07 January 2013

Flower Pot Fairies


Hello! I thought I would drop on by again to share with you these little flower pot fairies I made my youngest. She received them for her second birthday, and now, almost 6 months later, they are still a favourite of hers, and her big sister. They were so easy to make with a little time!


I picked up jumbo sized wooden peg doll bodies and wooden candle cups to use as pots at the craft store, I found both in the woodworking section.


When I tested the peg dolls in the pots, most of them fit easily, but a couple stuck. Aside from wanting them to fit nicely, I didn't want them to have their paint scraped off, so I rolled up a piece of sandpaper and gave the inside of each pot a light sanding. It didn't take much for all the dolls to have plenty of room.


I painted the dolls with non-toxic outdoor acrylic paint, (Deco Art's Patio Paint, for example, although we have a variety of brands and they work just fine, too.) I have found its "weatherproof" qualities to be fairly "child-proof" as well. The faces are also painted, and when putting faces on gnomes and other small things such as these, I use a toothpick. Really. It makes life so much easier. It gives me more precision and control than the finest of my most teeny tiny paintbrushes, it's terrific. To make things easier on myself, though, I outlined the rest with a fine tip Sharpie. The Sharpie works well when used on top of the paint, but will bleed all over the place when used directly on the wood, so if you go that route, watch the edges. I wasn't sure it would hold up, but after half a year of hard use, it still looks great.


I painted the rims and insides of the pots using the same acrylic paint, on the outside I used a watercolour wash. I then sealed the cups and dolls by rubbing vegetable oil into the wood.


I gave each fairy a little cap that I cut out of craft felt and hot glued in place. I added the dots in the middles of the flowers with more acrylic paint.


This toy set has been adored by both my two year old and my four year old. They love sorting them, stacking them, matching colours, mixing colours, playing with the fairy dolls, using the pots as cups for their tea parties, and more. I gave them to her in a pretty little green bag, and they are a great take-along toy. It turns out that I spent less than $5.00 to make one of their all time favourite toys. This makes me very happy, as well as them. :)



(I am sharing this project over at Frontier Dreams, and The Magic Onions, go for a visit and see what else others have shared!)

51 comments:

  1. These are great, love the rainbow and their little faces and details!! Pinning :-)

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  2. I made something similar for my 1 year old for Christmas, just with little felt gnome hats instead. I like the idea of painting though! My stepson has been asking for his own set! His birthday is next month so I can see some pirates gnome pots in the near future.

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  3. Oh my goodness! These are some of the cutest toys I've seen in a long time!!! You did awesome! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. They are soo cute! love the beautiful colours.

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  5. So darling! Thank you for sharing--I'll have to make something similar for my littlest one's two-year birthday!

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  6. Oh wow thank you for the idea, my little boy is turning two next month and this would make a great gift (I like the idea of gnome hats too!)

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  7. Thank you so much to everyone that posted! The peg doll / cup idea is not original to me, but this is, of course, my own take on the project. I love the chunkier size of the jumbo peg dolls, we'd not had any of those before.

    If anyone feels like sharing theirs, I would love to see them. :)

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  8. These are fantastic! Absolutely gorgeous, and a great toy for the children. Nice job! Thanks for sharing these at For the Kids Fridays at SunScholars! I have pinned them, and am featuring them in this week's party!

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  9. They are wonderful, nice to see you posting. Missed you! The faces look great!!!

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  10. google account31 March, 2015 02:40

    I AM so crazy of such cute toys and find satisfaction in making them. I intend to make some soon . So these tips help me so much. Let god bless u to have a very nice and joyful living.

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  11. Sorry, I leave my message here because I don't find any contact form.
    I hope you'll see it...
    Please answer directly to my email address elise.amann(at)wanadoo.fr

    Hello !
    I'm writing an article for a french DIY magazine (printed on paper) about fairy gardens.
    Do you allow me to show photos of your creation in the article ?
    (seen here : https://thejuise.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-fairy-garden-tour.html)
    Of course, I will write your name next to the picture and give the address of your blog/website/shop in the address book at the end of the magazine !
    If yes, can you please answer as soon as possible (with sending photos in high resolution it would be perfect !) ?
    I have to give my paper very quickly... (Normally, it was all over for today, but I’m late !) :-/
    If you have other fairy gardens to show, they would be welcome too.
    Best regards,
    Elise AMANN (for the magazine named "Atelier Déco & Créations" issue 46)

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