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,

Silk Dyed Eggs

Growing up, our family had an Easter tradition of making pysanky eggs. It was very time consuming but the results were lovely. I have fond memories of all of us around the table for many hours working on our eggs.  Each year we brought out the eggs we had made in the past years and had fun deciding what designs we would take on that year.  My mother still has egg cartons full of them from our childhood and has now introduced the tradition to my children.

A few years ago I saw eggs dyed with silk. The intricate patterns reminded me of pysanky and I was intrigued. I liked the idea that they took a fraction of the time yet looked elaborate and beautiful. This year we decided to give it a go. It was so simple and we loved unwrapping our little egg packages to see how they turned out!

To create you will need:

eggs (at room temperature ~ it helps when blowing out the insides)

100% silk scarves or ties

white fabric (we cut up an old pillow case)

vinegar

elastics

tapestry needle or nail

To begin:

Begin by taking your eggs and pierce the top and bottom of the egg with a large needle. This can be done by older children (my nine year old loved the whole process) but obviously with care. 

Next,  pierce the egg yoke (we used a bamboo bbq skewer) to make for easier blowing and enlarge the hole at the end of the egg you will be blowing out from.

Seal your mouth around the top of the egg and blow. 

Once the eggs are empty, rinse them out with water and blow out the water for nice clean eggs.

Gather up your silk.

Cut your silk into squares that will be large enough to wrap around the egg with some fabric left over to wrap an elastic around. 

Decide what part of the pattern you want transferred onto your egg and wrap the silk tightly around the face of the egg. The tighter the silk is to the egg the better it will transfer. Be sure to have the right side of the silk on the inside, facing the egg. 

Secure it tight with an elastic band in the back of the egg.

Wrap it again in a square of white cotton.

Place 1/2 cup of vinegar in a pot, fill with water and then add your wrapped eggs. Gently weigh down your eggs so they don't float above the water (we used a glass lid that was a bit smaller than the pot).

Bring it to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Rinse them in cold water until you can handle them and then it's time for the most exciting part! Unwrapping them!!!

We were in awe at how this process worked. So amazing!

The back where it was scrunched up was even beautiful. Almost a tie dyed look. 

Here are some of the results we had. 

I think we are hooked.  I highly recommend giving this a try. 

Easy, with long lasting and gorgeous results.

Homemade Silly Putty Eggs

Recently we had a school snow day (I know, a SNOW DAY in SPRING! Crazy Canada.) We decided to make the most of it and make something fun! My littlest loves silly putty. I had come across some recipes online awhile ago and thought we would give the homemade silly putty a go. 

We followed a few different recipes, playing with all the amounts until we got the results that we wanted. Squishy but not runny. Perfect for play! Once we discovered the magic combination my gal was able to make this all on her own in minutes!

Here is what worked for us

1/4 cup glue (elmer's or any no name brand ~ we tried a few)

1/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 tbsp borax powder

1 tsp washable paint (you can use food coloring too ~ we used paint to have more colors options)

To begin:

Place 1 tsp of paint into a bowl. 

Add in your 1/4 cup warm water and stir.

Next, measure out 1/4 cup glue and add to your paint mixture. Mix thoroughly. 

Measure out 1 1/2 tbsp of borax and spinkle over the mixture. 

Stir until it starts to become a gloopy  mess like this.

Now for the really fun part! Take it in your hands and squish it silly! It should co-operate and become some super silly putty.

We thought we would create some Easter inspired colors of silly putty and the results were lovely!

Perfect time of year to create silly putty, as we had the eggs to store it in. Just like the real deal!

These shall surely fill some of our Easter baskets this year. 

There is SO much fun you can have with silly putty!

1. Press things in to it and use it as a mold.

 2. Create a bouncy ball by rolling it into a ball and placing it in the freezer for an hour. 

3. Watch it float by shaping it into a boat shape and placing in water.

4. Draw a picture with pencil and press the putty flat on top so it copies the image.

5. Juggle with it.

6. Perhaps the best part of all....

Squishing it! How can you resist?!

Happy stretching, bouncing, squishing and squeezing!

Egg Owl

With egg crafts exploding all over the place, we wanted to do something a little different.

Inspired by an old paper crafting book, we tried our hand at nesting egg owls.

To make your own you will need:

an egg, (with the insides blown out)

toilet paper tube

egg carton

felt

paint & paint brush

glue gun and glue sticks

something to imitate "nesting" material

(we used Easter grass)

sharpie

To begin…paint your toilet paper tube brown…this is your "tree" base.

Paint on some "bark"

Adding a couple of leaves is optional…we cut ours out of the egg carton and painted

them green and glued them on.

Now cut out your egg carton like so…these are your "nests"

Taking your glue gun, glue on your "nesting" material.

Now glue in your egg.

Cut out eyes…beak…feet…wings…and little feathers for its head.

Glue them onto your egg owl!

And the end result is something like this.

An "egg"traordinary craft!