DIY – Magic Wand and Fairy Kit

One from the archive when Milly looked so tiny, can’t believe she is going to be four next month – yikes!

Last year I was on a bit of a fairy kick, Milly and my niece had yet to discover the power of Frozen and could easily be delighted with these homemade fairy kits. I wanted to make them both something sweet and handmade before the lure of all things pink and plastic really took hold. I made this kit for my niece’s third birthday using up some fabric and ribbons from my supply. These wands are a really lovely project to make during an afternoon especially if you have little ones still in that stage of wonder and discovery. All the details are below.

You’ll need –

A star template, I used and old gift tag which is approx. 10cm from top to bottom

30cm stick ( I used a plant support spray painted green) a small and sturdy twig could look good if you like going natural or a piece of dowel from the wood yard would all work.

Fabric scraps

Fusible interfacing

Needle and thread

Cushion or toy stuffing (I use the contents of an old pillow)

A selection of ribbons, I would recommend no wider than 1cm

Step 1 – Fix the interfacing to the fabric using a hot iron and then draw around the star template and cut out two stars. For mine I used a plain linen and a mauve and white stripe.

Step 2 – Placing wrong sides together, hand stitch a small blanket stitch around the edge of the star fastening the shapes together. Start just under 1cm away from the centre where the bottom two arms of the stars meet and finish the same distance when you get all the way around to the other side.

Step 3 – Stuff the star with cushion/toy stuffing

Step 4 –  Cut lengths of ribbon a few cm longer than the stick and fix to the very top of the stick using a hot glue gun or any other strong glue and leave to dry.

Step 5 – Add another dab of glue to the top of the stick and carefully push up into the centre of the star, leave to dry.

Step 6 – Trim any ribbons so they are the same length as the wand.

I included a handmade fairy with mine but a wand just as it is makes a perfect gift – if only it did the washing, it would be truly magic!