Flower fairy Bendy dolls.

Just a few new Bendy dolls i have available. i'm am very eager for spring to arrive and have abandoned the Winter Kingdom temporarily. :)
Instead i have been creating a few Flower fairies and Spring fae.

These are my first two flower fairies. They both have felt 'flower petal' skirts and hats, and an embroidered 'leaf' top. i didn't give them wings, but i still might.

If your interested in one and want wings just drop me a line and i can easily add them.

Pink flower fairy. Her legs are pink and green stripes, and she has a dark blond hair with green eyes. My pictures always have such a glare it can be hard to tell.
She is $12 shipped first class.

This lovely purple flower fairy has green and lavender striped legs. Her hair is blond with light highlights and it has a bit of texture, from being wrapped tightly on an embrodery floss card. Her eyes are sort of a gray/silvery green.

She too is $12 shipped.

i'm hoping to have a few more posted this week!

Snowday Snowflakes Tutorial.

This past week we've been pretty much snowed in.
So we've had to come up with some projects to keep us from getting cabin fever. While watching all the pretty snow come down, i decided we should be making some snow flakes of our own. So we got out the scissors and some paper and set to work decorating the house in homemade snow flakes.





By taking a piece of paper (8.5" x 11" ), we first folded it diagonally lining up the edges to make a square. Then We cut the excess off, and cut the square into (4) smaller squares. We took the excess piece that had cut off and cut 3 smaller squares. So we able to made 7 snow flakes per piece of paper, with just a tiny bit of waste. i drew lines on the paper above to show how we got 7 snowflakes out of one piece of paper. The mini snow flakes are about 2" across.

You can find basic snow flake folding instructions here.

More advanced snow flake patterns.

Sage had the fun job of adding glitter to them. She used a glue stick and sprinkled the glitter all over them. This gave them a wonderful sparkily look. It also helps cover up any writing or print if your using recycled paper.



We decorated all of our windows with these lovely glitter snowflakes and the rainbow stars from last week. . We just used a bit of glue from the glue sticks to stick them in place.

We also had a lot of fun making these 3-D accordion style snowflakes.
We made several and turned them into a lovely mobile.

These are very easy to make, but because you are cutting through many folds of paper they may be hard for little ones to make the cuts. All you need is some paper (recycled junk mail and school papers work great!) some string to hang them, a bit of tape or glue and some grape vine if you want to turn them into a mobile.


Start with a piece of paper, and fold it in half the long way, and then cut along the fold. So that you have two pieces of paper that measure approx. 4.25" x 11". This will make 2 snow flakes.

Take one of the strips of paper and start folding it accordion style. Start on the narrow end of the strip and fold about a 3/4 inch wide strip. Turn it over and fold it in the opposite direction, the same width. Keep going until you come to the end of the paper.

Now fold it in half, and cut the corners off the folded edge (dotted line), so that when you open it up you have two a notch on either side of the fold.

Now fold it back in half, and begin making your snow flake cuts on each side of the paper. Pay attention to where your fold is, and don't cut there. You can cut any kind of design you like.

Open it up, and tie a string in the center, where the fold is and the notches are cut.

Now you'll want to gently open up your snowflake. Bring the sides A and B together and glue or tape them in place. Be sure and tape/glue down your string too.


Then do the same to other side, so that it makes a complete circle. You'll have to fluff it a little by gently separating all the papers. Now you have your snowflake!


We hung ours from a piece of grape vine to create a mobile. These snowflakes are moving constantly, and they dance and spin around all day.

My new Artfire Shop.

Just in case you didn't notice the new Artfire Studio button in the right side column, i thought i'd share it with you all in a blog post. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to throw myself back into the craft/art world. Specifically with beading, toys and doll making.

i have been absolutely dying to make Waldorf dolls. i've made two in the past, but they still intimidate me terribly. The materials are very costly, and i just don't have the funds to invest in another new project at the moment.

i did some major cleaning and re-organizing of my craft space last week and realized i still have a ton of stock. Most of it is crocheted goods, but i do have a couple beaded pieces, a few dolls etc and have been working on getting them put up for sale. i'm hoping to sell a few things to put into my craft supply fund. :)

You can find this Pearl Diver necklace in my Art fire shop.

You can also find a few bendy dolls, and this Pegasus/fairy set. :)

i plan to list a few more items throughout the week, and i always list them on my facebook page first. So if your not following my page, you may want to so you can get a sneak peek and a chance to purchase the items, before they are listed in the shop.



Visit EnchantedTree's ArtFire Shop

So check it out, and i would love some feedback! What items would you like to see? i have a few felt fairy houses in the works, another Pegasus set and i'm still trying to finish a dragon/knight/horse set. :) i am also slowly getting back to my beads. i made a mandala necklace a few days ago, and will be making some marble/ stone wraps this week.

Thanks for your feedback and support!!

Today I Ate a Rainbow- Review

As a 20+ year vegetarian i tend to be more aware of nutrition than most. i learned, early on, the importance of reading labels and the importance of incorporating a variety of healthy foods into the diet in order to get everything that the body needs. Now, as a mother raising a vegetarian family it is even more important to make sure we are getting the vitamins and minerals needed to raise strong healthy children.

i have always encouraged my children to eat a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. i have fresh bananas and apples sitting out at all times, that the kids may eat whenever they are hungry. Snacks most often consist of raw vegetables or fruits.
With almost every dinner, i provide at least two vegetable side dishes. One from the green veggies and one from the yellow. We often have fresh greens and a fruit as well, right from our own garden. When you raise children with a variety of fruits and veggies and limit the 'sweets and junk' your kids will choose the healthy stuff, right?

Well, that is the theory, and with my first child...i believed it. My son is and always has been a good eater. He could easily live on raw veggies, fruit and bean burritos. Of course, then my daughter was born, and i swear she came out of the womb asking for chocolate. She turns her nose up to almost everything that is good for her. i realized that just serving the healthy stuff wasn't enough. We needed a bit of help to encourage healthy choices.

When Kia Robertson, creator of the “Today I Ate A Rainbow!™” kit, offered me a kit in exchange for an honest review, i jumped at the chance. “Today I Ate A Rainbow!™” is an interactive nutritional chart that makes eating fruits and vegetables fun for your children! Consisting of a colorful rainbow chart and bright colorful magnets this tool will allow your children to easily track the fruits and vegetables they eat throughout the day.

The first thing i noticed about the kit was how much Sage responded to the bright colors and fun shapes. We punched out the different magnets, and she immediately began grouping them into color piles..and then sorting them by shapes.


She helped me to set the chart up on the fridge, and we talked about all the different foods in the food 'rainbow'. She was very excited to start eating a rainbow and asked for a red apple.

For snack, i had her pick out one food from each color groups. My Picky eater ate all of it without a complaint!! She then went right to the rainbow chart and placed the appropriate magnets on each color. i Put a 'Today i ate a rainbow' completion badge at the top of the chart and together we sang the rainbow song to celebrate her achievement.
She was very proud of herself.



The book that comes with kit is wonderful. It introduces your child to the Rainbow bunch and the importance of healthy eating. It has beautiful illustrations, and simple rhyming text. Sage loves for me to read it to her, and also enjoys flipping through the pictures and telling the story in her own way. The last page of the book, has some tips for parents to help their children eat more fruits and vegetables.

The rainbow kit is really a great tool to help your children become more aware of what they are eating and make better choices when it comes to their nutrition. When my kids want a snack they go right to the rainbow chart and ask for something from one of the food groups. When we grocery shop they look for unusual, bright colored fruits and vegetables to try.

Both of my children are eating at least one rainbow a day now, sometimes two!

i've put together a few rainbow snacks that the kids love.

Rainbow fruit salad.
Layer strawberries/raspberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple chucks, kiwi, blueberries and blackberries and top with a dollop of plain yogurt. Serve in glass bowls or cups so that it makes a rainbow.

Rainbow smoothies.
In a blender mix a cup of plain yogurt, 2 bananas, frozen strawberries and blueberries, and one kiwi peeled and chopped. Blend it all together until smooth. Add enough OJ until it is your preferred thickness.

Rainbow Snack wraps
1 whole wheat wrap (lavash wrap)
3 Tbsp cream cheese
2 cups chopped fruit in rainbow colors (strawberry, orange, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries)
1 Tbsp maple syrup or honey

Cut your wrap in half and spread 1 1/2 tbsp of cream cheese on each piece. Drizzle a bit of maple syrup or honey over the cream cheese and allow your child to build a rainbow on the wrap using the fresh fruits. Then roll up the wrap and slice it into bite sized rolls.

You can make a similar one using cream cheese and vegetables (red, orange, and yellow peppers, spinach leaves, shredded purple cabbage etc.)

i really enjoyed reviewing the Rainbow kit, and think it is a really wonderful tool to help teach healthy eating habits. It is really great to see my daughter so excited about eating healthy, and the chart gives her the independence to make the choices herself.


You can find more information and order your own Rainbow kit at Today I Ate A Rainbow.com
You can also find more healthy eating tips on the website, meal ideas and games for the kids.
You can also connect with Today I Ate a Rainbow on Facebook and on Twitter.

Paper Star Craft Tutorial

We just got blasted by another winter storm, and won't be going anywhere for a while. So i started looking around for some projects to 'brighten up' the grayness of winter. These lovely tissue paper stars are just the thing! We hung them in our windows and when the light shines through them they just explode with color. As the colors overlap, it creates a second row of new colors. These are especially striking when you use primary and secondary colors and arrange them like a rainbow. We just used what we had on hand, which were pastel tissue papers.

The kids were excited to make these, and they are easy enough that they were both able to participate.

i started by cutting our tissue paper into 6x6 squares. You can really use any size you want, 4x4, 8x8...to make different sized stars. Once i had several different colored 6x6 squares cut out, i folded each one in half horizontally, and then again vertically. Now cut along the creases you just made so you now have 4 3x3 squares. Do this for each piece.

It takes 8 3x3 pieces to make a star. We used 4 different colors in each star, you can use more colors or less colors. However you want to make them.

Now take your 3x3 square and fold it diagonally.

Now fold one side over so the edge lines up perfectly with the crease in the center. i used a glue stick, and put a dab of glue down to hold it in place.

Do the same with the other side. It should look like this. Now repeat these steps with each of your 3x3 squares.

My boy helped fold the points. It was a little tricky for him to start, but after a couple he was able to fold them himself. Once you have a good pile of them folded you can start putting your stars together.

My 4 year was able to help with the putting them together. Using a glue stick, we applied a small amount of glue and then lined up the next piece so the points touch and the edge of the second piece lines up perfectly with the center fold of the first. Do this will all 8 star points. When you get back to the beginning, the very last point will tuck underneath the first. Add a little glue to hold it's place.

i used a dab of glue from the glue stick to stick these in the windows. It's washable glue, so it will wash off easily.

Most tutorials i have found for these call for Kite paper. Since we didn't have any on hand we just used regular tissue paper. The tissue paper worked fine, but is a little tricky to crease and i'm guessing the sun will fade them quickly. It was still a fun project to brighten up our dark winter days. i would love to try these again with rainbow colors.

You can really play around with these, and add more points or different folds to change the look of your stars. Here's some tutorials for slightly more complicated folds, something fun to try once you've mastered the basic star
http://www.arwenart.com/tutorials/windowstars/




Have fun!