5 Orange Potatoes » fairies

making flower children by sybille adolphi

5 Orange Potatoes — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:54:31 +0000

This little fairy doll was inspired by the book, Making Flower Children,by Sybille Adolphi. My fairy doll is not in the book, but the book taught me how to put her together. It’s a lovely little book with patterns and instructions to make many little dollhouse-sized dolls that reflect flowers and insects that we see in our gardens. With the holidays right around the corner and knowing a lot of my crafty friends might be interested in this book- I’m giving one away.

This is what the back of the book says, “Here are detailed step-by-step instructions and illustrations for making a range of lively, creative flower figures. Activities are organized by season, making the book ideal for decorating a nature corner or seasonal table in the home or classroom.”

Here are some of the dolls included in the book.

To enter the giveaway just leave a comment. Anyone can enter, will ship world-wide! Deadline to enter is Wednesday, Sept. 30. Now to go and really start working on that gift list for the handmade holidays I’m doing this year. Have a lovely week! Giveaway Closed.

Shakespeare and herbal fairy brooms

5 Orange Potatoes — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:54:16 +0000

Not a mouse

Shall disturb this hallow’d house:

I am sent with broom, before,

To sweep the dust behind the door.”

-A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck cleaning Theseus’ house)

We are really enjoying the tales of Shakespeare! So far we have read The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and are so wrapped up in their enchanted worlds. In the end of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Oberon tells Puck and the other fairies to clean the royal castle. Fauna’s idea of fairy cleaning is little brooms and mops made from sticks and herbs. We have been talking about the herbs and flowers in Shakespeare’s writings and used some of them for the little cleaning tools. The Little Ladies picked rose petals, lamb’s ear, thyme, lemon balm, Sweet Annie, and peppermint; “these herbs will leave a lovely scent with each swoosh!”

They are so simple to make; just tie a little plant bunch around a stick with craft floss. Araina thought a fairy rose would make the perfect mop!

Make one for each room in your castle, make sure to leave a little pail of water for the mops! I will continue to share our love of Shakespeare with you as we go along!

These would make cute little halloween witch brooms as well! A little garland of them would be so cute!

Ok, you caught me, the realist in me is having issues with the whimsy in me…..I can’t stop experimenting with the photo editing! I used the “vibrance” effect to toy with the color today, played with the water marks and can’t resist those rounded corners! Araina wasn’t happy with the pinkness it added to her face though (geez, that child is VAIN)! Have a lovely weekend!

Click here for info on Shakespeare and his fairies.

felt fairy house (wip)

5 Orange Potatoes — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:14:00 +0000

This little felt house is not a WIP exactly, because it’s already done. However, I will be making a couple more for the Little Ladies come holiday time. I made this fairy house 5 years ago for Fauna’s wee folk. I LOVED making wee folk back then but grew a little tired of wrapping chenille stems with floss and had to take a break. Lately, the girls have been asking for more. Fauna wants a fairy family (I can’t believe I haven’t made a fairy set, I was obsessed with trees at the time and made a maple family, oak family and sweet gum family) and Araina wants a ladybug family. So it’s time, once again, to start wrapping chenille stems and to dig out the pattern I made for this little house.

I loved designing this little house with the leaf roof and the flowers growing on the sides. My handsewing skills have really improved since 5 years ago so the whole process of the wee folk and the felt house should come easier this time around.

Free AMAZING Clipart

5 Orange Potatoes — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:33:56 +0000

I must share this AMAZING free clipart site from Florida’s Educational Technology Clearinghouse….Clipart ETC. There are no advertisements or pop ups at this site, it is safe. There are over 58,000 illustrations from old books, pin and ink drawings and prints. Some of the categories are math, plants, animals, alphabet, music, cartoons, American history…these are only a few. You won’t be disappointed. Here are some samples……

CLICK HERE for a visit!

Make a Fairy Doll

5 Orange Potatoes — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:31:02 +0000

My mom made some cute and whimsical fairies for Fauna’s birthday. These fairies can be made with very little sewing skills.

What you need: pre-made doll form (found at any craft store), embroidery thread, silk flowers, cloth scraps, ribbon and any other pretty whimsical sewing notions that a fairy would be proud to wear.

First make a simple little jumper using scrap cloth. Hand sew (or glue) the details onto the dress; silk flowers for the skirts and wings and ribbon for whimisical details.

Use a skein of embroidery thread for the hair. Tack on the hair then glue or tack on any details for hair accessories.

What little girl wouldn’t love a small wicker rocker full of colorful and lovely fairies??? (photo below taken by Fauna)