Fairies Lenka Vodicka Fairies Lenka Vodicka

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 :))

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Fairies Lenka Vodicka Fairies Lenka Vodicka

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. :)

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Kids, Projects Lenka Vodicka Kids, Projects Lenka Vodicka

Free Fun Book Craft

When I'm not crafting fairies and magical friends, I teach at the Nevada City School of the Arts.  And this is a favorite activity book with kids ages 7 and up.  Younger children love it too, if I trace the basic shape lightly so they know where to put the head and feet. 

Everyone loves a flip-book, especially a creepy, silly flip-book.

The fun begins when you flip the pages and make new stories.

This is a fantastic project for children learning to read because they can hold parts of the story as familiar text.  And the illustrations support the words.  Children will read over and over so they get different beginnings, or middles, or endings.

The creativity with this project is in your child's illustrations.  I drew these examples to share how the book works, but you will find that the template is blank except for words and cutting guides.  Each page also has small marks at the neck and waist.  Guide children to draw with the head and legs starting at those marks so the creatures match from page to page.  The cat will need to be drawn sitting up to match the other creatures.

I am happy to help if you have questions or get stuck.  I suggest allowing children to draw each page as a whole sheet, then binding the book with yarn or staples, and cutting last.  

Enjoy!  Feel free to share with your teacher and homeschooling friends!  I love inspiring children to read! :)

Click here for The Crazy Creepy Creature Book PDF

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Fairies Lenka Vodicka Fairies Lenka Vodicka

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 :) 

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Fairies Lenka Vodicka Fairies Lenka Vodicka

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 :)

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Forest News Lenka Vodicka Forest News Lenka Vodicka

Etsy Fun

I had fun with our etsy shop today, adding new goodies here.  We have a Forest Star Baby, a Rose Mouse Sewing Kit, and a Rose Fairy Blossom Baby Sewing Kit.  And I reposted our first fairy tutorial.  The holidays will be here before we know it, and winter is the season for fairy ornaments :)

I love all of the seasons :)

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Lenka Vodicka Lenka Vodicka

Free Moody Pumpkin Tutorial

Asia and I are happy to share the latest creation: our Moody Pumpkins!

These little cuties are fun to sew and even more fun for creative play.  Their mouths are a loose stitch so you can change their expressions.

These are also great little projects for children who are learning how to express their emotions.  Children can show their mood to others without saying a word.  So, when children get upset or overwhelmed, the little pumpkin face can change to help children communicate.

We hope that you enjoy the tutorial!

Click here for the Moody Pumpkin pdf

All tutorials are property of Forest Fairy Crafts.  Please contact us for use permissions.  Thank you!

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Coming Soon, Crafts Lenka Vodicka Coming Soon, Crafts Lenka Vodicka

Autumn Goodies

Here are projects that we are crafting this month!

We will have a free tutorial for this fun craft :)

And craft kits for the Pumpkin Fairy and the Chubby Kitty

We will let you know as soon as they are ready to travel :)

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Lenka Vodicka Lenka Vodicka

Bunny Gnome Winner

Congratulations to Twitter Follower @thiscosylife!  Email me at lenka@lenkaland.com so I can send your gnome home :)

We chose the winner with a random number generator at http://www.random.org.  We started counting down the list and landed on our winner.  Please contact me within 48 hours or I will draw another random number.

Thanks to all who participated!  We will have another giveaway soon!

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Giveaway Lenka Vodicka Giveaway Lenka Vodicka

Bunny Gnome Giveaway

This bunny wants a new home!  We love our fans, followers, and subscribers so we're sending this gnome out in the world to say thank you.  

Our bunny stands about three inches tall.  He is knitted with 100% wool yarn.  He is a wonderful friend for nature tables.  He is also a fun pocket keeper for children to take to school or away from home as a token of family-love.

You have many ways to enter and each is worth one entry.

  1. Follow us on Twitter
  2. Like us on Facebook
  3. Subscribe to our website
  4. Follow us on Pinterest
  5. Mention us on Twitter @fairycrafts (tweet this giveaway :))

Comments are acting strange right now.  They are not posting, and I'm working with to get that fixed.  When we can, I'll add commenting back to the entry list.  Sorry!

This is my first giveaway, so if you have ideas or suggestions, please let me know.  Good luck!

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Forest News Lenka Vodicka Forest News Lenka Vodicka

The Forest This Week

Asia and I are teachers at the Nevada City School of the Arts, a public charter school in Northern California.  Last week was our first week of school.  Asia and I have been busy busy busy with the magic of making a big empty room into an unforgetable learning-space.  And meeting our new and returning students.  And designing fun, engaging, and academic curriculum.

No small tasks.

This week, luckily, I go back to my part-time teaching, so I can return to our forest.  We do have news.  We get to work with Bamboo Family Magazine with guest blogs and (hopefully) a project for the winter issue.  That is exciting.

We're also joining with a new natural toy store coming online soon.  I'll keep you posted with those details.  

And autumn projects are here.  I'm photographing tomorrow so I can share them with you.  Hurrah.

That, I'm planning a bunny gnome giveaway (making sure I have the rules straight before posting).  And I want to add items to the Etsy shop.

Last night was the new moon.  A time to reflect on intentions.  And create magic. 

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Crafts, Kids Lenka Vodicka Crafts, Kids Lenka Vodicka

Rock Critters

My favorite kind of crafts are the crafts that surprise me.  This one began at the river.  My niece was visiting and I suggested, "Why don't you collect some rocks?"

"Can we paint them?"

"Maybe.  Sure."

Ian had his birthday party four days later.  I pulled out the rocks for a party-activity.  And . . .

Rock Critters!

This one is my favorite:

Here he is with his collection of colorful treasures:

Ian made a Car Critter

The girls made a few rocks with only one eye.  Their one-eye critters were cute.  Then we discovered you could use the one-eye rocks with the painted rocks to make faces.  

 

Even more fun!

I'll post the crafting photos soon of the kids painting these beauties.  We used washable paint, let that dry, and then I coated them with a layer of Modge Podge sealer.  We used tacky glue for the eyes and antenna.  

A last moment with the little blue critter :)

My favorite crafts make me smile :)

 

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Forest News Lenka Vodicka Forest News Lenka Vodicka

Bunny Week in the Forest

Last week was all about bunnies in the forest.  My daughter's bunny was in the county fair for the first time.  I have gone to the fair for over thirty years, but this was my first time with an animal at the fair.  We had many adventures.  Lots of early morning trips to check on him and afternoon trips because we missed him :)

A highlight was the Bunny Costume contest.  Pumpkin won for Most Enchanting (of course) :)

Anika loved sewing for her bunny.  

And he didn't seem to mind getting dressed up :)

He's back in his grassy quiet home.  Our magical bunny :)

And my mom and I were Demonstration Knitters in the Textile Building.  I loved the renaissance of textile arts.  The quilts inspired me with incredible detail, color, and texture.  One day, when I have massive time :), I will quilt.

I knitted bunny gnomes.

Fun to make and share :).  Today's project is getting the Tutorial posted for all of you.  The kids are on an adventure with Grandma so I'm excited to create.  Hurrah! :)

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Crafts Lenka Vodicka Crafts Lenka Vodicka

The Bunny Wizard Costume

My daughter's bunny is in the costume contest at the county fairy tomorrow.  Our bunny is staying at the fair right now, so we used a stuffie to model the costume that Anika and I sewed today.  

I hope Pumpkin (our bunny) likes it!

A little hole in the hat for Pumpkin's ears

The cape ties on and the hat has an adjustable strap.  It should be comfortable for him, but we'll see . . . It may not be on the bunny for very long.  I'll take photos if I can!

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Coming Soon Lenka Vodicka Coming Soon Lenka Vodicka

Bunny Gnome

A sneak peak at my knitted bunny gnome.  I'm working on the pattern today to post this weekend in our Free Patterns.  Yes, free!

I will also be at the Nevada County Fair on Saturday at the Meadowfarm Yarn table so I can answer questions and show you how to make this little cutie.  

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