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Friday, March 23, 2012

Felted Wands


I've been dreaming of making these wands for my littles for a while now. I've envisioned the style, the materials, and how they would play together with them. The beautiful weather we've been having has been a major source of inspiration in deciding what crafts we do with and for the children. Seeing as we've been spending so much time our of doors, these ribbon dressed wands seemed so perfect.......the way the ribbons floated in the wind when they little ran with them, the colors of the felt gleaming in the sunshine. We've been dreaming up and making plans for our summer yard play scape and these wands felt like the perfect accompaniment to what we plan to create!


To make a Felted Wand you will need::
felt in various colors and shapes
embroidery floss in different colors
a tapestry needle (or whatever you prefer to work with)
wool batting
ribbon in different shades and cut lengths
glue gun
a stick


First, cut our your front and back piece in which ever shape suits you.

I decided on 3 different shapes for our wands, in various color felts.

Then attach your pieces together with whatever embroidery technique you like. 
Once you've layered and sewed your little pieces on to the front piece, attach the back
piece to the front, making sure to leave an opening wide enough at the bottom to gently stuff with your wool batting
and then to fit the stick in. The stick will have a knot at the top from the ribbon,
so make sure to account for that, too! Don't fill too full with the wool,
just enough to give it a little form and softness!
Next, gather your ribbon and cut pieces at various lengths. Tie the ribbon together
at the top of one end of your stick. We used a  stick from outside, the littles went on a
stick hunt to find just the right one for their wand. Push the ribbon knot end of your stick into
the opening of your felt piece, finish sewing as needed then secure with your hot glue gun.



The best part about finishing these was putting them in the hands of the littles and watching them run off and admire the ribbons flowing next to them. I'm excited to see how they use these in their imaginary play! It was also sweet to watch them place them on our Seasonal Table to snuggle in with the various decorations we have out to honor the Springtime.

In designing your wands, remember that you can create them to fit the needs and likes of either a boy or a girl! They invoke a feeling of magic and a sense of mirth in any child, it's beautiful to watch a child smile and giggle as they look at  a new toy that has been made just for them!

We've joined Donni today over at The Magic Onions for her Friday Nature Table. Why not pop on over and check out all the other amazing activities and projects for some inspiration and eye candy! Thank you, Donni, for offering up your space to us every Friday! It's such a joy to be a part of such a creative community xoxo

We've added a new photo album to our Facebook page for those who feel inspired to share their work. Hop on over, like our page, and add your photo to our timeline with a link to your blog or website or whatever is your source of inspiration. I will then add your photo to our album for anyone to peek through a find inspiration for activities or crafts to make for and/or with their children!

Other sites offering tutorials on wand making ::

Little Birdie Secrets

Natural Kids:: This one is just about identical to ours however is not the source of inspiration for our particular wands! I wanted to include this link in particular to show how easy it is to have an idea come to you and then in searching discover others who have had similar if not the same ideas. I feel it's important to give credit to any posts or links I come across as an homage to the inspiration we can all bring to each other in our creative endeavors!

Ribbon Wands

The Train to Crazy






5 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you, Kelly! My Mom had suggested my making them for my nieces and nephew. I can't wait to do that!

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  2. Those are lovely! I did a similar wand (same end result, but slightly different construction method) for my daughter's birthday in November. They're so much fun, aren't they? xo

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Meghann! It's amazing how an idea can be the same for so many......but I also really love that! We're all connected in one way or another! I'd love to see how yours turned out!

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  3. Such a fun idea and they look lovely! Thanks so much for sharing this with our Spring Carnival. :) I featured your post here: http://sunnydaytodaymama.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/all-year-round-week-nine-7-spring.html

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