Fairy Crafts at Book Expo America
We are featured giveaways with C&T Publishing this year at Book Expo America! We have been busy creating a collection that is on its way to New York. I hope our crafts share with everyone how fun and magical they are in person :)
Asia sewed favorite Treasure Keepers. Little cats and owls have pockets for keepsakes...
A moon is a favorite beginner sewing project- the heart and sun are beautiful too (I still want to make a mobile with these one day :))
She also sewed five Animal Treasure Keepers. These sweet little bags can have a handle, or not, and they are become friendly companions.
I added ten fairies to the collection- five girls and five bumblebee boys.
The girls together~
And the boys~
I love how each fairy gets a personality. Even the bumblebees had their own quirks that made them uniqiue. I love the discovery of creating them!
I had fun with the girls, getting to give them a personal style. I knew they would be displayed as a group, so I laid the felt out to see the palatte working together. I also wanted to show how the fairies can be gentle and softly colored, or vibrant and bright. I had a good time coordinating the different outfits to be a stand-alone while working within the group. I also used the same varigated pastel crochet-thread to keep them similar.
I did add a decorative ribbon with pom-poms for one girl~
And played with the hair and crown designs for the rest. They were an absolute delight to create :)
This fairy has cotton chenille stems from A Child's Dream Come True. I love the different texture they offer. And they are soft, too!
I play with many different materials for fairy-crafting. Pinking shears made the little ruffles on the bottom of her crown. The effect is super-simple to create!
For this girl, I sewed a little star on her hat. Simple is sweet :)
And she is my jewel-tone girl. Her bright colors make me smile :)
I couldn't get the entire collection in a photo- so much together! Asia and I are excited that they get to go to New York and inspire all the book-lovers at BEA. Unfortuantely, you need to be at BEA to win one of these treasures. Happy trails, fairies and critters!
We are planning a few online chances to win our crafts, too! We want everyone to join the fun :)
PS- We saw that our book is shipping now! All of these projects are shared in Forest Fairy Crafts. Enjoy :)
Classes and Workshops for Spring and Summer
I am so, so busy putting magic together in the forest. We are constantly asked about coming to stores or events. So I put together a few favorite activities with different ages. If you would like us to visit your area, take a look at our spring and summer classes to download the PDF.
Please remember that travel expenses are not included in these descriptions. I am planning a trip to the San Diego area this summer, though. Stay tuned! Our calendar is filling up, so if you are interested in us visiting, please email me soon.
Meanwhile, I am working on those extra hat patterns. I better hurry off to Fairyland!
Bees Love Fairies
Yesterday was busy preparing the bonus hat ideas for our new pattern collection. I take the fairies to photograph outside whenever possible, because fairies love nature.
It turns out that bees love fairies! Look who came to visit :)
Now, if only I could let the fairies live in my garden forever... I need scupture versions that are weatherproof. Hmm...
Until then, visiting nature is lovely. Wishing you magical encounters today!
Acorn Boy
Magic doesn't have to be complicated. I find simple fairies so charming. This boy is exactly that. I started him with one idea and finished him a few weeks later when I found just the right size acorn cap. We live in an area with many, many trees (the forest :)) and I collect acorn caps whenever I see them. Finding great caps is tricky, though. Many times they are already softened from wet ground, or covered with pollen, or too small... So when I find ones that are just right, I am delighted.
His hat is just right :)
When I first started creating fairies, I made girls, girls, girls. Until I brought the project to school and I had to create a simple way for the boys to have their boy fairy. After I perfected the technique, the boys became as popular as the girls. In fact, at our school auction, the boy fairies often receive more bids than the girl fairies. Imagine that!
Speaking of, I should make on for the auction next week. Our school needs all of the fundraising help that we can get. This year I've been so busy with the book, I've neglected to make my usual donation. Eek. I know what I'll be busy creating today :)
We show how to make the boys step by step in our book, of course. The book went to the printer last week, so we are on target for the May/June release, hurrah!
He will probably go to our Etsy shop if I don't donate him to the school auction- I will update if he is in the shop soon. He's a charming little fellow!
Enjoy your day!
Love Fairy
Happy Valentine's from the Forest! I used hearts for her, of course. Her wings and hat are both heart-shaped, and she needed a little heart button on her hat. She also wears sparkly beads and a bell, because every fairy needs to sparkle and chime :)
I was going to post her in our Etsy shop, but I don't think my daughter will let her leave our seasonal table-display. So I suppose I should visit the Forest again and find more Love Fairies to bring back for you :)
The disigns that inspired her will soon be available in our book (I love writing that :)). The Love Fairy is part of our collection. We received hard copies of book pages this week to proofread and they look beautiful. So exciting to see our little ideas looking so lovely :).
Here she is sitting down amongst the flowers and butterflies.
Wishing you a lovely week!
Alexandria's Fairy
I recently enjoyed a treat. My niece visited and we sewed a fairy together. The needle, thread, and sequins fascinated her. "Look, Mom," she said, "I don't need glue!"
After showing my niece the basics of the running stitch and adding sequins (which will soon be shared in our book), she took off and made it mostly by herself.
The beauty of sewing together was that I planned to make a fairy for her a few months ago. I would use pink, black, and maybe red because those are colors she wears often. Yet, yet she chose all blues and greens! She chose colors I would never have selected for her. And they inspired me!
She especially liked the star on the fairy's hat.
I liked the long stitches to attach sequins. They gave nice texture and decoration.
We both decided that this fairy would wear short skirts instead of a long, full petal skirts. Better for dancing (my niece is a dancer).
A parting image of her fairy looking thoughtful.
I am so grateful that we got to make her together. Wonderful sewing, Alex! She also reminded why I sew with children (again) which I posted about here. Magic is best shared :)
Peppermint Fairies
Every year I like to create a fancy fairy. I want to inspire myself. This year, my daughter is dancing in the Nutcracker. She is a peppermint. What a perfect theme for a fairy! And of course I had to make two, one with white on red and the other with red on white.
I planned to keep one and sell one to share the joy, but my girl will have none of that. They are sisters, you see, and cannot be seperated. So our home now has two new sparkly sweet-fairies!
I must admit, I don't mind. I couldn't choose one, either.
To make these fairies, I collected lots of red and white goodies since fall. Beads, baker's twine, sparkly ribbon... I bought the chenille stems (pipe cleaners) already twisted red and white. And the candy canes were with the Christmas Miniatures in the craft store.
I am not planning on making anymore for this year. She was a puzzle! I rarely use glue except to put the hair and hat on their heads. For these ones, though, I glued the ribbon onto their hats after a few attempts to sew with tiny-tiny stitches. It was a lot of work! Then the ribbon slipped anyway and the spiral wasn't matching... The fun of crafting, the labrynth with lots of false-ends where you turn around with another way, there must be another way. :)
My girl adores them. And they will remind me of this year and her dancing in the land of sweets. A happy holiday season indeed!
Spooky Fairies and Gnomes
Happy spooky season! I love sewing fairies and gnomes with children. I also love sewing them all by myself! This season, especially, I get to have fun with make-believe! This is one of my favorite fairies to craft- the zombie fairy! Although she also reminds me of witch. In our fairy forest, zombies watch over the night-animals. They love tea parties under skeletal trees. They are playful and fun to sew.
We don't have tutorials for these fairies, yet, but the fairies are currently for sale in our Etsy shop. Tutorials will be available one day (stay tuned). And this week, we have a sale in the forest- 20% off with the code SPOOKY12. I know it's too late for this Halloween, but these little fairies are keepsakes that will stay with your family for years.
I also give these fairies as tree ornaments for my friends! ...just an idea for you :)
So, without further delay, here's my witch this year!
She makes me smile! I was distracted when I glued her hair, which happens in a house with young children :). So, when I tried to braid, I counted way too many strands of yarn. I could cut them, or... fishtail braids! I hadn't tried them before, but they are perfect for her. I especially love the purple and green together. She also chose the purple shirt. I orginally had black felt cut, but got my pieces mixed up with the zombie girl. This witch wanted to be sweet this year!
I also made a few witch gnomes.
They were so fun! We will get to share their hat-tutorial with you in the coming months because I do have a little trick for them :). One has found her forever-home, but the other two are still available.
So the spooky corners of the forest are getting ready for their favorite time of year! We wish you a happy, fun, safe holiday!
Fairies and gnomes are waiting for you here.
Oh, and we have a Pumpkin Fairy Craft Kit. You can leave the face pieces off for a harvest-season fairy. Or save it for next year. Fun stuff!
Happy Halloween!
Leprechauns
'Tis the season for magic at the end of the rainbow!
Patterns for these little leprechauns are over on our Etsy Shop.
We hope that you enjoy them!
Angel Collection
The angels are home for Christmas. I made these with our early-kindergarten students. Since I only see them once a week, we sewed the hats together and I assembled the rest. Their hats give them personality.
This little boy showed me that sequins with very long stitches are charming.
While this boy's fairy used many different stitches with lots of decorations. Each one became unique.
This girl put three beads on most stitches (look at the left side of the hat). She was very careful to choose a green, white, and red bead.
I hope that they will bring magic to the families who get to open them as gifts.
Sweet Angels :)
Christmas Fairies
These faires were created by our kindergarten and first grade students at the Nevada City School of the Arts. We provide guidance, but they provide the magic :). Each fairy becomes a sweet reflection of the child who created her (or him). We made seventeen over the past three days. We hope you enjoy this glimpse of Fairyland.
Using the Waldorf tradtion of allowing children to imagine the faces . . . this boy liked his fairy to keep his fairy whimsical. I used to leave all of the faces blank, but students walked away and drew a face with the nearest pencil, then came to me crying when it wasn't what they imagined. So we compromise and I draw faces for most students.
And one Christmas Goblin (my student's words as he wanted red eyes)
Happy Holidays!
The tutorial to make the girl versions of these fairies is available in our Etsy shop. If you're interested in the boy version, send me a conversation through Etsy and we can figure out a way to help you (I haven't created his tutorial yet :)).
Many thanks to Miss Becky, Miss Marin, and Asia for helping make Fairyland possible!
Fancy Fairy Witch
My fancy fairies inspired a friend to ask, "Could you make a fancy witch?"
Yes, yes, yes. I'd love to craft a fancy witch. And she was delightfully fun to create. Magic :)
Baby Girl Fairy
A friend had a baby. She had two boys already and her baby was a girl! Welcome to the world, baby girl!
I made this fairy special for their family with five points on her crown, one for each person in the family. I also sewed five sequins in colors that the boys and mom and dad liked.
She is decoration until the baby is much much older, of course. Like four years old. Until then, she is a guardian and bringer of peaceful sleep :). And dreams of unicorns and rainbows.
Love baby girls :)
(and boys too, of course. Must create that fairy soon :))
Forest Fairy Zombie
She lives in a spooky hollow among fallen trees. She dances in the rain. She only goes to one Fairy Ball a year, the Halloween Ball. Where she is crowned the Zombie Princess. :)
A Season of Witches
I made witches this weekend. I brought them to Make Local Habit (local store). I am constantly amazed how I can take similar supplies and create completely unique fairies. They take on a life of their own :)
She had a sparkly black felt for her hat and tunic. Together, they are sweet happy magic :)
I plan to make a few more in the next week before I move on to Harvest Fairies and Holiday Fairies. I have one on my waiting list that I am busy sewing. If you are interested in having a witch of your own, contact me soon.
The spooky season passes way too quickly :)
Fancy Fairies
Every few months I am inspired. This time, my cousin was celebrating her wedding. Their blended family has two little boys. So of course I had to make everyone. After all, they are sailing into the sunset together :)
These fairies have added touches of wrapping their pipe-cleaner frames with thread and embroidering their clothing. Dad also got a jacket. I knew that her favorite color is orange, her boy and new husband like green. The baby? He looks dapper in blue :)
And since we can all use a charm or two as we go through these adventurous-days, I added a heart so love will always be close by :)
I adore the joy of handmade gifts. I make their hair with eyelash yarn and a crochet hook. They decorated the top of the cupcake tower. Although I didn't get to think ahead and set up a pretty display. I learned for next time: floral wire and a boquet of their own :)
Regardless, they go to their new home with lots of love and good wishes for a long, happy life together. And when the sunset-seas get rough, my beloved cousin and her family can always hold a fairy for inspiration :)
Believe in happy beginnings :)
Fairy Hairclip
The Forest Fairy Hair Clip. Play with your fairy and wear her, too :)
I didn't get a favorite photo and this fairy is now living in Monterey. I'll get outside photographs soon (when I make more :)). She is a lot of fun. She works really well as a hair decoration. Anika got a lot of compliments :).
I need a few of my own before school starts- my students will love them.