of super sweet fresh fruit and veggies, being in our pj's for half the day, soaking up the warmth of the sun and getting absolutely nothing done. (hence why I have yet to create a blog post in 10 days!) But here I am, back for a visit and wanted to share this gift we recently made for my dad's birthday. Gift giving is so much fun, and even more so when a gift is created by hand and right from the heart. We wanted to do something special and unique, so as I was gathering inspiration and ideas from blogland, I remembered this wonderful site and equally amazing tutorial that would make the most precious gift and also involved the kiddos (something very important to me). My dad loves his garden so we thought creating prayer flags for it would be the perfect gift. We followed the basics of this fantastic tutorial, but added a bit of our own touches. We found an old white sheet, cut multiple rectangles and mounted and taped them onto small pieces of cardboard, which really helped them write on the fabric. I then let my kiddos have at it with a rainbow of colored sharpies. They drew the sweetest pictures with the cutest meanings (i.e. Owen drew a peach tree with he & my dad sitting on a branch eating peaches). We chose fun fabrics as backings to complement each piece, sewed just the tops of the artwork onto the backing, then sewed pockets across the tops so we could hang them. We strung them together with a natural hemp twine and I loved how well this fit with our banners. It was a really a fabulous project to create together as a family. I think banners for our little family may just be next on our list. I mean, don't you just love the name of the project: hope wish prayer flags? Simply so perfect for just about every occasion I know.