More handmade gifts...

One of my absolute favorite parts about the holiday season is coming up with handmade toys/gifts for my children. When i first opened my website The Enchanted Tree, over 10 years ago, my main focus on handmade clothing and jewelry. It was something i loved and something i was very passionate about. As i grew and my family grew, my focus began to shift. i have recently found myself to be a toy maker, and it is truly becoming quite a passion.
These are some of the gifts that i made last year.

This year Sage has really gotten into her play kitchen and play foods. Over the last couple years i have made her all kinds of crocheted foods, and decided to try something different. This pizza is made using felt and the crust is stuffed with alpaca fiber. The topping can be taken on and off, and are all hand sew. i scored a perfect sized pizza box from our local pizza parlor, and it made for an amazing presentation and storage!

While browsing ebay, i did a search for fairy tree houses. Just to get an idea of what was out there. i came across a really cute fairy set from Pottery Barn, and knew that i had to have one!

Of course there is no way i could afford that price tag, and could not find them available anywhere else. So i decided to make my own. This is made entirely out of scrap felt that i had on hand. The base is felt with a hidden layer of recycled cardboard, and a bit of wool stuffing . i love working with felt, it is so easy to work with and extremely forgiving. No need to serge or finishes edges, and if your stitching looks sloppy just pull it a bit tighter and the stitches disappear. :)

tiny lady bug embellishments. :)

i have made Sage several bendie folks and fairies, but made this one specifically for this set. i think she turned out especially sweet, and the pink wool hair is just perfect.

For my son, i was not quite sure what to make him. He's getting a bit too old for the type of toys i normally make. Last year i crocheted him a couple pokemon, and a Crusty Crab crocheted food set. This year i had considered trying to crochet Momo from The last Airbender, but after looking at some really cool wooden pirate ships i decided to attempt making him one out of felt.

i very loosely used this pattern from Mother Earth News. The entire ship is made from a double layer of felt. The wooden plank details, were sewn on the machine, but everything else was stitched by hand using the blanket stitch. It has a layer of stuffing in the bottom that helps it to keep it shape. The anchor is on an adjustable 'chain, and can be lowered or drawn up.

i made him a bendie pirate to go with it, only realizing afterwards how much it looks like Caillou. :) Sequoia requested that i add a beard or something to make him look a bit more pirate-ish.

Both gifts were well received. Sequoia quickly pulled out all of his lego pirates, and accessories and filled the ship. i have actually been a bit surprised by how often he gets it out and plays with it. Sage too, pulled out her other bendie fairies and fairy houses and set up a village with them.

Like every year, our gifts consisted of a bit of new, a bit of handmade, a bit of (used)recycled. The kids love it all, but it's an amazing feeling to see them cast aside the loud battery operated plastic junk toys, and reach for these handmade toys that i created for them. These are the treasured toys, and i'm certain they can feel the love that was put into them.