Toadstool Fairy House

We always seem to have our toadstool radar on {dreaming up toadstool crafts}.

Inspired by my co-bloggers toadstools for the garden, I wondered if I could use a smaller wooden bowl and create a wee toadstool cottage! 

With some fairy guidance it all came together. 

Seeing perhaps an entire fairy village of these for them to frolick and dwell in!

To create you will need:

small wooden bowl

large toilet paper roll (or if you can't find an large one like this, a container would work)

red & white paint

bits of nature to embellish (we used moss, baby's breath, birch bark and pussy willows)

paint brush

glue

To begin:

Paint your bowl with a couple coats of red paint let it dry fully.

With a small paint brush add your toadstool spots.

Take your toilet paper roll and paint it white.

Then, cut your door shape out of birch bark.

Add on a little acorn cap for the handle and pussy willows if you are inspired.

Glue your door on and add your moss.

We tucked some baby's breath into the moss ~ couldn't resist adding the perfect fairy flower!

Fairy goodness complete!

Fairies

Did you ever hear
Of the frolic fairies dear?

They're a blessed little race,
Peeping up in fancy's face,

In the valley, on the hill,
By the fountain and the rill;

Laughing out between the leaves
That the loving summer weaves.
Frances Sargent Osgood

Our little fairy cottage now lies nestled in the "mountainous region" of our back yard to await the fairies.

Fairy Blessings to All,

Owl You Need Is Love

My daughter Luna is an owl lover. I thought for valentines I would attempt to whip up some sweet owl love for her. This little owl is what came to life! It was really simple to make. Here's the how to incase you want to whip one up too!

For this you will need

felted sweaters in what ever colors you want your owl to be

small twigs

two buttons

glue gun (or sewing supplies if you prefer)

rice 

dried lavender (optional)

To begin

Cut out two matching rectangles from the felted sweater that you want to be the body of your owl.

Cut a small rounded strip out of the top of both rectangles to create the ears.

(Be sure to hang onto the strips ~ these will be the wings!) 

Cut a heart for the face out of a felted sweater (or any felt you have on hand)

Glue gun it on to your owl body.

Cut out to felt circles of the eyes and glue them on.

Glue your buttons over top.

Cut out a small rectangle for the nose and glue it on.

The sweet little face will then look something like this!

Glue (or sew) the edges of your body pieces together, being sure to leave one side open.

Fill the owl with rice and lavender until he is comfortably plump.

Glue the last remaining side up.

Break or cut six little twigs up and glue them together for the feet.

Glue them to the bottom of the owl.

Last but not least, glue the strips you cut to create his ears onto his sides... voila he has wings to fly! 

Here's a little extra love to brighten your day!

Origami Love Lollipops

With valentines day just around the corner, the girls and I made some super simple lollipop filled hearts to pass out to their friends. 

Here is a quick how to for you!

To create you will need

magazines or old calenders

scissors

lollipops

hole punch

double sided tape

1. Cut a square out of an old calender or magazine. 

2. Cut your square in half to create a triangle.

3. Fold the top point of the triangle up as shown.

4. Fold the left side up. 

5. Fold right side up so that your paper forms a square.

6.  Flip your paper over. 

7. Fold down the top corners of the paper over to the sides.

8. This creates the heart shape!

 9. Gently unfold your heart and punch a hole at the tip of your heart.

10. Slide your lollipop into the hole.

11. Place a piece of double sided tape on your lollipop and and fold the top back down.

12. Add a bit more tape on the sides and fold back up.

13. It should now look like this ~ almost there...

14. Fold in the top and side points to round out your heart.

Fini!

So lovely to play with flower photos this time of the year. Their bright colors remind me that spring is sure to come!

*Warning* folding these hearts may be addictive! Once we started it was hard to stop. It was such a delight to see how quickly & magically each flower photo became a heart.

We look forward to passing out some flower dressed sweet love. 

Here's to spreading the love!

Sumac Valentine Wreath

  

I was on a beautiful winter walk recently and happened to spot a sweet small forest of sumac. As I admired their bright red against the white snow ~ inspiration hit ~ such lovely gift from nature to create a love-filled wreath with! 

I gathered up an armload of the velvety berries (being sure to leave lots for the birds) and headed home to give it a try. 

To create you will need:

cardboard ( I used an old pizza box)

Sumac berries (staghorn sumac  ~ be sure you know exactly what they are meant to look like before heading out to collect!)

glue gun 

ribbon

To begin, draw what ever size heart you want your wreath on to be and it cut out.

Fold your heart in half and cut out half a heart shape from of the center.

Tada!

You can then fire up your glue gun...

and begin gluing your berry clusters onto the heart until all the cardboard is fully covered.

Next, fold your ribbon in half and glue the folded part to the back of your wreath for hanging. 

Then if you choose you can then add a little glitter to bring some extra sparkle to your love. To encourage the glitter to stick as well as to help preserve your wreath, give it a spray down of hairspray before shaking on the glitter.

We shook it on and then took if outside in the sunshine to test its "sparkleability". It passed! 

Ready for its new home.

 Our heart full of love now hangs as a welcome to all!

May love and sparkles find you where ever you are.