Milkweed pod babies- Nature crafts revisited

i recently had the opportunity to re-visit these milkweed pod babies crafts.  My daughter and i had so much fun making them a few years ago, that i thought i'd share them again. We first came across the idea on www.ecomilf.blogspot.com.  The original tutorial is no longer there, so i thought i'd post one for anyone interested in making them.  They are very easy and so adorable!

All you need for this craft is some milkweed pods, pipe cleaners, wooden beads, wool roving and acorn caps.  One pipe cleaner makes 3 babies.

Cut your pipe cleaner in three equal pieces, that are approx. 4" long. Fold in half, and slide your bead on. Then fold down the very ends of the pipe cleaner and and add a bit of glue. You can glue your acorn cap to the top of the head now.

i used a small section of wool roving that was about 12" long.   Place the end of the wool on the pipecleaner, and begin wrapping the body.  Once you get to the bottom wrap it back toward the top, and finish it off by wrapping the end tightly at the neck or base of the bead.  Now you can add a face if you want, or leave it without.  

My daughter wanted to glue a little of the milkweed fluff inside our milkweed pod to make it more comfy for the baby. :) 

These are a great project for almost any age, and look lovely as part of a nature table or in a dollhouse with a bendy doll family. They would make a great project for a waldorf class or girl scout craft. 

Hopefully the tutorial is easy to understand, let me know if anything is unclear. Have fun!

October Garden and New Projects.

October garden is still going strong.  Although most of my summer crops are done i replanted many back in July/August and i'm finally beginning to get a good harvest from them. The peppers and tomatillos that were planted in the spring and are just now ripening and ready for harvest.  We have had two frosts so far but i've had most things covered and so they are still doing well.  My fall carrots are still a bit small but i'm getting lots of snow peas and swiss chard.  Zucchini and yellow squash are still hanging in there despite the cold temps. 

i have lots of new lettuce, kale and spinach planted in the tiered garden.  Kenan bought a tiller so two of my four gardens have now been tilled!  Nasturtium and marigolds are finally in full bloom.   Seems like every year they wait until right before it freezes/frosts to finally come into bloom. Hoping they stay pretty another week or two. 

With the cooler weather i am spending more time inside, which means i'm attempting to focus on my business again.  Although i keep saying i'm done making bendy dolls, i always go back to making them. :)   i'm really hoping to focus more on Waldorf dolls this winter, but until them i have lots of these bendy dolls available.

i've mainly been focusing on Halloween themed dolls, trying to sell a few so i can buy the supplies needed for other projects.  The two witches and wizard above are sold, but the pumpkin girls and ones below are still available. 

i've mainly been working on Halloween themed dolls, trying to sell a few so i can buy the supplies needed for other projects.  :)

i've also been working on organizing and creating a craft space.  i'm setting it up inside the tiny little laundry room. The space is really just a place to store my supplies and keep them organized, as i tend to take my projects into what ever room i am in at the time.  i'm hoping to eventually put cabinets and a counter top in here  so i can set up my sewing machine.  

Just for fun, i made my boy a Doctor Who Tardis hat. 

i've been thinking about stocking my etsy shop again, but until them i'm still just selling on my FB page.  i have bendy dolls, jewelry and a few hats for sale.  i rarely take custom orders, but if it sounds interesting and i have the materials i may consider.

i'm still spending a good amount of time in the garden.  i have quite a few fall crops in and i won't give up on it until it's buried in at least a foot of snow. :)   

#creativeeveryday Weekly Round Up 2

Lots of progress this week, but i have a terrible habit of constantly starting new projects before finishing the ones i'm working on.

i did get the kids Valentine owls finished up. i think they turned out pretty good. :)

i started more dolls.  Since i'm having so much trouble completing just one, i thought i'd practice making heads. i'm quite happy with the consistency of them.  The shape, size and faces are very similar.  They don't quite have the look i was trying for, but i'm getting closer and i'm learning what i need to do to get a nice consistent look. So that's good progress!

i've almost finished up this girl.  She needs pants under her dress, and maybe a hat or bag.  i admit, i get rather attached to my dolls and sometimes i think i slack on finishing them just to keep them around a little longer. :)  i am quite in love with this girl at the moment. :)

So instead of working on dolls, i decided to pull out the beads again.  Played around with peyote stitch and herringbone/dembele.  i always forget how much i love beading. There is a gentle meditative rhythm to this type of bead weaving. It's done with needle and thread, sewing one one bead at a time. It is the same rhythm that is in hand stitching fabrics and the reason i often choose it over machine sewing. It's more time consuming of course, but forces one slow down and really connect with the piece they are working on.  Your breathing slows, you mind quiets and you get into a zone. This was impossible when the kids were younger with the constant interruptions, but now that they are older and in school i'm making the time to sit down with my beads and find that place again. After spending an entire year feeling lost, this feels like coming home.

Doesn't matter how hard i try to get away from the bendy dolls. i always come back to them. :)  This is the last of my valentine fairies.  Hoping to put this energy into other things now. With spring quickly approaching, i worry that garden season is going to suck up all my time.  i have always dreaded the winter, but this year i have truly embraced it, and am quite content to have another 6 weeks of it. 

There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself. ~Ruth Stout

Autumn bendy dolls

Now the the weather has turned cooler, i am spending less time outside in the garden and more time inside curled up with a blanket!! This camper does't hold heat well, and if i keep the heat on i will run out of propane. So i stay bundled up and have begun putting a bit of time back into my crafts.

The changing of the seasons always inspires new dolls.  

i've been having fun with the Autumn theme.  Many of the dolls pictured in this post are already sold, but i still have many available on my FB page and i'm posting new ones every few days!

The Autumn fairies are always a favorite. i love using the acorn caps as hats. 

i like using the artificial leaves as wings for the Autumn fairies. Sometimes i give them acorn caps, sometimes gnome hats. i think the Autumn fairies are some of my favorites.

i came across this black spotted felt and immediately knew i had to make lady bug girls. :) 

i had a request for a Turkey girl this year. i was feeling a little bored with the dolls i was making, and didn't want to finish the nativity sets i've been working on so i accepted the challenge.  i thought she turned out really cute!!

Here is another turkey girl. :)  i'll be working on a few more this next week, and then will eventually move on to snowflake fairies. 

Most of my sales are done through my fb page these days, so if you are interested in some bendy dolls head over to https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Enchanted-Tree/339122860346 to see what is available!

i also recreated my dragon pattern, and finished up a new dragon for my kids. There are a few things that need to be tweaked, but now that i have remade the pattern i'll be able to offer some for sale again in the future.  Still working on some of my other patterns, but i'll get them recreated eventually.

Finding Inspiration.

i've been on a bit of a crafting break ever since we moved back to the property. Part of this is because it's garden season and that tends to occupy my time. This year we've had a ton of rain, and that gave me a lot of opportunity to be creative and yet i wasn't.  Truth is, i just wasn't feeling it. i've been struggling with depression, and the space inside the RV is not great for crafting inspiration...especially with two kids in it as well.

i was really hoping that once the kids started back to school i would start feeling inspired again. i started making a few dolls and got a request for a family set. i do not typically take custom orders, but every once in a while i will.  The request was for a family set.

i love the way it turned out. The dolls were all remakes of previous dolls i have made in the past.  It was the motivation i needed to make a few other family sets.

Acorn family. This set is available for $26 shipped first class (US).

Toad Stool Gnome family set.   This set is available for $26 shipped first class (US).

As much as i love making bendy dolls, i have been wanting to get away from it and find something else that i enjoy.  Something that actually pays for the time i put into making them.

Last year i really started to get into making Waldorf dolls and then lost all of them in the fire before i ever got around to putting any of them for sale. i lost over a dozen dolls, and a ton of materials that had just been purchased and hadn't even been opened.  i think i had 10lbs of wool, and around 10 yards of organic cotton fabric and a huge box of hand sprung wool yarn hair. So although i wanted to start making them again, i've been a little apprehensive.  The materials are so expensive, and i really didn't want to have to re-buy all of those materials again.A sweet friend donated some materials so that i could make Sage a doll  for her 7th birthday, and was really pleased with how it turned out. So i decided to give doll making another try. i picked up just a yard of fabric and a lbs of wool to get started.

i thought with the kids in school i would be able to sew without distraction.  i had no idea how much trouble a kitten would be. :)  Thank goodness he naps often.

i was pleasantly surprised at how quickly i remember the process.  i really do enjoy doll making, especially the hand sewing and face embroidery which really connects you with the doll. 

This was my first one using materials i just had on hand.  She is only 8" tall. i wanted to make a handful of mini-dolls to make my one yard of fabric last a bit longer, rather than just making one full size doll.  i'm still working out my pattern on these, but i do hope to offer them for sale soon.

So this has been my week. Trying to get back into it.  My only real struggle has been making the dolls a consistent size. i don't have a drawn out pattern and just sort of wing it, and so although the dolls are around 8" tall, it is not exact. i'm also having a hard time finding hair yarns that i like. i don't want to buy anything in bulk, and the art yarns are so expensive. i've been browsing the internet looking for some wool boucle that is reasonably priced.  It took me a long time to collect all the fabulous hair yarns i had before, so it's a bit depressing having to start over again. i have a feeling i'm going to have a bunch of bald for quite a while.

i'm really looking forward to getting back into doll making. i've decided i don't really care for this little size. i actually prefer the 16"-18" dolls. i really enjoy making all the extra accessories and really personalizing them. Once i get settled in our new house and begin to set up a craft space i plan to buy the materials so that i can start making the larger dolls.

i do have quite a few of the bendy dolls available for purchase, if your interested you can visit my fb page (it's the only place i sell at these days).  Once i have all these dolls finished, i will be posting them for sale as well.   i'll be sure and post more photos of them as i beining to finish and personalize each one.  i have so many other projects i want to do, but am really limited in this RV.  So for now i am just working on making a bit of money to go back into my supplies. i really look forward to having a full stocked craft space again one day.

Pink Fairy Giveaway!

Just for fun and as a thank you for your continued support i'm giving away this sweet little fairy!! You can enter by leaving a comment below telling me why you would like to win and who you would give it to.   Then enter through the rafflecopter below. There are options for extra entries on the rafflecopter. You can enter by leaving your comment here or on the FB post.  Open worldwide.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Snowflake Fairies.

 Snowflake fairies are appearing early this year!!  These ladies don't usually come out until after Thanksgiving! However, this year our early snowfall has brought them out of hiding!

IF you are interested in a snowflake fairy you can visit my Facebook page to see what is available or contact me at enchantedtree(at)hotmail.com.

They each have a hat with  a snowflake embroidered on it.  They are 3" inches tall, without the hat and not recommended for little ones under three years.

i do also have a couple of the Autumn fairies left.  So if you are not quite ready for snowflake fairies (which i completely understand!! i do have just a few others available.

i've got a very busy weekend planned here, but am going to try and have a couple of giveaways posted for you guys!!  One will be for Life Expressions (my Sil's biz) and the other is for Melissa and Doug, We love their toys!!.

Also, i am almost at 1000 facebook fans! i'll be giving away a bendy set once i hit 1000 fans.  Yay for giveaways! It is so much fun to give stuff away!  :)

Witches, Pumpkins and Autumn fairies..oh my!

 Between processing apples, volunteering at the school and my fall garden i've also been working on new bendy dolls.  i'm having fun making some seasonal dolls, and wanted to share a few of my favorites.

 

 i've been making lots of little witches. i make these in different colors, orange and black tights, purple and black etc.  These little ladies have been very popular, and i only have this one available as a pre-made. If you are interested in one, just let me know.

 i've also been making lots of little pumpkin girls. :) i don't have any of these pre-made at the time, but am happy to make more if there is interest.

 

i'm loving the Autumn fairies. These are what i am working on now.  The wings are made from artificial leaves, and the acorn cap is real.  i have several of these ladies available for $12 each shipped first class (US). i can ship internationally, but i would have to add the shipping charge.

 

These have been really fun to play around with different color combinations. i just love them all. 

 

 

Inspire by all of our apples i decided to make an apple fairy. She came out pretty cute, but i think i should have had a bit more color variation. Her dress is a medium brown, and her apron a dark brown and there isn't really enough contrast for my taste. Still pretty adorable though, i think.  She is also available for sale.

If interested in any of these girls you can email me at enchantedtree (at)hotmail .com  or visit my facebook page   to everyone that is available for sale.

i've had a few inquiries about snowflake fairies....but i'm not ready to go there yet!! i'm just slowly accepting that autumn is here, so lets not rush into snow just yet. i will have lots of winter/holiday themed bendy dolls a bit later in the season. What would you like to see? i'm always open to suggestions and new ideas.  :)

New work for Sale.

Now that garden season is winding down a bit i've started getting back into crafting. Here a few of the new items i've recently finished.


With Halloween right around the corner, i figured i'd get a head start on some Halloween themed dolls. i've been listing these for sale over on my Facebook page. The blond is available, but the other two are sold. i'll me making more this week though, so if your interested in one let me know color preferences and i'll see what i can do. The witches are $14 with the brooms, or $12 without the broom.


This lovely lady is of course Ruby Gloom inspired. :) She is also Sold, but if you're interested in one similar i can recreate her.



King and Queen set is available for $24 shipped first class (US). They can also be sold individually for $12 each. i'll be making more of these sets in the future in different colors.



Arrrr...matey!! i have pirates!! i have two available, although i'm only posting a picture of this one. The other is posted on my fb page. He is lacking the goatee and eye patch but is just as cute. They are both for sale on my FB page for $12 each.


Lastly i have two dragons available. One is black with purple accents, the other is black with red. They are approx. 9" long and 7 1/2" tall. $25 each plus shipping.

There are several other bendys available, you can check my 'for sale' folder to see what is in stock All my bendy dolls are approx. 3" tall without hats and are not recommended for children under 3 years. They are made with with eco-fi felt, wooden beads, cotton embroidery floss and pipe cleaners.

If you see something you like or have a question, feel free to contact me at enchantedtree (at) hotmail dot com.

New Work for Sale.

i'm finally (only took about a month) getting back into the groove of having both kids at home during the week. Things were really hectic for a while, with summer day trips, company and trying to get my garden completely planted.
So here we are in July, and my kids have finally stopped fighting constantly...and they actually play together! They are nolonger constantly bored, instead enjoying this time to read, write letters, make up games, day dream and just be kids. It's nice.

This has allowed me to pull out my work, and be crafty again. Right now i am trying to get my store stocked with bendy dolls and accessories, but i really, really want to pick up the Waldorf dolls again. i will, in time.

Anyhow, here are the new items i have available!


Woodland Acorn family set. The set is $25 shipped first class (US). Mama has red hair and blue eyes, and papa has dark brown hair/beard and green eyes.


Woodland Gnome family set. The set is $25 shipped first class (US). Mama has dark brown hair and golden/brown eyes, and papa has light brown hair/beard and blue eyes.

Purple fairy. Black hair, blue eyes. $12 shipped first class (US).


Acorn Cap girl with apron. Blond hair, brown eyes. She is $12 shipped first class (US).


Acorn Cap Fairy. Blond hair, greenish/blue eyes. She is $12 shipped first class (US).

All bendy dolls are approx. 3" tall, and are not suitable for children under 3. The dolls in the family set can be purchased individually if you do not want the set.

These three sets are sold, but i am in the process of making a few more. So if your interested, keep an eye on my facebook page. i will be listing a new set in the next day or two. i will also be starting some new dragons. i got a bit burned out on them, but am ready to tackle a few more.

i have a few other premade bendy dolls/sets available in my for sale folder so feel free to take a peek!

Have a great weekend!!