Spring Time & My Little Creations

Spring time has been so much fun! We've done so many activities and projects that have gone uncaptured. (can I tell you again how annoying it is not to have a camera!) We've visited a farm to see baby animals, made salt dough candle holders & baby chicks & bunnies with friends. We've made chocolate together with my Gramma's old chocolate molds and a few new ones of our own. We've begun a meager nature table and have planted spring flowers. All frustratingly uncaptured! Ah well. I finally was able to freecycle a very old camera, and with a friend's help, get the pics on my computer! Thank you Carey & Mike! So yay! Here are some pics!

For Easter I wanted to make something special for Michael. I've been eyeing these Waldorf inspired gnomes and fairies on Etsy for some time now but can't afford the $18-20 per little doll price tag. Which by the way is completely worth it. The craft on these little peg dolls is just beautiful and so detailed! Anyway, I finally did some searching and found an online tutorial at Wee Folk Art and started with these little gnomes.

Meet Saphire, Ruby & Emerald.

I love the book, Children of the Forest by Elsa Beskow, so here are a few little dolls modeled after the "forest people". I made the mushroom cap by trial and error and used that pattern later for fairy hats as well.


I bought little craft items for the forest people, gnomes and fairies to use- tiny little wooden bowls, pots & eggs. My husband had more craft items on hand from a series of artwork he was doing. We found little wooden jars, rolling pins, beehives & spools (we use as tables) in his stash. So after collecting these little props and playthings I needed a bag to put them in. Here's the bag sporting a toadstool.


And here's the homemade easter basket that Michael scored on Easter morning. I figured out how to make another little gnome hat style, the green, blue & yellow guys at the bottom. I sewed little silver bells to the tops of their gnome hats. And I included a little fairy popping out of a wooden flower pot. He loves them and plays with them often, especially when Mom or Dad will play with him.

One thing I will do differently next time is to use wool felt. The acrylic felt that I have on hand pills almost instantly, which is so sad after you've spent so much time and energy making something. Wool felt is expensive but worth it I think for a project like this one.

All in all this project was very inexpensive to make. The peg dolls were $2.99 for a bag of 8 at Hobby Lobby. And the little wooden play things were under $2 a bag. The felt, glue and embroidery thread I had on hand. The wool felt would have cost more but not much of it would have been required. I've seen wool, felt sample packs for $20 online. That would make an army of these little guys.

And here's another little fairy & gnome set that I made for my nieces to share. Stacey, I will send them soon!