Winter Crafts in Each Book
Happy winter! I hope snowflakes are drifting past, puddles are perfectly jumping-size, or the skies pile up with fluffy clouds. Sometimes, though, it becomes frigid-cold, or downpour-wet, or chilly cloudy. And those days, a cozy activity that uses hands and imagination (with a little reading and comprehension tossed in for fun :)), is a welcome treat for the entire family. We are often asked which projects are in which books for winter theme crafts (not the holidays)., Of course, we suggest both books, but if you can only check one or the other out of your library, this list might help you choose which book to choose first.
Forest Fairy Crafts, our first book, features a variety of playful fairies and crafts. Projects are inspired by play and fun ideas. So pirates, ninjas, a unicorn pouch, etc.
Magical Forest Fairy Crafts through the Seasons, our second book, has a collection of winter crafts. With an icicle-themed hat for fairies, a winter gnome, and sweetheart fairy babies.
Forest Fairy Crafts
Love Fairies
Moon Treasure Keeper
Magical Forest Fairy Crafts Through the Seasons
Winter Fairies
Winter Gnome
Sweetheart Fairy Baby and Heart Home
All of our projects, in both books, are invitations. We deliberately write, often, “or choose what you like”. So, a snow pirate? Sure! A winter wizard? Sounds amazing. A few color choices becomes an entirely different creation. It’s skill-building to ask, “How can we make a winter version of this?” And let children use their own logic and reasoning to take what’s presented and change it, using their imagination. Fairies and crafts are their chance to contribute to the crafting process. I’m fascinated to see what inspires them!
Both books share fundamentals with lots of photographs. If you are curious about other skills and instructions in each book, I make this handy checklist showing which activities are in each book. There’s more, of course, like pouches and bags, little critters or treasure keepers.
And of course, click here for a printable Supply List that works for both books.
Winter afternoons are lovely for making things, and making things together is an extra-special treat.
A Gratitude Book
The first day of November starts one of my favorite classroom projects- the gratitude books. The idea is simple enough. Each day, children wrote one page for a book that I put together for them to bring home before Thanksgiving. We created books for a number of years, which gave me additional ideas and perspectives on how to inspire and support students along the way. The good news for all of you this year is that I made printable PDF pages to jumpstart your child’s creativity.
You can start the book anytime (and any time of year). You can complete one page a day or a page a week or multiple pages a day. Whatever works best for your children or students.
All of our projects are invitations. Take the idea and make it your own. The templates are set up to be half pages that you can print, cut in half, then staple or punch holes to thread yarn for binding the book. Your book can be 5 pages or 50 pages. I recommend not binding the book until you reach the end of the project. That way you don’t find yourself either with blank unfinished pages or running out of pages. I kept them in a folder. This way, too, I could shuffle pages that a child had already completed, and they could read the pages to me before adding a new page (massive reading practice reinforcement). And students could plan the order of pages before we assembled the final book.
Creating pages itself is fun. The real magic, however, is what happens as children plan pages.
The idea is simple. Make a stack of pages- blank or use our template or make your own. Each day, the child adds another page. They write the sentence (or more if they want) and illustrate it. The only guidance is that each page needs to be different- choosing dogs, dogs, dogs, every day becomes repetitive. However, if they want to vary the dogs- thankful for black dogs and spotty dogs, that’s fine. Here’s why-
They start noticing things throughout the day.
In the beginning, I say that it’s fine to use obvious/easy answers. Some children go right to “air” and “food”. They eventually run out of easy answers. And that’s when they start paying attention to plan the next day’s page. If they get stuck, I’ll ask for details. What’s your favorite food? Or your favorite place to go? But mostly I try to stay quiet and let them simmer ideas and choose on their own time. They know that they need an idea for the next day, and eventually, they realize that paying attention can give them an idea before they sit at the table to write.
The original book project was a daily activity during group time. You could easily change the duration of the project for whatever is available for your family, classroom, or group. The pages can be made in an afternoon or over a number of weeks.
One way that I make it easier for younger children is to write the beginning of the sentence because the goal for me is thinking and writing unique ideas. The templates use a gray font because I would encourage children to trace the written letters if possible. Tracing takes less brain-power and reinforces the spelling for later. If students are tired or overwhelmed by that quest, skip tracing the letters.
A supportive idea for their own words is that they could tell you the end of the sentence and you write the letters lightly for them to trace, or they use a colored pencil over your letters to make it colorful. For very young children, you can write the words and they draw the pictures.
As with all my projects, I ask myself, “What is the goal?” If the book is going to be shared around at Thanksgiving, you may want to pay closer attention to correct spelling and neatness. If the goal is an immersive celebration of all the wonders of a child’s life, then don’t worry too much about neatness and correct spelling.
And I guarantee you, they love reading this book. By having the first words exactly the same on every page, it builds confidence for early readers.
With older children, I encouraged looking for details. Why say cats when you mean super fluffy cats? Why say food when you mean garlic mashed potatoes with gravy?
I encourage adults to create their own books as well. Show that appreciation continues through all of our years. This year, in particular, brings massive challenges. Yet the appreciations are so sweet. I appreciate my fluffy black and white dog that cuddles throughout the day.
Further ideas and notes: you can make the book resemble a scrapbook. Collect leaves or look through old magazines for images that inspire. Add them to pages. Use watercolors or paint or stickers. Give students room to imagine how each page can express their ideas. By assembling at the end, you won’t worry about paints smearing onto other pages. Feel free to let children express their creativity. I am so grateful for that!
Our template has a text box and another page with a line. You can add more lines, or a top line and dashed middle line if that matches your child’s learning process. It’s easier to add lines than remove them :)
If a child wants to write more than one page a day, that’s totally fine. Some students wanted to write many, many pages. When you assemble the book on a date instead of binding it in the beginning, making a page a work of art won’t damage other pages.
We hope that you enjoy the project! The Gratitude Book was a delight to create and read with students. And they were so proud of their books (as they should be).
As an added bonus, children went to Thanksgiving celebrations with plenty of answers to “What are you thankful for?”
We’ve included a “print” font version and a “handwriting” font for practicing cursive. Both can be printed on printers. Enjoy!
Thank You for a Lovely Tour
Thank you for inspiring us! Thank you for creating lovely projects using Magical Forest Fairy Crafts through the Seasons. Summer is welcome in the fairy forest.
We appreciated everyone who joins our journey. Seeing fairies and crafts from around the world is a dream come true. The fairies hope to make your seasons fun and magical :)
If you would like to travel the world with fairy crafts, visit these links:
We Bloom Here: http://webloomhere.blogspot.com/2019/06/forest-fairy-crafts-blog-tour.html
Clever Chameleon: https://www.cleverchameleon.com.au/forest-fairy-crafts/
Annette Bay Pimental: http://www.annettebaypimentel.com/how-to-nonfiction/
The best adventures are shared. Thank you for joining us :)
And we are currently contacting a winner for our giveaway. Once we have permission to share, we’ll let you know who won ebooks of both Forest Fairy Crafts books. Thank you to everyone who entered. We appreciate you!
And congratulations to ebook winners of Magical Forest Fairy Crafts through the Seasons. We wish you magical crafting :)
*Post contains an affiliate link. Should you choose to purchase, a small amount returns to the Forest while your pricing remains the same. Thank you!
Favorite Things from the New Book
Yay for discovering new fairies, gnomes, critters, and crafts. Yay for decorating homes with colorful, pretty garlands and ornaments. Yay for new ideas, new creativity, new celebrations. Yay for Magical Forest Fairy Crafts through the Seasons*!
This book inspired us with new ideas and projects. We wanted to build on the foundation of the first book while giving new techniques and inspiration for our community. Here are five of our favorite things in the new book. We look forward to hearing your favorites!
- Crafting for Girls AND Boys- it was so important for us that everyone gets to craft. Every fairy has a version with a fairy wearing a dress and a fairy wearing shirt with pants. We notice that the crafter gets to choose what a fairy wears. Girls can wear pants and boys can choose skirts too, if they want. Fairies could wear kilts if they want! We often craft with boys who make fairies with dresses as gifts. We believe in including everyone. We also paid attention to colors throughout the book, from sample projects to design elements, to show lots of colors. We know that families craft together so it's important to include everyone in the creativity. Also, we see how boys love making toys and learning how to sew. Everyone gets to have fun together!
The bride and groom get to be part of the new book
- Diversity in the Forest- we found a way to create many different skin tones on fairies and gnomes. By painting the wood with watercolors, we were able to showcase all skin tones. Having representation is so important to us. We teach painting. We also model many different skin types in the example photos. All children deserve to see themselves in the crafts they create. Even our kid models for this book show diverse ethnicities. Everyone gets to be included in the Forest.
- Empowering makers- making toys gives children tremendous creative expression. We teach the tools so that they can understand how to sew anything their imagination can design. We show one way, then invite other ways to make a project unique. This gives children an invitation to explore ideas and colors. We believe, strongly, that children are incredible makers. They love opportunities that empower the creative process. This book is a launchpad for creativity.
Gnome and his friends gather to celebrate the new book
- Gnomes- In this book, we got to make more gnomes. We developed a new technique wrapping thread around their tummy to give gnomes more color and texture. And we realized that two capes are fancier than one. By making one smaller cape and one bigger cape, the gnome designs are cute and look fancy while being accessible for kids to make. We include patterns and lots of photos for the gnomes.
Garlands with hearts and blossoms.
- Celebrating the year- by far the biggest request we hear is ideas for each new season. What projects can be brought to classrooms, homeschool students, and programs for children? What can inspire children, and their favorite adults, month after month? So many of our projects are designed to be made again and again. For example, a garland can use colorful felt leaves in autumn. Then it can be made with snowflakes in winter. And blossoms in spring. Or you can add raindrops, or clouds, or hearts, or stars. You can see how one project can lead to many more :)
What we love the most is celebrating the magic of childhood imaginations. We appreciate our community so, so much that has helped create Forest Fairy Crafts over the years. Our very favorite thing about this new book is getting to create more crafts with all of you! Thank you for coming along on the journey. Let's make magic :)
We cannot wait for every to get a copy of their own. Please, let us know what you think. What's your favorite project? Or your favorite idea in the book?
You can order your copy on Amazon,* or visit your local bookseller. Let's return to the Forest!
*affiliate link- a small amount is given to the forest by the seller while your price remains the same. Win-win :) and thank you!
Book Month is Here!
It's almost time! This is the month! An entire new collection of fairies and crafts is arriving for children of all ages. The theme of this book is seasons. Each new season is a chance to celebrate and create. From the changing colors, to the scents of grass or cinnamon or snow, to the activities of collecting treasures or tossing beanbags, our book shares our favorite crafts.
The Summer Family
The Autumn Family
The Winter Family
The Spring Family
And each family has critters, decorations, and crafts to go along with the fairies and gnomes. It's going to be so fun to see what everyone creates. You can preorder a copy of Magical Forest Fairy Crafts through the Seasons on Amazon to be sure it arrives soon at your doorstep next week by clicking here*
We keep adding to our summer shelf. There's still time for epic summer crafting. What are you making today?
We're busy making a fairy garden to enter in the county fair. I'll take photos to share once we finish it. So fun to create fairylands. Hope you get to find magic today :)
Thank you to all the people who have preordered the book and supported the forest through the years. We appreciate you so much!
*affiliate link allows us to earn a small percentage from Amazon while your price remains the same.
Big News in the Forest
Perhaps a quiet forest is not so quiet after all. Squirrels may be harvesting acorns, critters digging dens, birds building nests. This forest has been just like a real forest. While it has looked a little quiet around here, we've actually been frantically creative for you.
We wrote another book!
Hip hip hurrah!
We've thrown ourselves into the very best projects for a return to the forest. And we're so happy to share the news that more Fairy Crafts are coming your way in August of 2018. We embrace each season of the year with crafts. We find inspiration in colors and activities. We brought together our very favorites to write MAGICAL FOREST FAIRY CRAFTS THROUGH THE SEASONS.
This book was so much work (so much!) and, yet, such a delight. We amuse each other by sending snapshots of the ideas. We hope that you smile as much as we did as you make these crafts. From seasonal families ready for play and decorating nature tables, to stuffed foxes and cats, to new treasure bags, this books has magical toys and decorations for children (or their favorite adults).
We reunited with friends at Funstitch Studio for the return to the forest. Lots of people making these crafts look gorgeous while sharing all the directions. Did you know we made more than 250 little samples for the photographs? I should write a post about how we make each project come together. It's a big effort that is also rewarding when we see the book come together.
Happy new year to you! This year will be filled with magic! The book will be available in August of 2018. Until then, keep enjoying Forest Fairy Crafts with our first book!
*affiliate link will give us a small portion of the amount while your price remains the same. Thank you!
Five Ways to Personalize a Fairy
Fairies love to be gifts. Or special projects. And each time a fairy is crafted, they love to be unique. Fairies have a special magic. Because you create a fairy, you make her (or him) unique.
I give fairies as gifts all of the time. For new babies to hang over the crib, for birthdays, for children in difficult times. I have a few tricks for making a fairy unique. I hope they help you craft a fun fairy for friends, family, or yourself.
1. Favorite Colors
Ask about colors. Ask a parent or child about their favorite colors. Especially in childhood, colors change quickly. Use the colors to inspire your felt and petals.
Children often grow from pink, purple, pink, and more pink, to red, black, and dark purple.
Every age is fun! And using another person's favorite colors is fun.
2. Matching features
Match the family, match the details.
Fairy Deer by Margaret Bloom at We Bloom Here
I love fairy families! We create big sisters and little brothers. I will use a little gnome for a baby or toddler. Children love when the fairy is part of a family!
Matching hair color and eye-color always delights children.
I gave this fairy yellow hair to match my friend's hair. I threaded a strand of sparkly white in to add texture. Of course, I love colored hair for fairies- pink! green! rainbow! so I don't often matchy-match. Still a fun plan now and again :)
3. Using numbers
Numbers add a layer of significance to any fairy. The birthday fairies (pictures above with the blue candles on her hat) always have the number of candles matching the number of trips around the sun. Numbers can be used in other ways, too.
For this fairy, I sewed four Xs on her hat for the four people in her family (they wrap around so you don't see all of the Xs at once).
I use numbers all of the time with custom fairies. I will put a number of points on a crown, or beads on a hat. The numbers can reflect anything. From trips around the sun. To family. To dreams and goals. Numbers create another link between a fairy and her (or his) new home.
4. Charms and tokens
Bead stores can be my toy stores! A little charm can be the difference between an everyday fairy and a custom fairy.
For these fairies, I found beads with the same letter as the child's first name.
I had to treasure-hunt since the letters were buried in bowls of random beads. I need to find more letter-beads :).
I had a bead with the year for awhile which will help me in the future (I need 2014 beads :)). I also have charms with Made With Love on them. I adore charms with HOPE, or DREAM, or WISH on them. My challenge is that I often forget all my choices until the fairy is in the mail. Oops. This list will help remind me.
I also use charms to share a moment in time, favorites, or memories. This birthday fairy has a snowflake charm even though she has a spring birthday. Can you guess why?
I expect fairies to be loved, played with, and taken on adventures. My friend may not have this fairy forever. If she does, though, I want her to remember that this was the year she discovered a new favorite story and sang the songs with all of her heart. I want the fairy to reflect her life.
And my children do keep their fairies in a collection. We have everyday fairies and sentimental fairies :)
5. Stories, friends, and accessories
As I write this, I hear the stories that I hold as I create these fairies. Every once in awhile, I include a written note with the custom features of each fairy. Usually I let the fairy speak for itself. Most people notice matching elements, or discover the number of candles. Every once in awhile, though, I write a story to give with a fairy. Such as with the emotional Fairy Road that travelled with a fairy to a family in a very difficult time. Fairies are celebrations. They can also be a source of great comfort and strength. Fairies have been given to children who need extra support (my son carried one in his pocket the first days of school). They have also been angels in challenging times for health or grieving. Fairies have stories too. Writing a quick note can create an immediate connection between a fairy and a child (or adult).
I actually rarely give fairies a name. I often give that opportunity to the child. Naming is a connection as well. And they often choose a name that I would never imagine on my own :)
Fairies love friends! You can make your own, like Margaret Bloom made this darling deer to live in our Forest :)
We also give stuffed friends with fairies. We might give a cat or dog that looks similar to a family pet. Or magical friends. Often, I don't have time to make my own animal friends (I wish!). Luckily, the world makes awesome unicorns, dragons, foxes, and more that can accompany a fairy.
This unicorn is no longer available (unfortunately) the same company makes a similar Only Hearts Club Unicorn
My almost-last idea (I have so many ideas!) is to give a bottle of Pixie Dust/Fairy Dust with your fairy.
Of course, again, I cannot find this exact bottle to share, but these look very similar- Pixie Dust Bottles with Fairy Wand
I just thought of necklaces or bracelets, too, that can travel with a fairy.
Every fairy has their own unique magic. Making your own means that no one else in the world can create the exact same fairy. That is magic right there :)
Fairies make lovely gifts. Even bees know the magic of fairies :)
Enjoy creating and giving the magic away!
Bonus sixth way! Of course, a very simple way to customize fairies is to choose a special fairy. A mermaid or zombie or warlock may be just what your friend loves these days. Our book
All of the fairies in this post use tutorials found in our book
Now, I'm off to pack up the Birthday Fairy for a special friend. Share the magic :)
*please note: This post contains affiliate links. Should you choose to purchase any items through links on this post, a small amount returns to the Forest. Your price remains the same. We both win. And thank you!
Inspiration: Pirates!
A new movie was released this week! A certain favorite fairy around here is going on pirate adventures! We can't wait to see The Pirate Fairy
Pirates are popular in the forest. We love to build dangerous ships and search for buried treasure. Just in case pirates are popular in your world right now, I want to share a little inspiration.
photo copyright: C&T Publishing
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Argh! Directions for these scallywags are in our Forest Fairy Crafts
We hope they inspire you too! Happy sailing the high seas :)
*Please note: this post contains affiliate links. If you decide to click and purchase, a small percentage returns to us (your price is exactly the same). Thank you so much for supporting the forest!
Sweetheart Fairy Babies
Fun in the forest sounds like, "Guess what I made?"
Aw, welcome little sweetheart fairies!
Asia shared these darlings with me last week. We love being inspired by the season.
Asia used ideas from our Forest Fairy Crafts
The wee babes started as Blossom Fairy Babies (page 100). Instead of a leaf bed, Asia made a heart similar to the heart pockets on page 114. She then took the hat from the Love Fairy on page 66 and made the heart-shaped hat small enough for a baby.
Putting it all together is brand-new magic!
Certain things, like the pom-poms on their hats and felt heart decorations, are not in our book. The pom-poms are in most craft stores and can be sewn with a little stitch at the top of the hat. The hearts are cut freehand and secured wtih a stitch.
We keep hearing about mixing and matching ideas from the book. We love that!
Of course, each idea began as a question. "How could we...?" I have a few ideas tumbling in my thoughts right now. "How can I...?" And the results are so much fun!
We wish you lots of love as you create :)
Winter Fair Inspirations
We are setting up our display when our kids dash over.
"Guess what? She has fairies that look like your ninja, Mom!"
Just across from us was a delightful booth with trees and swings and fairies galore. Her inspiration?
Our book!
She bought our book
And I can imagine how she felt when she saw us setting up with our book right across from her display. Of course we made fast friends. And she loved sharing all of the new ideas that she brought to Fairyland.
We feel amazing to see and hear how the book is being used, combined, and built upon to send magic out into the world. What a wonderful enchanted forest!
A pirate ship!
And a hammock. Every princess needs a hammock.
So many clever inspirations. She said that she hadn't made anything like these before, and she was browsing in a local fabric and craft store, Humble Fabrics. She made one and was enchanted!
The cool thing for us was seeing children interect with the display. Quite a few brought a princess of a pirate home for more play.
We love seeing the magic forest grow. Inspiration is delightful!
We found other treasures at the fair as well.
Lovely watercolor display. I want to paint an octopus like this one.
And another crafter created this magic.
Oh my goodness, such sweetness! Even a little felt candle. Beautiful!
As for our own fairies and crafts, they found new friends too.
Babies need lots of supervision with fairies, of course. Little beads and bells are not good for eager tasters. Mom was careful and is going to put the fairy on a shelf for celebrating the season. And baby can play now and again. When she wants a good laugh :)
When a new baby laughs for the first time, a fairy is born...
~J.M. Barrie
We believe :)
Nevada City Craft Fair 2013
We love a good fair! All the lights and festivity make for a delightful day.
We haven't visited a fair in awhile so this was our first time sharing our book with the public.
We share the book often with family and friends. Which is awesome, but seeing the reactions at the fair inspired us! Such lovely responses :)
"Come see the fairies!"
Oh, and us too :)
The best part of crafting is the people. I couldn't do this without Asia! She is magical :).
Creating a little enchanted forest :)
The best part of the day was seeing the forest inspire visitors. So many people will be making fairies and treasure keepers this year! Thank you to everyone who could stop by. We have closed our etsy shop because a lot of our goodies were sold at the fair. And we have new custom orders. Like a ninja-kit. I need to go work on that :)
Happy holidays!
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!
Forest Fairy Supplies Solved!
How many times have we gone to the store, or ordered online, then sat down to make our craft, only to realize that we forgot one very important thing?
Too many times, honestly.
So we came up with two solutions that will hopefully help you, too.
The first is a free resource that is a great companion to our book. The Forest Fairy Supply Checklist is a PDF file listing everything you need to make our crafts. You don't need all of these things at the same time, of course. A pocket-gnome can be made with felt, string, peg person, needle, and glue. But if you want ideas, or wonder what to add to your Fairy Workshop Stash, this is a great place to start.
Click here to download the Forest Fairy Supply Checklist
We are not fancy enough to check off your items digitally on the form- the best way to use this is to print a copy and check off what you have with pretty pencils :)
In case you are giving the book as a gift, or you don't have a Fairy Workshop Stash (yet), we also put together starter kits that have everything you need to dive right into crafting in our Etsy shop.
We were inspired to create these kits at a birthday party. "I love the book," said a friend, "But I don't have anything to make anything!"
So we created the Forest Fairy Starter Kits. These kits have everything you need to make a fairy with a felt outfit, a child fairy, peg gnome, and critter. For now, they use craft-quality felt (good for play). We are working on versions with wool-blend felt and flower petals for fairy skirts.
Since we love colors, we added a Halloween Kit and a Christmas Kit as well.
We can see these being great companion gifts with our book. They do not come with any directions, but they would be perfect for any felt projects (inspired by our book or elsewhere). You could, of course, put together your own kits for favorite children in your life (using the checklist and your own supplies). Children love seeing all of the goodies collected together.
A great invitation to crafting :)
We hope that these resources give you the tools and ideas to start making your own crafts!
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!
Our First Book Arrives
An exciting week in the forest! These beautiful flowers arrived on my doorstep. And flowers are always a celebration. I love flowers! The flowers didn't arrive by themselves, though. No, they were from our lovely friends at C&T Publishing along with a first copy of our book! And I just discovered there is a preview of the book, sharing pages here. So you can understand why we are happy-dancing!
Holding the book after all the months of writing and crafting and editing and sewing was a strange, marvelous feeling. They took our fairy-world and made magic. We love the layouts and colors. What a treat to see all of the hard work pay off :)
The book releases in late May, which is the trickiest part of showing it off. We took it to school and were asked many times where to buy a copy. A little waiting left...
I loved bringing it to school, because the children saw the wall between books and writers crumble. They thought hard about whether Asia and I had really written a real book. Until we showed them page with fairies and gnomes, their Moon Pockets and Treasure Owls.
"We made ones like that!"
Which quickly became, "When can we make pirates? And mermaids? And ninjas?"
I better get busy cutting felt :)
We also received CDs with all of the photos they used in the book. We had talented photographers work on Forest Fairy Crafts. I take many of our photographs, but the size and scope of this project meant I was happy to get help. We had over 400 placeholders for images in the original draft! Not all of them made it into the book, but still, they got to work with lots of fairies and crafts.
Our mermaids :)
I am busy today sewing sample for our hat pattern PDF that I will send out to everyone who preorders our book. You can order from any favorite book seller. We will simply ask for an order number or receipt copy. We are working on the technology to make this all possible. Amazon will have the book arrive on your doorstep on release day- you can order here
We are visiting local bookstores and craft stores to set up book release parties. And I am ready to celebrate. It's a great day in the forest!
I have many postcards (pictured with the flowers) that I want to send you for helping share the fun news. Simply email your address with Fairy Crafts Postcard in the subject line and I will put one in the mail. Don't worry, I won't use your address for anything else :). If you work at a school or know a group of friends/parents/crafters that may appreciate a postcard, tell me how many you would like and I will do my best to drop them in the mail soon. Thank you for supporting the forest!
All kinds of good news. We will keep you posted as we get closer to the big Release Day :)
Meanwhile, In the Forest...
I know it seems quiet, but we are busy with new ideas here in the forest. I am figuring out logistical details before sharing all the magic. Here is a sneak peek-
I want to thank our loyal friends and fans of the forest who preorder our book. I am making a special PDF with at least 5 hats that couldn't fit into the book. I am working on how I will collect, keep, and send out emails to everyone who sends a receipt (I don't care where the book is purchased) or order number. I haven't figured out logistical details of organizing it all though, so save onto those emails. All receipts will be honored :)
Stay tuned for details!
The second big idea is from my daughter, Anika. She wants to start a Forest Fairy Fan Club for kids. The club will have newsletters with ideas and inspiration for new crafts. The theme would be Kids Inspiring Kids. We have tons of plans, including Magic Wands and Kitty Ears. Again, it's the logistics of gathering emails, creating the newsletter, and sending it to the email list... I've never done that before. More adventures in learning for me, which I love :)
I also have a basket full of craft kits made by Asia in delightful spring colors to photograph and post in our Etsy shop.
That and I just got a bunch of postcards featuring the cover of our book! I want to send one your way! ... I really need to find a secure way to let you send me address :). Hmmm...
Okay, enough announcements for today. I just wanted to give you a brief tour in our busy forest! And I'm planning classes, workshops, and book signings for the summer. A busy forest indeed!
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!
A Happy Announcement
Such exciting news! The fairies have been hard at work writing a book! Yes, Asia and I have spent this year working closely with the wonderful people at C&T Publishing to collect our favorite patterns, projects, and sewing secrets to create a fantastic Forest Fairy Craft book. We are so happy to share the cover with you!
The book will be released May 13, 2013. But we know what a great gift it will be for holidays and birthdays. Besides, children love to receive suprises after their actual special-day. It's like getting two gifts, the news on the day, and the book when it's released!
You can preorder through many wonderful bookstores and online retailers. Amazon's link is here
The PDF download is here.
Thank you for your support of Forest Fairy Crafts. We are delighted to share this journey with you! We wish you all the best of days :)
