Lenka Vodicka 9/23/15 Lenka Vodicka 9/23/15

Favorite Fall Fairy Crafts

A few of our favorite Spooky Fairy Crafts

Spooky in the Forest is all about the fun of October. We love the darker paths, the gnarled trees and long shadows of evening. In the forest, our zombies have a sweet tooth. They enjoy tea parties. Our witches are candy-makers. Their cottages are sweetness and celebrations.

We have collected a few of our favorites through the years in this post. We have the link for a Free Moody Pumpkin Tutorial here! Moody Pumpkins can change their mouth to show happy, sad, angry, or confused. Kids love sewing them all over the world. Thank you for sharing photos of your moody pumpkins with us!

We also have hints for sewing pumpkins with groups of children here.

A subtle change in an afternoon breeze signals a wonderful new season. Hints of falling leaves and a slight golden shimmer to sunshine whispers "autumn is here".

We love autumn in the Forest. The fairies adore a summer ball and a winter holiday, but they also love autumn. They love the way trees become a riot of color. How wind rattles leaves along the ground. They love the crisp air. They love pumpkin spice everything (don't we all?) They love to decorate!

A few of our October favorites are here. We have a few new ideas to share over the next couple of weeks too. Fairies love to dress up for the season!

I love to make witches and warlocks. The tutorials for step-by-step instructions are in our book.

I also love zombies. The fun about fairy zombies is that these fairies really, really don't care about being tidy. Smear the ink on their faces. Wind the thread in wackadoodle directions, layer torn fabrics... Zombie fairies love it all.

One hint for zombies is to look in local Halloween displays for 'creepy cloth' or other table decorations that can become clothing. I bought a mantle cover of gray creepy cloth about three years ago. I still have tons of it left!

Instructions for the zombie and Pumpkin Fairy are in our book as well.

This pumpkin fairy is such a sweet Halloween friend and decoration. The stuffed pumpkin is attached to the fairy. Though I imagine you could make the pumpkin-styled sleeping bag that the fairy sleeps inside... ooh, ideas!

Anyway, this playful fairy is so fun for the season.

Of course, if you want an easy way to create a few spooky fairies and crafts of your own, you can visit our Etsy Shop. We have one Pumpkin Fairy Craft Kit. We also have a Spooky Toy Maker Kit that has lots of supplies, including creepy cloth!

And if you would like to have a witch of your own made by Lenka, we have one left. She's a bit sassy :)

You can find her here.

Enjoy all the fun of the season!

*this post does contain affiliate links to our book. If you choose to purchase, we receive a small commission while your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting the Forest.

Lenka Vodicka 11/19/13 Lenka Vodicka 11/19/13

Thankful for Nature

Our world is amazing. Whether we live in a forest, or a meadow, or a city, magic is right outside our doors. This time of year, we love talking about gratitude with family, friendships, food. One of my personal favorite actitivies is bringing children outside and asking them, "What do you appreciate here?"

Having things to touch and explore and collect helps children notice the world that can easily be taken for granted. We can walk past trees or building. It's easy to focus on the destination: going to school, to the park, to the store...

This time I just go outside. I invite children to collect one treasure (maybe two). I wander. On purpose.

We look up.

We look down.

We notice the passing beauty all around. And we ask questions. We become curious. "What are the spiky things on that tree?" "Why do these leaves change colors?"

This appreciation is simple. And lasting. Children share their treasures.

I love photos because I can take a picture, then they can leave nature in the forest (or side of the parking lot, which is where he found this tiny pine cone).

They are so excited by their discoveries.

We slow down and notice how the air feels. How does the sun feel on our face? The breeze in our hair?

We are so fortunate, to have these gifts around us every day. No small things.

When we finish the walk, we write poems to remember those feelings. Those discoveries.

To remind us. The world is an amazing place. We have so much to be thankful for :)

She found a leaf shaped like a heart.

We also place our treasures in a display. Since we are a class, one or two things from each child create a diverse collection of leaves, acorns, and tiny pine cones (these are returned to nature within a few days). With my family, each child collects a little more.

I have ideas to look for colors as we wander. Appreciate red in our world. Appreciate green :)

Appreciate now :)

Golden

Star thistles

Calm

Awesome and pretty

Birds singing

Crunch crunch

Happy

Everything is beautiful

Tweet tweet

Goodness

Is in autumn

I write the poem with them by asking for feelings, not stories. Their individual contributions create a lovely poem :). I usually write the closing sentiment to tie it all together.

So, ideas :)

Take a walk
Wander
Slow down and share the moment (say how it feels)
Collect treasures (gently, no living things)
Create a display
Draw or paint an image of a favorite treasure or scene
Write a sentence about the walk or what was discovered
Write poems (or a group poem)
Put photos, drawing, and/or poems togegther for a fall book

P.S. If you would like to bring a fairy along on your walk, that would be lovely! Give your fairy a tour of our magical world :)

Enjoy autumn :)

Lenka Vodicka 10/15/13 Lenka Vodicka 10/15/13

Autumn in the Forest

Hurrah for changing leaves and crisp mornings. We love the bright colors of fall, the blazing oranges and reds. We also love the shadowy colors of fall, the dusky purples and deep burgundies.

We haven't been able to post that much because we are busy creating these days. We have a few craft fairs booked for December (more on that soon). And the book is selling well! (thank you!) But the fun needs to be shared.

So happy October!

We have new things in the Forest. The first is that we now offer custom greeting cards with our images. When you go here, you can choose an image and design it however you like. You can order one, or a box of ten or more. I am excited to try them. I will be adding more holiday images as we get closer to the season.

We have also been selling kits locally and in our Etsy shop. The response is an overwhelming, "Thank You!" And as I prep for our own holiday crafting around here, I appreciate the effort the kit will save a lot of families. The kits do not include directions (they are meant as a companion to our book). They have supplies to make at least four different projects. If you are crafty, most of the supplies are probably in your stash, but if you are traveling, or just starting to craft, these kits save a lot of time.

My current challenge is choosing colors! I want to keep our inventory simple (pastels, woodland, seasonal) but they we go to the store and find turquoise and magenta. And what about angels? And winter?

Oh, the ideas are endless. The last special one for this month is the Spooky Crafty Kit with purples and black. Perfect for zombies and witches. I only have one left in our Etsy Shop.

I am adding petals to the kits, too, because the petal fairies are so much fun!

Speaking of petal fairies, I have too much fun making my own fairies :)

They're even harder to offer for sale. I fall in love with each and every one of them. Especially her...

She has this little smirk that makes me happy. Every single time I see her :)

I don't really want to send her off to a new home, but she is available here.

I wanted to make a pink and black fairy. And she kept adding details. She wanted sparkles. Gold thread in her hair. A wide-brim hat. And she has this sweet and sly look about her that reminds me why I craft. We can make magic :)

Speaking of magic, my girl has inspired me to create a little for her and her friends. This year, the big new thing at school is animal tails. And this is before the Fox song :). They wear tails to school almost every day. They asked me for cat tails. And Ian asked for an orange cat tail. Their friends want more, so I made a few extras.

And the more realistic, faux fur cat-tail...

I am getting the cat-tail posted (hopefully soon). The orange tail in is our shop :)

And we have exciting plans for the holidays. It's a secret for now, but I am working with one of my favorite magical artists... Lucky me :)

Time to enjoy this fantastic autumn! I am sending great fun and spooky-sparkles your way :)

Lenka Vodicka 9/17/12 Lenka Vodicka 9/17/12

The Cosy Gnomes

Evenings are cooling down and these gnomes are bundled up for chilly days.

I was inspired to use fall colors and a little whimsy. Along the way, I found I love knitting gnomes. I am sure they will have a village of friends soon. While they stay with me, that is. I posted them on Etsy here and here. I have more images of them over there, too.

I can't help but share a two of my favorite images.

Wishing you a cosy day!

Lenka Vodicka 9/17/12 Lenka Vodicka 9/17/12

Watercolor Lanterns

As seasons change, these beautiful lanterns celebrate those darker evenings.

To make these lovely lanterns, watercolor a long piece of paper.

When it's dry, draw a line on the back about 1/2 inch from a wide edge. Fold in half to your drawn line. Fold in half again so you have four sections. Fold up along the bottom edge to make a base.

Cut along your fold lines on the bottom edge. Draw or trace shapes on each panel. Cut out those shapes to make holes.

On the back, glue tissue paper over the holes to make pretty glowing windows.

Fold the lantern again with the bottom edges overlapping to form the base. Glue along the 1/2 extra paper from that first line you drew in the beginning. Tuck that into the lantern to glue the four sides together. Let your lantern dry.

We use battery operated candles inside our lanterns. Fire can be dangerous.

These lanterns are a beautiful reminder of light. We hope you enjoy the crafting.

Many thanks to my co-teacher, Marin, for this gorgeous craft :)