Toys

I woke up at 6:00 Monday morning with an idea. I must dream in crafts, because I often wake up with some scathingly brilliant or totally lame idea... my dreams don't always transfer well to wakefulness! Anyway, I knew I wanted to add something to Bug's Art Supply Messenger Bag, and somewhere in the night I decided to make a key chain of sorts instead of appliqueing a design on the bag. It didn't take me long to decide what I wanted to make. Bug Loves Legos, and is currently into the Ninjagos.

So, I drew out a pattern based on his favorite character, Kai. I am so pleased with the way it turned out and I think Bug is going to love it! Do you have someone in your life that is into Legos? If you do, this might be the perfect gift to whip up... just in time for the holidays :)

The original post, Bug's Christmas Gift, can be found HERE.

Materials:
Felt
Embroidery floss
2 split rings (key rings)
Copy of the pattern

Note: If you haven't done so already, you may want to read How to Cut Out Felt.

Note: Our stitch glossary can be found HERE.

Make a copy of the pattern.

Cut out the pieces out of felt. Note: When you cut out the hood, your background felt will become the face of the ninja. Pick out the background color you want for the face.

Begin by laying out all the pattern pieces on the front background.

Remove all the pieces except the arms and hands. Pin or staple them in place. Sew the hands on using a running stitch and 1 strand of floss. Sew the arms over the hands with a blanket stitch and 2 strands of floss.

Sew on the body using a blanket stitch and 2 strands of floss.

Position the hood on the body. Using a disappearing marker, mark the opening of the hood. Remove the hood, and draw on the eye brows and eyes using the pattern as a guide. Using a stem stitch and 3 strands of floss, embroider the eye brows. Using a detached chain stitch and 3 strands of floss, add eyes. 

Sew on the hood using a running stitch and 2 strands of floss around the outer edge of the hood, and using a blanket stitch and 2 strands of floss, sew around the hood opening.

Add the chest detail: Add the belt, then the ties, using a running stitch and 2 strands of floss. Sew on the small face using a running stitch and 2 strands of floss. Add the eyes, nose and mouth using a straight stitch and 2 strands of floss. Using a stem stitch and 6 strands of floss, add the roping. (Note: I didn't get a photo at this stage

If you wish to add initials to the back of the key chain, do it now using a stem stitch and 6 strands of floss.

With wrong sides together, blanket stitch the front to the back using 2 strands of floss. Cut out a small circle for the key rings. (This will become an eyelet.) Using a blanket stitch and 2 strands of floss, embroider around the entire eyelet. Keep your stitches close together to give strength to the opening. To reinforce. you can go around the circle a second time.

Put one of the key rings through the eyelet. Put a second key ring through the first and attach it to a bag, keys, etc.

"Go Ninja, Go Ninja, GO!" Okay... I know this song is for a VERY different group of ninjas, but I couldn't resist this piece of nostalgia ;) Ya' gotta admit, it's a hoot :)

EDIT: This giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announced Monday, November 28. Good luck to all :)

A few weeks ago we had a lovely new sponsor quietly join our family... Sarah's Silk. Actually, Sarah isn't new to Wee Folk Art. She hosted a wonderful giveaway last spring. But now, she has a permanent spot on our blog, so whenever you are HERE, you are just one button push away from visiting her wonderful shop :)

Very often interviews are done to introduce sponsors. Since we already did that in the spring (you can read about that HERE), we thought we would do something a little different. Sarah sent us one of her Starry Night Silk Scapes to test drive. We had 3 very eager guinea pigs! Below are a few of the ways they incorporated the silk scape into their play...  

Indoors... by draping it over their play stand, they created a lovely reading nook. That night they read books under the stars, using flashlights to read by. Camping indoors... totally awesome :)

Michelle decided SHE had the perfect spot for the new silk scape... flowing over a window! I love silks on windows!

Silk Scapes also make beautiful table clothes. We also have Sarah's Rainbow Silk Scape that is used everyday!

Or, can you jump over it?

If you "miss", it's your turn to hold an end of the Silk Scape, but that is just as much fun :)

And, just because it feels so good, you can run... trailing a trail of silk behind you!

Silks are an important part of the wee one's daily play. They present endless opportunities for open ended play. From the large silk scapes down to the mini silks, children will find ways to incorporate them into their play. As a matter of fact, the last time the Little Lady was here, her favorite toy at Gammy's was the silks. Even before heading for home, Meghan placed an order for their own stash of silks. I was sent these pics shortly after their visit. I am told she is seldom without a silk :)

Obviously, we are humongous fans of Sarah's Silks. Here's one of the ways that I like to display/store my silks. I change them out with the seasons.

So, after singing the praises of silks... I bet you want your own (if you don't have any) or more (if you do :) Luckily, Sarah is hosting a giveaway. YAY! One lucky winner will receive their very own Starry Night Silk Scape! 

Wool Roving (for the duck, I used bright yellow)
Medium Felting Needle
Foam Block

 
Begin winding around your finger (not too loose or tight) and continue until it is the desired thickness, just remember that it will get thinner with felting and you do want it to be sturdy.

 
Lightly needle felt to hold the wool together for wet felting.

 

 

Take two small pieces of white and fold them into the shape that you want the eyes to be. Very lightly needle felt and add a small piece of black to each one.

 

Positioning the eye where you want it, needle felt one onto the puppet and then the other. Make sure that it is securely attached.

 

And there you have your duck finger puppet!

 

I am a happy wife and proud mama of two sweet daughters, age three and soon to be two. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of another little one in December. We are committed as a family to learning how to live simply and well while caring for others and the world that we have been given. With that in mind, earlier this summer, we loaded our belongings into a small trailer and travelled across Canada where we are now making our home on a small acreage in Nova Scotia. Restoring an old duplex farm house, learning how to protect our chickens from foxes, helping two little girls settle well in a new place, and being pregnant has been a challenge to say the least! But in the moments that I can find, I enjoy making natural toys, crafts and clothing for my girls and others.
 

This giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announced shortly.

EDIT: Daria is from Israel. She will ship anywhere. All are welcome to enter :)

Several months ago I introduced you to Daria, from Art of Felting, when we commissioned her to needle felt a tapestry to commemorate my marriage to Tim.  
A few weeks ago we received an email from Daria. She was wondering if we would be interested in partnering for another give-away, in time for the holidays. It took us all of, hmmm, 2 seconds to say, "You betcha!"
 
After some discussion, we decided to offer 1 lucky winner a choice between her Waldorf King Winter

Beautiful, aren't they? So, do you think it would be ethical for Michelle and I the enter, hehe? Anyway, both offerings are lovely, and should you be lucky enough to win, you can choose which you'd like. Tough call, isn't it? To enter, simply visit Daria's Etsy shop, The Art of Felting, browse her store looking for holiday gift giving ideas, and tell us what you like best. Yep, I know it's hard to decide, but humor us, and pick :) Then, let us know, if you should win, whether you would like the Waldorf King Winter or the Nativity.
 
The contest will run from today, Wednesday, October 12, through Sunday, October 16, at 9:00 pm, EST. Then, a winner will be drawn at random. The winner will have 1 week to contact us with their snail mail address or a new winner will be selected.
 
First off... a HUGE thank-you to Daria for her talents and generosity, then, good luck to one and all. Daria's work is beautiful. We are so delighted to be able to offer our readers a chance to win one of her delightful pieces.
 

Tim often looks at me with this incredulous look on his face and asks, "How DOES your mind work?" I like to think he asks when he's awed by my creative energy... chances are he asks when he's considering having me committed! Anyway... when "creating", there are 2 different approaches I take. First, there is deliberate creating. There will be something I want to make... say, beds for the gnome house. So, I think about it and come up with a plan. Sometimes, if uninspired, I might wander the aisles of my local craft shop, or surf the web, then "bam", an idea surfaces, and I'm off and running.

The other way I create is, at best, merry happenstance. I'll just be fiddling with something, and all of a sudden, my random bending, folding, and mutilating produces an end product that actually looks like something, and the project is born. My hay bundles were the result of mindless shredding of burlap.

I had a big roll of garden burlap to wrap a few plants with for the winter. I had cut off too much, and had a long strip left over. I am a shredder, what can I say? My mom was always fearful that we had a mouse in the house, when she would discover one of my little piles. Might be a Kleenex, might be a page out of a magazine, might be unraveled yarn. I'm a pro at shredding! Well, much to my delight, burlap unravels very easily, and before I knew it, I had unraveled threads from both long sides of the strip, leaving a narrow band of fabric in the center. Then, for no apparent reason, I rolled the strip, and tah dah, it looked like corn stalks or hay bundles. I tied it off, and put it in the gnome autumn forest and it looked great.

So there you have it. I'm including the exact directions below. Trust me, these are so easy, you'll find you are tucking them all over the house!

Materials:  
6" x 36" strip of burlap, cut on the straight of the grain... very important! (To see how to cut along the straight of the grain, check out the tute found HERE. Each strip makes 1 hay bundle.

Cut out a strip of burlap 6" X 36" Most garden burlap, used for wrapping outdoor plants comes 36" wide. Cut off the 2 end selvages. (The tightly woven ends on the 6" sides.)

Unravel 2" off each long side, leaving 2" intact down the middle of the strip.

Using a pencil or other thin smooth rod, begin at one short end, and tightly roll the entire strip around your pencil, keeping the ends even. NOTE: When the burlap comes off the roll, it will curl. When wrapping, you want to make sure the curl is down, so when you are done, the curl causes the burlap to bend outward.



Using 1 of the threads that you unraveled from the burlap, overlap and end of the thread, and tightly wrap the 2" center woven section.

Using a large needle, tie off the end by weaving the end all the way through the center section 2 times. Cut off the remainder of the thread near the bundle.


Your hay bundle is now ready to add autumn flair to your gnome or doll house.

NOTE: The pattern for the mini pumpkins can be found HERE, and the Old World Gnomes can be found HERE.