Start of School

It's Autumn of 2011, and this marked Baby A's step into the next level of education. For the next 4 years, Baby A will spend her time in our local Primary school next door. The highlight for all children at this point, were the "Schultüten"! Translated roughly as "School Cones", they were very bit like the ice cream cones only without the creamy cold part. They were filled to the tip with sweet delights as well as school supplies and toys. They are meant to ease the transition from kindergarten life into school, somewhat like dangling a carrot in front of a child, leading them into an new.. wilder frontier.

It's a tradition practiced in Germany and in Austria, so being an expat living in Germany I have never done one before in my entire life (or even heard of it). I guessed I could easily buy one or make one based on the many available patterns, but I thought.. where's the fun? So with many trials and errors... hours and days later, Baby A and I came up with a Schultüte, comprising of everything she adores (at that point of time, anyway). Her three beloved cuddly dogs had to be included, and fairies... and horses. So viola!

Big Nose I, II, and III.. happily nestling
amongst the lush green "leaves".

Fairy 1 taking flight

Fairy 2, daintily balanced on a horse,
reading a book

A magical Schultüte for Baby A

With the leftover materials, we even made a matching one, though much smaller, for Baby M. Oh yes, this is part of the tradition too. When one sibling starts school, s/he gets a full sized Schultüte. The other one(s) - nevermind younger or older, get(s) miniature version(s) of it. However, Baby M is a boy. So fairies were definitely no go. We kept the general design, and I glued a cardboard version of his cuddly duck in front. As he was only 3.5 then, "cute" is cool enough for him. :-)

An accompanying Schultüte for Baby M