Toys

No, I'm not talking about books ABOUT gnomes and fairies, rather books FOR gnomes and fairies. I got the idea from Michelle. When we talked about doing The Book Nook, I told her I wanted a banner. Something that people would come to associate with this feature. Like a good graphic artist, she gave me three choices; the one below was one of my choices.
Well, as it turns out, we decided not to have a special banner. Michelle loves to point out that much of the work of any graphic artist never gets used. So, I apologized for wasting her time BUT isn't the fairy reading a book about the cutest thing you ever saw? Well, I decided we needed to get more reading material into The Thicket. So I got busy, with the help of Britta, of course, and we created a stack of books, specifically for the children of The Thicket. The insides of the book can be left blank, as journals, you can use recycled text from magazines, or write your own story. You can learn more about making your own Gnome and Fairy Books HERE or with our FREE Patterns. Enjoy!

 

The orignial blog for this project can be found HERE. It contains additional photos and information.

Who doesn't like a good book? Well, gnomes love the old traditions of sitting around a campfire and telling tales of adventure and folly. But, they also like curling up in easy chair at home, in front of a fire, and reading of places far and near. With the help of a few toy catalogues and other recycled papers, you can make a basket of books for your gnomes, and their friends the fairies, to read and enjoy.

Materials:  
toy catalogues or other magazines
magazine with text and/or blank paper for writing your own stories
embroidery floss
optional: stapler
optional: very fine tip permanent marker
optional: Crazy Glue or Fray Check

1] In a magazine find a picture you want on front of your book. 

2] Cut out the cover horizontally, 1 3/4" x 7/8". Because the paper strip will be folded in half to make a book, make sure the desired "front cover" design is near the right edge of the strip. This way, when you fold the book in half, the picture will be on the front cover. Cut out two more strips of paper 1 3/4" x 7/8" for the inside of the book. You can either use text from old magazines or plain paper to leave as a journal or for writing a story in.

3] Pile the front cover over the 2 strips of text or blank paper.

4] Fold them in half, making a sharp crease on the spine.

5] If you would like to write a story, I suggest you do it now, before you sew or staple the book together. This way, if you make a mistake, you don't waste time or your outside cover. When writing in your book, may sure you keep it in the order it was when you folded the strips in half. Use a very fine tipped permanent marker and write small. For younger children, you may want them to dictate a story and you write it in the book. Just for an example, here is a very simple story I wrote to demonstate how much text you can actually fit into one of these books:

Once there was a silly little fairy that thought she was better than all others. Her name was Vanny. Vanny never played with the other fairies. "They are not smart enough or pretty enough or fast enought", she thought. So she was often alone. One day Vanny found the most beautiful pebble in the stream. Vanny wanted to show it to someone, but who? She had no friends. That day Vanny spent a long time thing. "What good is beauty and intelligence and speed if you no one to share it with?" The very next day Vanny went to see the other fairies. "I am so sorry", she said. I have been silly and vain. Will you forgive me?" All the fairies hugged Vanny and called her friend. And they all agreed the pebbles was the most beautiful stone they had ever seen. The End!

I was able to use the inside of the back cover to write on, but still... that's a lot of text you can get into a little book! Children will love "reading" the stories to the gnomes and fairies.

6] To put the book together, you can simply place one stable in the book's spine, so the "sharp pokies" are on the inside.

7] If you would like to stitch the book together (my preference) begin by  poking holes in the spine, through the 3 layers of paper. Hold the book firmly so the pages do not slip. I put 6 or 7 holes in each spine.

8] Turn the book over so the cover is facing up. Using 2 strands of embroidery floss, poke your needle through the first hole. Leave a tail that extends 2" - 3" beyond the bottom of the book. 

9] While hold the tail against the spine, bring the needle up through the 2nd hole, coming up to the right of the tail.

10] Insert your needle back into the 2nd hole, now to the left of the tail. Your thread will be over the tail. Pull tight enough to the tail lays firmly against the spine, without pulling it to the inside of the book. The tail has now been secured to the 2nd hole.

11] Continue working your way down the spine in the same manner, always coming up through a hole, to the right side of the tail, crossing the tail, then going back into the same hole, to the left of the tail.  

12] When you have finished your last hole, turn the book over so you are looking at the inside of the book. The thread will be sticking out of the last hole.

13] From right to left, slide your needle under the thread that stretches from the last hole to the one above it.

14] Work your way up sliding your needle under the threads. When you finish the last one, poke your needle through the top hole. (It will now be on the outside of the book.)

15] Turn the book over and clip this thread and the tail at the bottom even with the edge of the book. Optional: If you would like, you can put a drop of Fray Check or Super Glue on the threads to prevent them from unraveling, but I didn't.

Now your books are ready to share with your gnomes and fairies. This same process of book binding can be used on bigger books, too!

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!

Britta woke early, ready to nurse the twins and start her day, but when she sat up in bed, she felt a strange, ticklish sensation on her cheek. When her eyes fully focused, she looked around the room. It looked like a giant spider had woven a web throughout the whole room during the night! She highly doubted the existence of a mammoth spider in The Thicket, but was rather confident that this was yet another of the late night shenanigans of the leprechauns. Britta shook her head and counted off on her fingers; Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Just eight days til St. Patrick's Day; just eight more days until the leprechauns would be leaving The Thicket.

But Britta had to smile. Although Axel stomped around the house during the day complaining about the foolhardiness of  those scoundrels, she noticed he slipped away each night, after he thought Britta to be fast asleep, and would join them at the campfire. She could hear his voice blending with theirs while they sang ballads and told stories.

"It really wasn't SO bad", she decided as she looked around the room plotting her escape. She decided she probably wouldn't mind the pranks of the leprechauns nearly as much if she could only deal with them AFTER her second cup of chicory tea! 

"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!

Last year before Easter we did a number of egg projects. It seems like an good time to tackle eggs, with Easter and spring just around the corner. I wanted to pull all our egg projects together here, as a reminder, and for those of you that may not have discovered them yet.

To begin with, we have our Felt Fried Eggs and Bacon breakfast, with crispy bacon and sunny side up eggs. Perfect for the play kitchen.

Then, as the saying goes, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette... here we have a Felted Egg, ready to stuff with egg innards or special Easter treats for the basket. Make them white or brown for every day use, or use colored roving and needle felting to make beautiful Easter eggs.

We already shared our Traditional Felt Eggs that can be decorated for Easter, or left plain to fill an egg carton for the play kitchen.

And, finally, I would have been remiss if I hadn't crafted an Fried Egg Applique Block!

HAPPY EGG CRAFTING!

Britta was awaken by the lovely sound of birds singing in the forest trees. When she opened her eyes, however, she realized she was much closer to the forest than she had been when she went to sleep the night before. It seemed that at some time during the night, the bed that she shared with Axel, was removed from their home and carried far into The Thicket. Leprechauns! Britta thought of waking Axel, then took a deep breath, smelling the intoxicating fragrance of the mossy ground and the pine trees, and she snuggled back under the warm covers, snickered quietly and whispered, "No harm done" before falling back into a gentle sleep.

Directions for making the bed, mattress and pillow can be found HERE.

Knitting Instructions for Spring Bedspread

Materials:
size 3 knitting needles
sock yarn (You might like... Regia Kaffe Fassett Sock Yarn - Exotic Clay)

1] Loosely cast on 40 stitches.

2] Repeat the 4 rows of the pattern until piece measures 7".

Pattern:
Row 1: "P2, K2" across row.
Row 2: "K2, P2" across row.
Row 3: P row.
Row 4: K row.

3] Loosely cast off. Weave in ends.

 

EDIT: This posting was originally published March 9, 2009, but I thought it was worth moving to the top of the blog again! The kids loved these, and it is a project quite easy for children that are comfortable with a needle and thread to do. Make a dozen decorated for Easter, and a dozen for the play kitchen. 

This is the last egg project of the week. If you're not into making eggs out of roving, then try some of these Traditional Felt Eggs. VERY easy to make. Copy the pattern then you simply take 2 egg pieces, blanket stitch them together, leave an opening at the bottom, stuff and finish blanket stitching them closed. You can leave them plain or add embroidery or fabric paint to decorate. I did a combination. Although you can paint or embroider the eggs before you stitch them together, if you want a uniform pattern around the egg, wait until after it has been stuffed. The pattern includes 2 different sized eggs. The smaller eggs will fit in a standard egg carton. Perfect size if you'd like to make a dozen white or brown eggs for the play kitchen! There are no additional directions since it is very straightforward, but the pattern is available in the FREE Open Pattern section. Enjoy!

FYI... If you can't tell from the photo you are either being very kind or I did a remarkable job of camouflaging... I really am puff paint challenged! I always felt like my embroidery flowed like paint... thank goodness I was wrong! I was all thumbs as I tried to transfer my mental image to the eggs. So... there are smudges here and blobs there. Alas, not perfect, but the colors are still lovely, right? And if you squint your eyes just a wee bit, you can hardly notice the imperfections. Ah, we all need to be humbled occasionally!

Ever since the Leprechauns returned to The Thicket, Britta has been noticing a few oddities. Jackets and shawls disappear and reappear, the order of the shoes lined up by the backdoor get rearranged, and her bookmark gets moved nightly. Whenever Britta complains to Axel about the leprechauns, he shrugs and chuckles. "No harm done", he always says.

This morning Britta prepared Axel's favorite breakfast; blueberry tarts and acorn omelets. After his first couple of bites, Axel pushed away from the table with a confused look on his face. 

 "Britta, what's going on? Breakfast is awful!"  

 Sure enough. The blueberry tarts were too salty to eat, and the acorn omelets were too sweet to swallow. Britta had a bad feeling. She went to her larder. Sure enough, those pesky leprechauns switched the sugar and the salt!

 Britta mimicked Axel and in a deep voice said, "No harm done, right?"

  But I don't think Axel heard her. With his stomach rumbling, he left the house in a huff, and he could be heard bellowing, "RONAN, you no good rascal, show yourself."  

To make sacks of flour, rice, salt and sugar for your gnome house:

Materials:
felt pieces
stuffing
pattern

1] Make copy of pattern and cut out 2 pieces of felt for each sack.

2] Transfer names to bag fronts and embroider name using a stem stitch and 3 strands of floss.

3] With wrong sides together, Pin the sack front to the sack back. Using a blanket stitch across the top and a running stitch around the other 3 sides, stitch the sack closed with 3 strands of floss, leaving an opening on one side for stuffing.

4] Stuff with wool, cotton or fiberfill and finish sewing up the side.

5] Pinch each corner so seams are touching and tack together using 3 strands of floss.

Now place in your gnome's larder, but keep them safely locked away... especially when there are leprechauns around!

A couple of weeks ago we introduced you to Sarah Baldwin, Waldorf educator and owner of Bella Luna Toys. She gave an incredible interview, which from this point forward I think I’ll fondly refer to as Waldorf 101 :) She most graciously offered to sponsor a Give Away, too. Of course we jumped at the chance. Bella Luna Toys, right? EVERYTHING is lovely over there! So, to enter, here are the totally fun rules!

Head over to Bella Luna Toys. Do yourself a favor and look at absolutely everything. Not to worry… you’ll have a blast. Put together a wish list. Then come back to Wee Folk Art, and list your 3 favorite things. If you would like, tell us why you made your selections. It is that simple.

The contest runs from today, Wednesday, February 24, to Sunday, February 28 at 9:00 p.m. EST. At that time 2, yep, 2 winners will be drawn at random and each will receive a $25.00 gift certificate towards the purchase of items on their wish list. How awesome is that?

Want to up your chances of winning? And who wouldn’t, right? Just link to us on Facebook, Twitter, your blog or where ever you can get the word out about this super cool Bella Luna Toys Give Away, and you’ll get an extra entry for each posting. Make sure you create a new comment for each additional entry, including linking information. Then sit back and keep your fingers crossed!

And, sweetening the pot just a little bit more, Sarah is offering all readers a 10% discount off any orders placed between now and Saturday, March 6! Just type in the promotion code WEEFOLK to receive your special discount!

We want to thank Sarah for her generosity, and encourage all of our readers to join in the fun and savings. Winners will be announced after the drawing and notified by email. Winners must contact us by Sunday, March 7, or a new winner will be drawn. Good luck to all and let the wishing commence!