Making Peg Dolls and More in the Forest
We love peg dolls in the forest. We love being inspired.
Margaret Bloom sure knows how to inspire us! Her first book, Making Peg Dolls, showed us how to create lovely little pegs for our collection. Her new book, Making Peg Dolls and More, shares new fantastic ideas! We couldn't wait to dive into the pages.
My daughter is a mermaid :)
So of course she chose the mermaid project. My son is all into ocean creatures these days. The octopus was just perfect! To complete our ocean adventures, we sewed the dolphin too. I haven't made many felt animals so I was a little nervous. The directions worked fantastic!
The painted pegs were so cute just by themselves! Even cuter with the felt pieces :)
We love how each step of the craft is shown with easy-to-follow illustrations and beautiful photographs. As a mom, I enjoy invitations to create your own vision. My son loves, loves, loves orange. So we made an orange octopus for him.
My daughter decided that her mermaid needed a seashell for a hat. Is that okay, Mom? Of course! The beauty of creating is that you get to make your visions. Take inspiration and grow. Learn. Discover.
Find magic.
Be delighted :)
The fun is just beginning for the little ocean pegs. They are already finding adventures.
Joining Margaret's Bloom celebration for her new book delighted us! We know that lots of wonderful things are going to made from this book. Our fun is just beginning :) Our mermaid, octopus, and dolphin need more friends.
As a gift for all of us, A Child's Dream Come True (which carries our favorite felt) has gifts for anyone ordering Making Peg People and More. This week (until February 14, 2015) you receive a special free mini-bundle of wool felt and 2 Large Wood Peg Dolls! You can also enjoy 10% off Holland Wool Felt Yards + Cuts and 10% off Wood Peg Dolls. Simply enter code: DOLLCRAFTS in your shopping cart to apply and see the discount. They also carry Forest Fairy Crafts :)
Follow the Entire Peg Doll Blog Tour!
Enjoy!
Batty in the Forest
We adore bats!
The bats on We Bloom Here inspired us! We had to bring them to Handwork class. But how? Each week I am challenged to bring an adorable and sweet idea to forty students in first or second grade. Margaret Bloom, the lovely author of Making Peg Dolls
I thought of using sharpies instead of paint. Which meant a layer of sealant so the sharpie wouldn't 'bleed' into the wood.
"Why not use colored pencils?" she said.
Why not?
So we used colored pencils and black paper instead of felt. I played with the shapes until I made a template that I liked. I traced that shape forty times onto black paper. The kids cut their own wings and ears. They decorated their pegs with rainbows or fangs or both. These are magical bats after all :)
Each student had an envelope where I collected the decorated peg, wings, and head to glue at home. I used tacky glue because I added wire feet. Every bat needs to hang out!
Here was a little mistake, though, for me. I had white floral wire and thought, "this won't be so difficult to color black." Ack! I should have gone to the store and bought black wire to save myself a lot of time. If you are making one or two, coloring the wire was fun. For forty bats, not so much.
At home, I layered out the wings, head, and wire. I added glue and the peg. I let them all dry on the envelopes to return the next day.
Back of the Bat
Thank you so much for the wonderful idea and tutorial, Margaret! Children loved their bats :)
Even a grumpy tree needs a little bat friend hanging about :)
Enjoy :)
*please note: this post contains affiliate links. Should you decide to purchase a book using these links, a small amount returns to the Forest. Your price remains the same. Thank you!
Peg Doll Swap by We Bloom Here
What a treat for spring! We Bloom Here (one of my favorites) is hosting a Peg Doll Swap! Inspire yourself with sweet peg dolls, and sign up to share. I am super-excited to see what everyone creates. I love little pegdolls. I call them gnomes. They can be seasonal, like these summer gnomes.
Summer Gnomes by Lenka
Or to celebrate events. The bride and groom were gifts for my friend's wedding. They appeared at the top of her wedding cake.
Bride and Groom by Lenka
This was also an itty bitty gnome for my cousin's wedding. For them, I made the entire family using bendy fairies. They also got to be atop the wedding cake :)
Baby Gnome by Lenka
See more images of his family here.
Margaret has wonderful ideas for the swap. Her inspiration is Matryoshka style peg dolls. She is open to many ideas. Want more inspiration? Check out the collection she features here and here.
A few of my favorites...
Toadstools by MamaWestWind
Gnome Couple by Beetle and Fern
Wish Gnomes by We Bloom Here
Spring Dolls by This Cosy Life
I have my own inspiration board on
Pinterest with all the peg and fairy dolls that I love all over the web. So much talent! So many cute creations.
Follow Lenka Vodicka-Paredes's board In the Magic Forest on Pinterest.
I hope you can join the swap! The deadline is May 5, 2014, so hop on over to We Bloom Here to participate! Let's create :)
If you want serious inspiration (and directions!) for lovely peg dolls, check out Margaret Bloom's book, Making Peg Dolls
*please note: these are affiliate links. Should you decide to purchase, a small amount returns to the Forest. Your price remains the same. Win-win :) Thank you!
I look forward to seeing what we share with one another! The little wooden pieces are available at A Child's Dream Come True (not an affiliate) and most local craft stores. Margaret says that other styles of little people are welcome too. Going to be fun!
Wishing you a delightful day!
PS- we do have a free Knitted Bunny Gnome pattern if you would like to give that a try :)
Happy Holidays with Angels
We are so excited to share the season with all of you. And we are dancing-sparkly excited about wonderful news! We love the magical dolls that Margaret creates in her book, Making Peg Dolls
So my friends bought me the book and we were all enchanted. Margaret's projects have a sweetness and wonder that had my very-young son asking me to make that one for him, and that one, Mom, please? While my girl asks for more felt and supplies to make her own tiny flower people and baby chicks.
Peg People and Baby Birds by Margaret Bloom
I sent Margaret a little note thanking her for the pretty book. I wished that I could have met her in person.
We haven't managed to meet in person yet, but, sure enough, our shared love of all things glittery inspired friendship. As we talked about the holidays, we thought that a giveaway swap would be fun.
"Let's make angels," we said.
And what inspiration!
She is giving away my angel so head on over to We Bloom Here to enter. I get to give away one of her darling angels.
We didn't share our design ideas before creating the angels. I think it's fun that we chose the same iridescent pipe clearners. And stars. Great minds think alike :)
I am so fortunate to share this gift with one of you this holiday season.
Angels are appreciated around here all year-round. They bring us peace and hope. They are symbols of light and love. We keep them hanging in little nooks or sitting on shelves by a candle. You can enter to win these angels. You can also make a few of your own! Our books have directions for both of these treasures (and plenty more).
We are delighted to share our angels. All that you need to do is write a comment below and include your email so we can get the winner's address. To enter this give away, please leave a comment below this post, and be sure I have your email so I can get in touch if you are one of the winners. For added fun, you may tell me about your favorite holiday magical tradition. For us, the holidays are full of magic. We love St. Mikulas visiting on December 5. We put a sock behind the curtain. He leaves little sweets on our windowsill. My father was Czech and this is how he held the tradition with us. Each year, finding goodies on a windowsill is simple magic.
Comments for the give away will close at 12:00 noon, Pacific Standard Time, on December 9, 2013. A winner for one peg doll angel will be chosen via random drawing and announced at that time. To enter for the Fairy Angel, head on over to We Bloom Here. Happy Holidays!
Thank you, everyone, for your wonderful memories and comments! We have selected a random winner and are waiting to hear back. Wishing you a lovely day!