a doll and mandrake

yes, it's safe to say that i do heart mandrakes. a lot. so for my very first herbal pillow/doll i decided to make it a mandrake. i had so much fun fashioning this little guy and stitching the 'drawing' into the felt. the thread is a bit to small and light to actually see all the detail (and the photo is from my camera too) but when i make another (or more perhaps?) i will use thicker thread so the details can really stand out. also, this mandrake is filled with wonderful herbs like lavender, chamomile, lemon balm, rosemary with a few drops of essential oils. mmmmm...

i've wanted to make dolls for a long time and have made little creatures before in the past. today i finished my very first handmade doll and i am so happy! i wanted her to have a autumn feel and i choose colors that are very close to my heart at the moment. her scarf is braided yarn and i love how it contrasts with her dress and brings a bit more texture to her. i have still not named her, it has to be perfect! hopefully at some point today she will be named :)

a family of mandrakes

sunflower eyed owl coffe can

Fall is my favorite and even though it's not officially fall yet, my thoughts have already turned to there.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend sent me a scan on how to make owl pumpkins which i can not wait to do. Since i obviously couldn't wait, I decided to transform a coffee can I had saved into a little white owl container! I lightly tea stained some stock paper, glued it on (except I missed a bit on the top, you can still see a little silver of the coffee can) and also glued on felt wings. I glued felt eyes and beak and used the sunflower seeds for the rest.

I liked the way it came out but I think next time I might just go ahead and use felt for the whole thing instead of paper. Sorry the picture is not prime but I am still camera-less and used my phone to take the picture! I've been absent for awhile too because our computer broke down on us so I've been using my mom's lap top. Hopefully all will be restored and I will start using my mom's camera again too!

fairy flower tea

Last week Natalie made her first tea blend. I gathered the ingredients for her and she made up her own measurements for each herb. She has named it Fairy Flower Tea and it is delightful!