Stick Figure Saturday: Bee Yourself

 

Welcome to the second Stick Figure Saturday! This series came out of the idea that sometimes simple is very good and gives a lot of room to practice shading, doodling or different materials. 

This week's design to print and color was inspired by the way my family forages and how much we love the bees in our garden. 

Click the images below for larger images to print and color. 

Stick figure Bee- small jpg:

Stick figure Bee- large transparent png:

Fairy Parties review and Wild Rose printable box

I recently got Fairy Parties by Colleen Mullaney to review.
A lot of girls go through a fairy phase. I'm not sure I ever actually got out of it. This book is all about creating a perfect fairy themed party .The introduction is only a couple of pages, explaining the basics and a bit of the history of fairies. The chapters are separated by fairy types and the instructions and recipes are planned for a party of 6 girls. The range of fairy types should suit any girl who loves fairies.It's not all pink and froth or wild woods, there are some great variations and ideas.
Each chapter has costume instructions including a skirt, a top,decorated shoes and a wand. The chapters also have game suggestions, a craft or two, and recipes to fit the theme.
The first chapter, Fairy Sweet is a confection of pink, froth and so very feminine. The drink is a pink punch decorated with sparkling pink decorator's sugar and the costumes are very flowery.
The second theme is Sugar Plum Fairies, a purple theme with fruity drinks and tarts and a lot of sparkle.
Rainbow Flower Fairies is a multicolor summery party, and where the first two chapters had decorated ballet slippers, this one has decorated sneaker type shoes to suit a garden theme. Fruit kabobs and rainbow parfaits, it's a very colorful party.
Fairies Rock is for the Diva Fairy. Think rhinestones and hot pink, feather boas wands and stylish elastic headbands. If Fairy Sweet would thrill your average 5 year old, this one suits older girls. The foods include pizza purses and a pomegranate punch.
The last theme is Woodland Fairies. This one is my favorite, and I'm going to adapt some of the ideas adult sized for going to this years Renaissance Fair. It's a good party for outdoorsy girls, and like the Fairies Rock theme, appropriate for girls who are in the tween set. Flower crowns and bare feet with ankles wrapped in ribbons and flowers. The foods are pizza, strawberry punch and a trail mix.
The final chapters are a collection of fairy themed crafts and one with more games. Some of the crafts can be done by girls with some adult supervision, but most of them are better done by adults to set up for the party. There are only a few games, but they include instructions for setting up a maypole for little fairies to dance around.
You can get Fairy Parties from Chronicle Books or from Amazon.The Amazon link is an affiliate link and helps pay some of the costs of maintaining this site.

Another 100 ppi 3x3x1" box. I'm playing with a couple effects and really liked the thorny look so I put a couple wild roses on it and put it on a box. I hope you like it too.

Printable Mini Princess Crowns 2

With the first set, I said that I was making a pattern for a felt crown for my daughter. 

She's thrilled with how it turned out.

  

It's stitched to a hair comb because her hair is so thick and wavy they work very well for her. For girls with finer or straighter hair a head band made of elastic, ties, or a barrette might work better.

Here's the pattern for the crown.

  

I used two layers of craft felt glued together with PVA glue. I spread a thin layer glue on a sheet of felt than folded it in half width wise. Put it between 2 layers of wax paper and set it under a book to dry flat. The next day, trace the crown pattern on the felt and in the jewel color, cut out 5 circles to fit in the top. With embroidery floss, all 6 strands together in a tapestry needle, blanket stitch around the whole thing, stitching the "jewels" in as you get to the top of each point. Butt the ends against each other and stitch them together. Stitch to whatever you are using for your hair. 

Lots of different things possible. Sequins, embroidery, whatever. I went with simple but do plan to play more with the pattern.

Here are printable versions if you'd like those instead. I didn't mark the holes for the elastic cord like the other crown, but the holes go roughly halfway between the center point and the back seam towards the base of the crown.As usual, click on the small versions for the full sized versions.

 

 

Printable Mini Princess Crowns

 

I hope you think these are as cute as Dea does. I'm working on a little felt crown for her to clip in her hair and decided it would make a cute printable party hat. Print on cardstock, cut out, glue tab then use a hole punch to punch the holes and string elastic through and knot to wear headband style.

Dea suggests a jaunty angle for a very cartoon-y look. 

I included a blank version to personalize or to print out for little or big princesses to color themselves.Click on the images for the full sized versions. I think they would look really pretty encrusted with glitter if you don't mind getting glitter in your hair!

Book Reviews- two books I like for my teens.

Fairy Cooking
If you have a child who is very into fairy things, into pink and loves pretty, this is the perfect cookbook for them, or for adults who still like to wear fancy hats and have tea parties with friends.
First: Format, because I didn't read carefully because I was distracted by the cover when I ordered it. It's about the size of a large coloring book, roughly 12 inches tall by 9 inches wide. It's printed in full color on decent quality paper and has a stapled binding. The paper and printing quality is a bit more than I expected for the price.
There are no basic cooking instructions in it, so it is a book to use hands on with your children who are just learning, but there are lots of children's cookbooks that explain all the tools.
The recipes themselves are simple and gorgeous. The sort of thing that any little fairy princess would be thrilled to serve at a tea party. My daughter is 14 and has basic cooking skills down pat, but this is a great one even for her for the ideas in it. The miniature cooking and whimsical look of the recipes also makes them perfect for bentos.
My favorites:
Iced Raspberry Mousse- a sweet airy confection made with yogurt, cream, raspberries and for a nice touch of texture, meringues
Cut Out Sandwiches- A simple idea that makes a great presentation and one I will use in bentos and for tea parties myself.
Mini fairy pastries- Miniature really food is just wonderful and these are flavorful enough that even my son and husband would eat them without complaining too much about the cute factor.
Another great book for children from Usborne.

Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball Mortars, and More Dynamite Devices by William Gurstelle
The most impressive book I've seen of it's type. The projects in it are mostly inexpensive to put together and require few special skills for great results. Caution is recommended when building projectile weapons of course, but if you've got a teen or a husband who loves these sort of things, they will find something they want to try in here. My favorite projects are the tennis ball mortars and the paper match rockets. The mortars because the section explains the difference between mortars and cannons and the project itself is a wonderful hands-on experiment for trajectory and how gravity effects it. The paper match rocket is minimal supplies and easy to put together and shows how a struck match creates energy in the form of heat which launches the miniature rocket.
The science behind each project is well explained, and there is a lot of history about the scientists who came up with some of the most pivotal theories about physics and how they tested them.
Recommended with adult supervision for middle school and high school children. It's not deeply technical and it's very accessible even for teens who aren't really interested in science.
Also recommended for husbands who like to build things that go boom and are interested in science.

The Amazon links are affiliate links and help pay some of the costs of maintaining this site.