Lenka Vodicka-Paredes - Magical Forest Fairy Crafts Through the Seasons: Make 25 Enchanting Forest Fairies, Gnomes & More from Simple Supplies

PUBLISHER: Amy Marson CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Gailen Runge ACQUISITIONS EDITOR: Roxane Cerda MANAGING EDITOR: Liz Aneloski EDITOR: Monica Gyulai TECHNICAL EDITOR: Linda Johnson COVER/BOOK DESIGNER: April Mostek PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Tim Manibusan PRODUCTION EDITOR: Jennifer Warren ILLUSTRATOR: Aliza Shalit PHOTO ASSISTANT: Mai Yong Vang STYLE PHOTOGRAPHY by Lucy Glover and INSTRUCTIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY by Mai Yong Vang of C&T Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted Published by FunStitch Studio, an imprint of C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549 DEDICATION For my children, Miranda, Trevyn, and Gwynna, and my granddaughter, Hadi.
To my husband, Gabriel, for making me meals while I worked in Fairyland. With love from Asia For Anika, Ian, and Mila for believing in Fairyland.
To my husband, Giovanni, for supporting my fairy adventures. With love from LenkaAcknowledgments Thank you to A Childs Dream (achildsdream.com) for collecting wonderful resources for fairy crafters. Your store is a wonderful family operation that continues to inspire us with dreamy felt and quality craft supplies. Many thanks to Kathleen Rushall at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency for being our tireless champion.

Magic is real! To our fairy-crafting community: You are creative and fun and lovely. We appreciate you crafting with us through the years. We are especially grateful to all the kids who share their imagination and excitement with us. Thank you for making the world a better placeone fairy craft at a time! Welcome to the Forest Fairies Want to Share the Year with You! The forest has been busy since we wrote our first book, Forest Fairy Crafts. We continued to make magical fairies and crafts, and we learned that fairies love all the seasons and the way the forest changes during the year. They enjoy dressing up in festive outfits, finding new nature friends (like foxes), and creating toys.

Fairies adore gifts and delight in giving. Magical Forest Fairy Crafts Through the Seasons has all the information you need to make beautiful and fun fairies and sewing projects. Though this book is great for those who are new to fairy making, you will find new ideas if you already have Forest Fairy Crafts. We discovered new ways to decorate crafts, including cutting fancy edges and sewing with the manta ray stitch. We made new fairies, including the bride and groom fairies. But we have a few returning favorites, such as flower fairies.

Fairy crafts make great decorations. They also make great gifts. Consider spreading joy by donating fairies to a local childrens hospital or a retirement home. The fairies and critters in the forest want to make the world a better placeyou can help! Invite an adult to craft with you. They may need a good reason to slow down, and they will enjoy spending time with you. Or invite a younger child to craft with you.

Then you become the teacher. Photo by Lenka Vodicka-ParedesWe are so excited to open the forest to friends again. We hope you enjoy the new crafts!Which Project Will You Make? Choose crafts that inspire you. To make it easier to select, weve labeled them as simple, fancy, or tricky. If you dont have a lot of time or are new to Fairyland, start with the simple ones and build your skills. Keep sewing and learning! simple These crafts are quick and a good place to start.

You may want an adult to help you with the first ones you make. Then you will be ready to make them on your own. Be creative and have fun! fancy Fancy projects may need more time and patience; ask for help along the way. Add more stitches and decorations. These projects are worth the extra effort! tricky Tricky projects are fun to make with a helper. They may involve more pieces or steps and may feel challenging at first.

Be kind to yourself as you work. The finished craft will be amazing! Photo by Lenka Vodicka-ParedesTIPS
for Adult Helpers Grown-ups can find great ideas on how to help kids make these crafts in Notes for Adults. Things You Will Need The projects in this book are made with simple supplies available at craft stores (some supplies can even be found in the forest!). Felt, sewing needles, crochet thread, chenille stems, wood beads, yarn, and decorations such as buttons and sequins are often used for fairy making. Collect your supplies in a handy basket or box so its easy to find them whenever you want to go to Fairyland. Needles Craft and sewing stores have different needles for different types of sewing.

You want a needle with a large eye that can fit larger threads. Very young sewists (under five years of age) may benefit from a tapestry needle that has a blunt tip. These needles may not be sharp enough to go through high-quality felt, however. If you are using beads, try putting the needle through the bead before starting a project to check that the needle will fit. Choose a needle that feels comfortable to you, keeping in mind that smaller needles can be trickier to control. Thread The thread that we use the most is crochet thread size 10, which may be found near the yarn aisle in craft stores.

Crochet thread is thin but strong and doesnt tangle too easily. It comes in many colors, including mixed (or variegated) colors. We also use embroidery floss by separating the threads into three strands. For hanging ornaments or adding whiskers or antennae, we use perle cotton thread sizes 3 and 5. Feel free to mix and match threads however you like in your projectsthats what makes them yours! Felt Usually sold in precut rectangles, felt is available in a few different varieties, including wool felt, wool blends, and craft felt. For keepsakes, wool felt and wool blends come in rich colors and have an even thickness.

Craft felt is less expensive and also comes in lots of colors. Craft felt isnt as high quality as wool felt and may have an uneven thickness (thinner or thicker areas on the same piece of felt). Stuffing Use polyester, cotton, or wool stuffing for fairy projects. One bag makes many, many fairy crafts! Chenille Stems Also called pipe cleaners, chenille stems come in many colors and may even be sparkly. We use 12-long pipe cleaners for our fairy bodies. Wood Beads Wood beads are usually sold together with other unfinished wood supplies or with doll supplies. Wood Beads Wood beads are usually sold together with other unfinished wood supplies or with doll supplies.