Creating personal Flower mandala at Alma de Mujer:
Awaken, Align your spirit in 2012 workshop
At this workshop I brought enough flowers for all participants to make a personal flower mandala for themselves.
First we started of with a discussion of what is a mandala and it’s history. I showed them examples of different cultural mandalas and their purpose.
Here is an interesting article on similarities between Tibetans and Hopi with a mandala.

http://tibettalk.wordpress.com/2007/11/01/linkssimilarities-between-tibetan-and-native-american-groups/

First we wrote our intention on a piece of paper and put it under our blank papers. We took the time to find out what is in our hearts.
Then we picked our flowers that we felt the most drawn to using our five senses of smell hearing taste sight touch.
We then did a meditation in mindfulness:
Place materials in front of keeping your eyes gently on them. Sit upright. Forget yourself and allow yourself to merge with the plants you’ll be working with. These plants become the one thought. Any separation between the person who is looking and that which is gazed upon ceases. YOU ARE IN INTIMATE CONNECTION WITH THE PLANT.
Then everyone started making their mandalas. Here are some of the ones people made.
Michael and I made this one. It has roses hydrangea and lavender.
Hydrangea lets your true feelings out into the light of day to heal the old anger and hurt, also with hydrangea leaves which gives you a voice. Rose heals our old broken hearts and lavender calms us. I love the rose hands reaching out in all directions. Perfect!

I then discuss with you the flower meanings and what they can mean for you and your intention.

If you are interested in having a personal flower mandala workshop for yourself or a gathering, I would love to discuss it with you. It is a perfect event for a bridal, baby shower, birthday party, coming of age, quinceañera.
I also offer rose day which is an event to celebrate love with a sensory experience of taste smell sight hearing and touching Roses.

Making pine cone bird feeders
It was a cold wintry day perfect for making bird feeders. There is not a lot of food in the winter for birds. So adding to what they can eat with bird seed makes happy birds!
It was a little to cold to be outside, so we harvested a few carrots to eat. And made bird feeders inside.
We painted peanut butter on pine cones and rolled them in birdseed.
The kids took them home to hang with I instructions on where to hang them to attract birds.
We had a few left that we decided to hang the outside in the garden.