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 :)
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!
Christmas Sketches
We draw a lot in our classroom. And, every year, students ask me for help.
"How do I draw an elf? How do I draw a reindeer?"
As often as possible, I encourage their own ideas. "What shapes do you see? Where can you start?"
My students are 5 and 6 years old. Especially around the holidays, overwhelm may rise up at any moment. So this year I decided that a little inspiration could go a long way. I made simple sketches for them in an easy, one page format.
Clicking on the image will bring you to a larger size you can print for personal or classroom use. I also have a PDF you can download with both pages.
At first, I planned to fill the back-page with more drawings. Except I ran short on quick, easy ideas.
Then I had my own inspiration. Words!
Of course! Children love to make cards and decorations. They could use a word-bank for holiday ideas.
As often as possible, I used a visual cue to help show the written word. This helps our early readers.
We realized that I forgot an angel and train along the way, so they are on the back too. I print these out double sided and keep them available throughout the season. Children love to color them and use them for project ideas. Children usually take my basic shapes and create with a lot more detail in their finished projects.
So fun!
Please be aware, I drew these with student-help after school in pencil :). They are a little rough through my eyes. When I scanned them, the pencil transferred light so they may not print perfectly. If I wait to make them perfect, though, they will never be posted for you :). Also, the light writing gives children a nice chance to trace letters!
I hope these sketches inspire us to create more winter scenes. Let's draw together :)
Enjoy!
Christmas Sketches and Words PDF Dowload
All resources are property of Forest Fairy Crafts. Please contact us for commercial use permissions. Thank you!
Pixie Owl, Hedgie, and Blue Gnome
Asia is busy in the forest! Look at the new little creations she shared with me today. So sweet!
Introducing the Pixie Owl!
The front is a little pocket for treasure or teeth for the tooth fairy. The owl is a plushie. Our girls, who are both 9 and moving into a different kind of fantastic forest, where fluffy pink is becoming whimsical blue (aka a little older) both love the make-believe of this owl. In fact, the design is inspired by a sketch drawn by Asia's daughter. They both want one of their own. Which is good since Asia is making kits!
Then, look what wandered into the meadow of my front yard.
A hedgehog! We have both been puzzling about a hedgehog design for awhile. Asia's is perfect!
He is so cute! We all love to fluff his little spines and smooth him down again. I have a class story that I use with a porcupine about feelings and when we get frustrated, we can be prickly. He will be perfect with that story. She is designing a kit for him, too. She's working on directions right now. I have a feeling we will be sewing more than one in our house.
I made something new for the forest, too. My little blue gnome.
My daughter greeted him with, "Can we keep him? I can keep him, right, Mom?"
And of course I said yes. So I need to knit more blue gnomes. I have a feeling he will be popular this year. Blue and white seem to be new holiday colors :). He's fun. Perhaps I will try a tutorial, if I have time :). The red yarn has little sequins through it, which gives sparkle.
I will keep you posted, of course, as we finish these projects. For anyone local, Asia brought kits to Make Local Habit today. If you live farther away, you can email me or visit our Etsy shop and we are happy to send goodies your way. We want everyone to have creative holidays :)
Enjoy!
Happiness Sale
Happy Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday! We are giving you free shipping and gift wrap this weekend. Visit our Etsy shop, use the code HAPPY12 then go enjoy a mug of hot cider!
Thank you for supporting the Forest :). We will even ship international orders for free this weekend. We're cool like that :)
Grateful in the Forest
We are grateful for magic. For our Forest. For you visiting us and supporting us. We are grateful for creativity. For smiles. For surprises. We are grateful for little things. And big things. And invisible things that we cannot touch, yet know are real and important. Grateful for our children. For all the children. For the vision of a world that is safe and loved and nurtured.
We are grateful for beauty. Hugs.
Grateful for this holiday. For a day with family and delicious food. For the winter magic just around the corner.
Look who is waiting in the wings!
Not yet, little one, not yet. Let's enjoy Thanksgiving first :)
Happy day to you and your loved ones!
Gratitude to Day 5
We wrote sweet ideas to catch up over the weekend. They were thankful for their pets, their school, and their imaginations. And their friends. Once the ideas start flowing, they cascade into a beautiful collection. I look forward to seeing the new page tomorrow. I hope you are keeping your books writing a little each day. We will get there together :)
Best wishes!
Gratitude Day 2
Students love this project! We wrote a few pages today since we won't see each other over the weekend. We also had gratitude circle today. They veered into silly-land for a little while with "I am grateful for my hair, and I am grateful for this candle." Then one boy had that wonderful moment where he said, "I am grateful for my hair and for my eyes and for myself."
Our page for the day!
Gratitude for ourselves. After all, we are, all of us, miracles :)
Wishing you a joyful day!
A Month of Gratitude
The mind is everything. What you think, you become. ~Buddha
With this in mind, I hope to catch a month of gratitude, a little one each day.
We are trying this experiment in the Dragonfly class. I asked them what they appreciate in the world and I chose a theme to write as a sentence on a large piece of paper. I drew a border with a block crayon and a student helped me illustrate.
As with everything, sustaining the effort is the hard part. So I hope I can keep the momentum going!
Today they were grateful for birthdays!
I want to honor their childhood vision. Even though I wanted to steer them towards lovely, poetic appreciation, I also want to catch their world today. I love the beautiful, the quirky, and the silliness of the world through their eyes.
I built a foundation for this activity with our weekly Gratitude Circles. Every Friday we turn off the lights and turn on a battery-operated candle. We sit in a circle. We pass the candle around. Each student shares at least one thing in the week that she or he appreciates. At first, the circle is a stretch for some children. These days, the ideas are easier. Mom, Dad, my school, my friends. We have so much to be grateful for! I cannot wait to see what the month discovers!
I will try for a short daily post, but we may have summaries depending how the week goes :). Happy season of thanks! For me, I am thankful for my children's school (where I teach). Spending time with my boy yesterday, watching the littles with their Big Buddy Class (seventh grade) was a huge inspiration. So much sweetness!
My boy is Batman playing tag. The big kids were so fun and happy with the littles. Makes a Mama's heart happy and a teacher's heart proud :)
Also as a side note, I had to share this project from Ian's class. His teacher is amazing. She made these laterns with the students. The day before, they taped the jars with masking tape and painted them orange. On Halloween, the children drew Jack-O-Lantern faces. The teachers used an exacto knife to cut the shapes. So pretty! I am going to keep ours out for another few weeks :)
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!
Pirate Week Adventures
This year I focus on a mini-theme each week in the Dragonfly Class. We are a kindergarten/first grade class. Our activities become a rotation during Groups or a whole class writing adventure. Activities need to be very flexible for many different skills. And my goal is high interest opportunities for learning. I want them to take these activities home and add to their ideas.
My hope is to have photos to share, but that didn't happen for Pirate Week. Too busy :) ... Wait, I have their ship drawings to assemble the Pirate Fleet Book. I took two photos to add, hurrah.
I still want to write our activities to capture them for the future, because I know I will sit down next year and think, "Now, what did I do last year?"
Pirate Maps: I cut brown paper bigger than usual so they could roll their maps. These turned into spyglasses very quickly. We marked the treasure and drew a path to find the treasure along with landmarks. Children loved these outside at recess.
Pirate Fleet: I drew a pencil sketch of a pirate boat very simply and made a copy for each child. We discussed how pirates lived on boats and had to bring everything along with them. Each child then got to design their own fantasy ship. I drew with a cut-away design so they could show me the Captain's Quarters and add a hot tub if they liked. Some chose to color the outside of the ship, which was fine too. We had Kitten Ships and Ninja Ships and Mermaid Ships. Children became very creative and excited about the adventures these ships would find. Which led to....
Pirate Fleet Stories: I met with each child so they could tell me the story of their pirate boat. We had danger, beauty, and adventure on the high seas!
Pirate Flash Fiction: This was an idea that I had for groups for a shared writing project. What is each student wrote (or dictated) one sentence to their parent helper at group-time. At the end, we would read the sentences for a story about the Dragonfly Pirates. We had a lot of treasure-hiding and treasure-seeking and battles with Kraken. The children loved hearing their separate pieces come together to make a whole story.
Bonus topics during our two days (yes we did this is two days since I teach part time) included discovering the world, monsters of the deep (giant squid), and pirate discipline. Pirate captains gave time-outs too! Except they tied someone to the mast for awhile. We didn't go into great detail about pirate discipline, but the children found boat-life fascinating. I became the pirate captain and they all called, "Aye, aye, captain!" when I gave a direction like, "Wash hands for lunch."
Oh, and we talked about pirate flags and communicating on the high seas. Cell phones didn't exist in pirate-times so they needed to announce their arrival in a scary way. Children were fascinated by the idea of using images to communicate. They enjoyed designing their own flag on their pirate ship for the pirate fleet. I could make this a separate activity and even use fabric to create flags.... Another year :)
I also had the idea to develop a pirate persona with a chosen name, outfit, and companion (pet). This could connect to the pirate boats. So many ideas! And the children loved it because the idea of sailing the high seas searching for gold is always an adventure! Not to mention, sprinkling a few arghs! and avasts! into everyday sentences is great fun!
A pirates' life for us :). I am glad I remembered to write everything down.So this was a lot longer than I expected. We packed a lot of pirate fun into our days! I hope you get to enjoy life's treasures today!
Moon Pocket
These Moon Pockets brought sunshine into my day. Students in our first grade class sewed these beauties. I am in constant awe how we can provide students with the exact same supplies and directions, yet every project reflects the crafter in colors and stitching.
Before sewing, we discussed treasures. The moon on the front is a pocket where children can keep teeth for the tooth fairy or little notes or any little keepsake. Our last step is stringing a little ribbon to hang them.
Children are careful, conscious crafters. This moon has a pattern of flower, moon, flower, moon. This meant choosing them from the bowl of mixed-up sequins. What a lot of work!
A big challenge for grown-ups helping sew is how much to help, and how much to let go. Hopefully these images might inspire Letting Go as a help-strategy. Even wild stitiching is lovely!
At first I thought I would photograph a few to share the idea, but I couldn't choose a favorite! They are all charming.
This next one always inspires a smile.
And simplicity is amazing, too. I like how this student used a whipstich around the moon and a running stitch to finish the pillow. I wouldn't have taught it that way, but it works. And the one simple line of sequins is beautiful.
I love when sequins break out of the felt 'boundary'. This little leaf sequin seems to be floating down to land in just that spot. Very sweet. And these tight tiny whipstitches are so careful!
Another simple line of sequins frames the moon. I can see where the crafter started to get tired and stitches got farther apart. Sewing is hard work!
Here the sequins found many lines. This crafter was careful with colors as well. I notice patterns again, flower, moon, flower, moon. What dedication.
Another line of overlapping sequins. Again, those tiny little whipstitches amaze me.
We teach a K/1 class and our first graders stay in the afternoon. We have a much easier time sewing with the smaller group. These children are 6-7 years old. They had experience sewing with us last year so they know the basics of controlling the needles and adding decorations. This year will be fun for crafting!
Asia and I are working on directions for these Moon Pockets that will be available soon. If you would like hints about sewing with children, visit our Tips and Tricks. For now, I hope these inspire you like they inspired me! Best wishes!
Sweet Simple Reading Nook
We woke to cloudy skies. Cozy sounded perfect. So we pulled out a few goodies and created a lovely reading space.
We used our old crib mattress and lots of pillows. The big ah-ha moment happened when I pulled out a sheer curtain. What a perfect roof! It is light and airy and easy to tuck behind cusions. The light filters though with just a little magic.
The kids were in love.
For less than ten minutes of construction, I enjoyed ages of shared reading. They laughed and read to one another.
To be truthful, after the reading, the tent became a horse-home and that game lasted quite awhile. Until the tired horses discovered books again.
Amazing what magic a curtain panel can inspire :)
I hope you get to make a nook of your own :)
P.S. I was inspired by these fancy book nooks- maybe one day :)
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!
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 :)
Handprint Gardens
Children loved creating these gardens. A few steps steps led to wild, wonderful gardens. We are using them for Grandparents Day cards, but they would be lovely any time of year. In fact, for winter, we might make trees with fingerprint snow and bright birds. One idea leads to another :)
Step one: make handprints with green tempera paint (or acrylic, if you a brave). We made three prints of the same hand because I was working with an entire class and they needed a clean hand to turn on the faucet. At home, you could print both hands. Let the handprints dry.
Aside: I later realized we should use a color for the background- perhaps and layer of green over blue for ground and sky. Since we printed onto white paper, I used beeswax crayons to lightly shade ground and sky. The first graders painted their petals, bugs, and clouds before I shaded- both ways worked. A few children shaded their own. I had to watch that the colors wouldn't get too thick and cover their handprints. Next time, I will have them shade grass and sky first.
Step two: Add petals, leaves, and clouds. Use fingers! They loved dreaming up ways to create butterflies and different flowers like lupins. we did not use water to switch colors. Instead, we wiped our fingers clean with a paper towel. This kept the paint from getting drippy. I did supervise so they didn't start smearing too many colors together, or covering up their handprints with heavy petals. Let your colors dry.
Step three: Use markers to add embellishments. Add butterfly details, ladybug legs, and spiders.
I told them that they could only color small areas- a few wanted to cover the paper with marker. I also told them to stop when the details started to overwhelm the painting. An art of childhood creativity is learning when to say Done. For personal projects that reflect their inner vision, I let them go until they say done. But every once in awhile, I say done.
A lovely moment within their gardens were the stories they shared while they drew. In my home, I would scribe their stories to go along with the illustrations. Spiderwebs and ladybug tea parties and rainbow butterflies. Beautiful!
We are gluing the gardens on colored paper-mats and writing I love you on the other side. Another adorable addition that everyone appreciates is a few open-ended prompts, like I love when my grandparents _______ and I hope they take me to the __________ and My grandparents are good at ________.
My favorite art catches personality and the moment. My favorite art is shared with proud smiles. These gardens grow wild and wonderful.
I hope you have fun painting them!
 "Pin It")
Sensory Discovery: Numbers
We love creative learning. Today, our numbers in math were 0, 6, 9, and 8. These numbers all begin with a curving line.
We connect art and writing often in the classroom. Curving lines, straight lines. And we love multi-sensory learning.
So I found dishes with a small lip around the edge, then filled them with a layer of birdseed. Before the birdseed, we drew the numbers big, using our entire bodies. We stretched up to the ceiling, then swept our arms all the way to the ground. Depending on the number, we reached up or around to make huge numbers in the air.
We also drew the numbers with a finger on our palms. The goal is to engage our muscles, fire-up our senses so that the numbers change from abstract concepts to concrete understanding. Sometimes we sit with a partner so we can use our finger to trace the letter on a friend's back (maybe we will do this tomorrow).
Their favorite part of the day was birdseed writing. We traced the numbers into the birdseed plates. They formed the circles over and over just to feel the seeds with their fingers.
And when I handed out the written practice, they happily wrote the numbers without questions or concerns. Only excitement. "Look at my numbers! And can I do the birdseed during Creative Choice? Please?"
Yes. Keep playing and learning!
PS: This activity is also fun with sand, salt, or anything with grains. They love small pebbles, too. Lots of ways to engage the body and inspire the brain :). Enjoy!
Wish Upon a Watercolor Star
The school year begins with hopes and dreams. I love to make dreams come true. So we create beautiful crafts to catch our dreams. Focus on them. Believe in them.
These watercolor stars were a three day project with our twenty kindergarten and first grade students. On day one, we painted stars. Day two, we strung beads. Day three, we wrote wishes. Along the way, we discussed ideas. What do we want? Play, discovery, friends. What fun, imagining our wonderful year!
Of course, you can wish anytime, for any reason. A wishing star would be a lovely party favor, or a baby mobile, or a rainy afternoon craft. Endless possibilities...
How do we make them?
- Cut a star with medium or heavyweight paper. We used watercolor paper. You can draw your own, or have your child draw a star, or use a free printable like this one on Spoonful.
- Children paint the star on both sides. We used watercolor paints, giving children yellow, red, and orange colors. You could use any paints you like, or markers, or colored pencils. Decorate your star.
- Thread a tapestry needle to a long piece of crochet thread. A tapestry needle has a blunt tip. It. Is perfect for children who say, "But I don't know how to sew!" Tie a bead to the ends of the thread so the other beads won't fall off.
- Have fun beading! Add beads and sequins to make a rainbow hanger for your star.
- Punch a hole into the star. Thread the needle through, tie off, and snip.
- Children write their name on one side, and their wish on the other side of the star. Hang your star in a special place. Enjoy your dream shining over you!
I encourage children to dream for emotions more than things. They may want money for our school (they know times are difficult) or toys or more books. I ask, "Why? How would you feel?" We want the emotion, not the stuff. Because maybe we can find fun and adventures another way.
At the same time, I change my ideas to catch a moment. I have a star-wish that my daughter made when she was three. Her wish?
I want to wish for a pony
That captured her. At three. Her sweetness. And that is my dream. To create projects with children that celebrate childhood. My dreams are coming true :) Enjoy!
Hearts for Sweet Beginnings
A rainbow of hearts to start the school year. The hearts were pleasantly quick and fun to sew. I used multicolor rainbow crochet thread so the colors wove through the hearts one after another.
My boy adores orange, so I made him one in his favorite color. He had his first day of transitional kindergarten today. So I tucked a little note inside the heart and placed it in his lunchbox. I couldn't be with him because I taught my own class of students. But I felt closer to him, knowing that he had a little craft to discover in his lunchbox.
For my students, I am creating a story. Our class mascot is a small dragon. I imagine that our dragon doesn't collect gold and jewels like most dragons. No, our dragon, Sparky, collects the most valuable treasures of all. Sparky collects the treasures that cannot be bought with all of the gold in the world. Sparky collects love. And kindness. And joy. And friendship. He saves these emotions in magical glass pebbles that protect the feelings inside.
We also call these pebbles Dragon-Tears, but I don't think that will make sense within the happy story. The pebbles are not Dragon-Tears, they are dragon treasures. The pebbles fit inside the little hearts perfectly. Each student can hold one through the day. For now, we plan to keep them in a basket and put the students' names inside on a watercolored slip of paper. I am sure that students will get attached to their heart and memorize whether they have red, orange, green, blue, or purple.
Perhaps Sparky knows that our students can trusted to care for Love and Friendship and Peace. And by caring for these hearts, the emotions will be nurtured in our class community as well.
A sweet way to bring those gifts into our school year. I am excited to share them with my students. Begin well, travel in joy, learn along the way. Sounds lovely. Rainbow heart lovely.
Sending inspiration your way. I wish you many precious treasures today. :)
Intentions
August is a whole new year. Perhaps not on the calendar, but for many children, a year begins in August. I feel the energy gather as a teacher and a mom. New stories. Blank pages. New teachers and friends.
In my teaching program years ago, we learned about Self Fulfilling Prophecy. Two teachers were told two stories about their incoming classes. One heard she was getting a bright, kind, fabulous class. And the other heard he was getting a mischievous, difficult, unruly class. The classes, in reality, were randomly assigned. A few months later, the teachers were asked to describe their classes. Guess how they answered?
This is the Self Fulfilling Prophecy. Your beliefs shape your reality.
So I am thinking about intentions as we prepare the classroom for a new group of kindergarten and first grade students. All of our stories will weave together into one story. How can I, as a teacher, set them up for success? How can I make intentions meaningful?
I thought of a big gesture. I am sewing a little felt heart for each student. I will leave an opening at the top so we can slip their name inside and they can add wishes of their own. Friends, fun, learn, peace, joy. Paying attention to the good stuff.
I have them cut out. And I have a few days to seem them all together. For my own children, I will choose their favorite colors and put them in their lunchbox on the first day. Manifest love :)