Books

"Once there was a peddler who sold caps. But he was not like an ordinary peddler, carrying his wares on his back. He carried them on top of his head." So begins the tale of Caps for Sale, the lovely story of an unorthodox peddler and a tree full of pesky monkeys! Written and illustrated by Russian author Esphyr Slobodkina in 1940, it has remained a favorite amongst children for generations. I can remember when my kindergarten teacher read this book to our class. I immediately feel in love and have reread it many times over the years. Although the list is long and mighty, I can honestly say, this was my very favorite book as a child. Why? 

I loved the absurdity of the book; a man balancing 17 caps on his head, monkey's in trees wearing hats, and the interplay between man and monkey! 

I also was empathetic to the peddler's loss. Can you imagine losing your wares to a bunch of renegade monkeys!  
 

Well, far be it from me to give away the end of the story, suffice to say, I've always been a sap for an "all's well that ends well" read. As a bit of an aside... the peddler's frustrated, and sometimes angry exclamation of, "You monkeys, you", became a favorite exclamation of mine as I was raising my children, although mine was uttered playfully, and usually followed by... "Move it, monkeys!"

Caps for Sale is a perfect story for children to act out. The plot is simple, and if you reduce the number of monkeys, the cast is small. To that end, I have crafted a set of characters and props to help your children extend the story to their own imaginative play. 

Met the peddler. Ready to take a little rest under a shady tree.

 

Met the monkeys. Ready for a little mischief and mayhem.

Feel the frustration of the peddler, bested by the monkeys!

And, feel the exhilaration brought on by an unlikely turn of events!

The directions on how to create your own Caps for Sale storybook characters can be found HERE, or with our FREE Patterns. The directions for making the Autumn Tree can be found HERE. Enjoy! 

 
The book Caps for Sale, by Russian author Esphyr Slobodkina, has been well loved for generations. Now you can make the characters so children can extend the story play.
 

The original blog can be found HERE.

Materials:

Felt Pieces
People turnings (wooden pegs) 
   1 - Adults 2 3/8" x 7/8"
   3 - Children 1 11/16" x 5/8"
Craft glue
Embroidery floss
Fine tipped permanent markers
Brown Paint
Pattern

Important Note: People turnings (wooden pegs) are not all created equal. Even pegs bought from the same company can be slightly different. I highly suggest you make a copy of the pattern, cut it out of paper, and “try it on” your wooden pegs. Make adjusts to the paper pattern before cutting out your felt.

Monkeys:
1] Using the pattern or book as a guide, draw face on moneys with a pencil. (I started by drawing a circle, then 2 overlapping small circles for ears, then added the facial features. Using the fine tipped permanent marker, trace pencil markings. After the marker dries you can erase any visible pencil marks.

2] Paint monkey brown except for face and ears. Allow paint to dry.

3] Using the pattern as a guide, draw on tail with pencil, then trace and fill in with permanent marker. 


Peddler:
1] Using the pattern, cut out felt pieces.

2] Using the pattern or book as a guide, draw face on peddler with a pencil. (I started by drawing the mustache, eyes and eyebrows. I then added the hairline and ears.) Using the fine tipped permanent marker, trace pencil markings. After the marker dries you can erase any visible pencil marks.

3] Using the pattern for placement, French knot 2 buttons to shirt using 6 strands of black floss.

4] Glue shirt to peg, with buttons centered in front.

5] Glue on pants, placing seam in back.

6] Using 6 strands of floss, tack on jacket (cape). You can either use contrasting or same colored floss.

7] Lift jacket in back and put a dab of craft glue near the collar line. Smooth jacket in place. The little dab of glue will prevent the jacket from turning on the peddler.

Caps:
1] Optional: Using 6 strands of floss, place a French knot in the center of the cap circle.

2] Using a running stitch and 3 strands of coordinating floss,  sew around the outer edge of the circle. Make sure you do not over lap the stitches because you will need to gather the stitches.

3] Gently gather the running stitch. Gather so the cap fits snugly on the peddler's head. Tie off but do not clip the thread.

4] Place the concave side of the brim along the gathered edge of the cap near the attached thread. Slip stitch the brim to the cap.

5] Make one cap for the peddler and extra caps to carry on his head.

Note: You can chose to glue the peddler's cap to his head or not. Near the end of the story the peddler removes his cap from his head and throws it to the ground... leaving him capless. Obviously, if you glue the cap on, you cannot do this. I decided to glue the cap to my peddlers head for a couple of reasons. First, by gluing the cap to his head I was able to shape it to his head better. Then, I found it much easier to stack the additional caps on the peddler's head when his hat was firmly adhered to his head. Of course, indecisive me wound up making 2 peddlers... one with a hat... one without!

EDIT: One of our readers, Katye, suggested gluing a small piece of black Velcro, the "hook" side, to the top of the peddler's head. It is barely visible, and the hooks will stick to the inside of the peddlers head so he can throw it down at the end. Thanks for the suggestion, Katye.

6] To glue cap to peddler's head, place crafting glue on the peddler's head where the hat will sit.

7] Position the cap. Squeeze the cap here and there, until it is positioned where you want it, with the right jaunty look! 

Now you are ready for the peddler and monkeys to play. Have fun!

OUR "DISCLAIMER"! We are sharing patterns we have designed and made for our own children, families and friends. Every effort is made to share information in a clear and accurate manner. But we are only human, although I often long for superhuman powers, and as humans, mistakes will be made. We offer preemptive apologies for any aforementioned mistakes. Please let us know via comments or emails if you stumble upon a mistake or if you encounter directions that leave you scratching your head! We will rectify the situation as soon as humanly possible! Before beginning any of our patterns, think of yourself as a Beta Tester. We do not have a staff, editors or even volunteers that are crafting our projects before we share them. YOU are the first to have a go at them. As such, other than a heartfelt apology, we accept no responsibility for mistakes made, or in an extreme circumstance, for time or supplies wasted. Please tackle our projects in the same manner that we are sharing them, with a spirit of goodwill and global friendship!

As many of you know, Michelle has closed down her homeschooling blog. With the demands of homeschooling, Wee Folk Art, and other creative projects we are involved in, Michelle has felt like she was spreading herself too thin. This made many people very sad :( Michelle had tons of great activities and projects she did with her children, plus some phenomenal units. So, for those of you that followed her, take heart. Many of her activities are very appropriate to Wee Folk Art. Because of that, you can expect to see some new additions around here.

For quite a while now we've talked about starting a Book Nook. I wanted a place to share some of our favorite books, from my childhood, my children's, and now, the grandbabies. So, from time to time we will feature a book. Sometimes, we might simply review a book we like. We might have anecdotal stories to share, there might be a craft or activity to do to enhance the reading experience. And sometimes, we will put together "baskets of books". These would be a collection of books on a particular topic, that we are using. They may not be individually discussed, but rather, simply shared.

We hope you will find this new corner of Wee Folk Art to be delightful, inspiring, or just fun! For our very first offering, I'm going to share my very favoritest book from my childhood, along with a special project. Hopefully it will be up tomorrow. We are very excited about this and we hope it becomes a favorite spot for your family.

We receive the most wonderful emails from our readers. Some are questions, some are suggestions, some are heart touching stories that fill our eyes with tears and our hearts with love, and some, like this one, are informative, and at the same time make us giggle. I asked Di if she would mind if I shared her email with our readers. She graciously agreed.

Hi you wonderful people, creators of such fun objects of craft to make.

I have only one small beef with your website and that is that you called our Koala a bear. I have to say that it is not a bear in any sense because it is a marsupial which carries it babies in a pouch.

Please see the bit of info about the Koala – it is a really cute animal and I had one in my gum tree in my backyard about 10 years ago until the tree it was living in had to be cut down because it was dying and rotten inside. The Koala was relocated by the local ranger to another area with healthy trees.

What is a koala?

 The koala is a small bear-like, tree-dwelling, herbivorous marsupial which averages about 9kg (20lb) in weight. Its fur is thick and usually ash grey with a tinge of brown in places.

The koala gets its name from an ancient Aboriginal word meaning "no drink" because it receives over 90% of its hydration from the Eucalyptus leaves (also known as gum leaves) it eats, and only drinks when ill or times when there is not enough moisture in the leaves. ie during droughts etc.

The koala is the only mammal, other than the Greater Glider and Ringtail Possum, which can survive on a diet of eucalyptus leaves.

Excellent website with so much to learn and do. Thank you once again for your creative ideas.

And in response to our inquiry to blog about this, she said:

Yes please, do share our Koala – it is such a delightful animal but it has been know to pee on the celebrities who sometimes hold them for a cuddle.

Cheers,

Di

Now... I do want to go on record as stating that we did know Koalas AREN'T bears and that they are marsupials, but it has been so much a cultural thing to call them bears, we sometimes slip into the habit. We heartily apologize to any koala we may have offended, and rest assured, we will NOT make the mistake again!

And as an aside... if you've never made one of our Koala MARSUPIAL Bookmarks, it would make a great Easter Basket stuffer! The pattern can be found HERE or with our FREE patterns.

Thanks Di, for the information and smile. I love the Internet for making global friendships possible!

We've gotten a few inquiries about the little Fairy sitting in a tree in the Felt Forest. In answer to every one's questions, no, we do not have a pattern for the fairy. He was made using the directions for pipe cleaner fairies in Salley Mavor's incredible book, Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects. Making the fairies is not hard but there are many steps. She has detailed directions on how to make them, in various sizes, and with many different outfits. Plus, she has lots of other goodies to share. I highly recommend her book. I could not do a better job than her... so I won't try :)

(Update by Michelle) BTW: If you are looking for a kit... I have seen that the Klutz Series has one out... Fairies: Petal People You Make Yourself. Might be a good gift idea for crafty little girls... or the slightly older gals too ;).

A couple of weeks ago we featured our Mouse Bookmark. At that time we asked for other animal suggestions. Our first responder was Harley and she said her favorite animal was the koala. Well, we took that suggestion and made a Koala Bookmark. Although we often see pictures of koalas hanging onto tree trunks, we took a little creative license and had this little cutey hug a vine. Hmmm... wonder if there is a variety of eucalyptus vine... Anyway... the vine lends itself well to a bookmark. If you'd like to make one of these little guys for yourself, get your directions for the Koala Bookmark HERE or in our FREE Open Pattern Section. BTW... Although the book our koala is reading is NOT a book about Down Under, I thought A Year Down Yonder, was way too tempting to pass up! Enjoy!

NOTE: As hard as this may be to believe, I did not have any light gray wool felt so I used acrylic felt for this project. I haven't worked with acrylic felt in a long time... and with good reason! To be very honest I'm not sure how this little guy will hold up to repeated usage. Definitely, if you have wool felt, use it for this project!

A sweet little koala from Down Under is busy reading A Year Down Yonder! Make your own koala bookmark as a reading pal!

Materials:
wool felt
embroidery floss
yarn
pattern

1] Make copy of pattern.

2] Cut out materials as follows:
1 back - gray
1 body - gray
1 arm - gray
1 head - gray
2 ears - gray
18 - 28 leaves - green
3 pieces different colored green yarn 30" long each
2 eyes - white
1 nose - black

3] Following pattern, position nose on head. Using 3 strand of floss, attach nose to face using a small running stitch. Position eyes. Attach by placing a French knot in the center of each eye. Using 6 strands of floss, add mouth using a stem stitch.

4] To make the vine, knot the 3 pieces of yarn together 1” from an end. Braid the 3 pieces until you are 6” from the end. Knot the tail close to the end of the braiding section. Cut the extra yarn leaving 1” beyond the knot. (You may wish to braid the vine to the end, and wait to cut the length until you've added the leaves to insure even leaf placement.) 

5] Using 2 leaf pieces for each leaf, begin by sewing a leaf around the end of the vine. You will be covering the knot. Add leaves ever 2". (If you want a leafy vine, just add more.) Stagger the leaves so they are on different sides. NOTE: To add the leaves begin by sewing up 1 side of the leaf. Then open the leaf and place the vine inside on an angle. Continue your running stitch catching the vine at the top of the leaf and then again along the other side of the leaf. (Refer to photos.) You may want to leave the leaf off the vine that is around the koala's head. So, after adding your 2nd set of leaves, place the next set 4" down the vine. Then continue with every 2". Place your last set of leaves around the other knot.

6] Lay the body on the pattern. Using the pattern as a guide, lay the vine on the Koala. Pin in place.

7] Using 3 strands of floss, sew ears, body, head and arm to the backing using small running stitches. Sew on in order listed.

8] Using 6 strands of floss, add the leg outline using a stem stitch.

9] If you haven't already, finish the vine.

10] Share your favorite book with your new buddy!

When you're creative, nothing in your life needs to be boring. Here is a totally fun glass case that would be equally comfortable hanging out with an adult or child. Crafted from soft felt and flannel, adorable through and through, if you don't wear glasses, you're going to wish you did!

Materials:
1 piece felt and 1 piece flannel 7" x 8"
felt scraps
embroidery thread
small flower buttons
pattern

1] Make copy of pattern.

2] Cut out the inside and outside of the glass case. Decide on the colors for your birds and cut out all pieces and leaves.

3] Using the pattern as a guide, mark the vine on the felt, and following the directions on the pattern, embroider the vine, Add the leaves. (There will be places where part of the birds will cover part of the leaves. This will give the piece a dimensional look.)

4] Following the pattern, applique on the birds, building the bird as you go along. (i.e. First applique on large body piece, then on 2 birds, the head piece. Next, add the wings, beak, then eyes.) Although not on the pattern, I embellished the birds using 6 strands of embroidery. I used french knots, cross stitches, and straight stitches. You can leave them plain, following my suggestions, or come up with any embellishment you'd like. Perhaps you'd like to add beads. Go crazy!

5] Finish the embroidery by adding the various flowers and buttons. If you don't have flower buttons, cut out felt ones or use another decorative embroidery stitch. NOTE: I did not sew on the top flower button until after I sewed the outside to the inside. It is so close to the edge it could have interfered with sewing the pieces together.

6] Pin the inside to the outside with right sides together. 

7] Sew them together leaving a 2" opening on the bottom back side. 

8] Trim the corners to reduce some of bulk, turn, and lightly press. Slip stitch the opening closed. Add your last button.

9] Fold the glass case lengthwise, matching bottom and sides. The embroidery side should be on the outside. Starting on the front at the top opening, blanket stitch down the side and bottom. Make sure your stitches are tight, but not so tight that the sides are puckering. Your work should lay flat.

Tah Dah! You're done. Slip your glasses inside and they'll rest comfortably until you are ready to wear them again!

Reading is fun! Should we settle for ho-hum glasses or glass cases? BAH! Our glasses and their accessories should be every bit as enjoyable as our books and bookmarks. So... here's my latest additional to our reading corner... a glass case that's sure to please young and old alike! The outer case is made of felt, while the lining is a super soft flannel. After one evening of crafting, you can get rid of your boring glass case and proudly whip out your Three Birdies and revel in the oohs and awes it produces! The directions and pattern for the Three Birdies Glass Case can be found HERE or in our FREE Open Patterns. Enjoy!

Here is a sweet little mouse bookmark with a long and useful tail! This one is made out of felt and sewn, but if you're doing the project with young children, you can glue the felt pieces together or use card stock or construction paper. Whichever way you make him, I'm sure you'll find he'll fast become an indispensable friend!

Materials:
felt
embroidery floss
yarn
black glass seed beads (optional)
pattern

1] Make copy of pattern.

2] Cut out materials as follows:
2 body pieces in gray or tan felt
2 ears in pink
3 pieces of yarn 24" long (I used 2 tan and 1 pink)

3] Transfer face markings and embroider face as follows:
Nose: satin stitch using 3 strands floss
Eyes: French knot using 3 strands of floss (optional: instead of French knot add 2 black seed beads)

4] Using pattern as a guide place the 2 ears on the mouse. Using 2 strands of floss, attach to mouse using a running stitch.

5] To make the tail, knot the 3 pieces of yarn together 1” from an end. Braid the 3 pieces until you are 6” from the end. Knot the tail close to the end of the braiding section. Cut the extra yarn leaving 1” beyond the knot.


6] Position the tale on the back of the front body piece. Place it so 1/2" of the braid will be inside the mouse. Tack it in place being careful not to go all the way through the felt.( If you are using paper, glue it in place and let it dry before proceeding.)

7] Pin the mouse together with wrong sides touching. Using 2 strands of embroidery floss, attach the 2 pieces using a running stitch.

8] Knot the end of 6 strands of black floss leaving a 2" tail. Referring to the pattern for placement, slide the needle between the front and back section of the mouse. Make a small knot on the other side of the nose. Clip the whiskers so they are 1/2" long.


9] Find a book you want to read, and slip your little mouse's tail in the book to mark your place!

 

Note about patterns: We are sharing patterns we have designed and made for our own children, families and friends. Every effort is made to share information in a clear and accurate manner. We offer preemptive apologies for any mistakes that may be made. Please let us know via comments or emails if you stumble upon a mistake or if you encounter directions that leave you scratching your head! We will rectify the situation as soon as humanly possible!

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