A Wondrous DIY Project for Our Days in Isolation!

Are your kids home with you? I know mine are. 

With the kiddos home during this pandemic, and less and less free time to get done… well… anything, DIY projects need to be somewhat quick.

Things that can be created during a few minutes here or there, or when you’re able to hide long enough to get out a paintbrush without the kids finding you and wanting to start a painting project aka a messy catastrophe of their own (believe me, I speak from experience).

When one of the amazing artists/authors/creators that I follow on social media, decided to share her technique for making a miniature fairy doll, I simply had to give it a try!

Jay Stelling of Whistle Stop Thistle, was giving us an opportunity to create one of our own Thistle Folk! OoOOWeeeeee! I was so excited!

So, I watched her very short video of the process from start to finish.

In the project you’ll need:

1. Pom poms
2. Floral wire
3. Masking Tape
4. Brown Paint
5. White Paint
6. Any other colors of paint if you choose to paint on details on the body.
7. Black Pen
8. Various bits of fabric and ribbon for the outfits (I used felt)
9. Sewing needle and Thread (or glue if you are gluing on the details)
10. Small amounts of yarn

That’s it! 10 items! Wow, not bad! Plus I had everything I needed in the house already. I could avoid having to leave the house! Also, a plus at this point.

I loved her little fairy, but decided to make up my own character from one of my own stories. I chose my story Adeline and the Mystic Berries, and went ahead and cordoned my Thistle Folk off of my characters, Adeline and Timothy. 

I’d already crocheted both characters as amigurumi dolls, so I went based on those. 

Adeline loves buttons and pockets, so I used seed beads for the buttons on her dress.

I painted her boots using brown paint. I used black and white craft paint for her leggings, and a nice grey for her undershirt. Her skin tone was made mixing the white and brown as Jay had suggested. I picked a black pen and made the details on their faces. 

Timothy has on a white painted undershirt, brown pants, and loafer shoes painted on as well. 

For Timothy, he wears an old weathered scarf in the book, so I made that using a size E crochet hook and a fun cream colored yarn with bits of brown flecks throughout.

To crochet the scarf all you do is:

R1: ch2, sc in the 2nd ch from the hook, ch1 turn. 

R2-end: sc, ch1 turn.

I did this until the scarf was the length I wanted. I cut the thread and brought it through the remaining loop to make the knot and separated the 4 ply threads for the tassels on either side of the mini scarf. 

For the outfits, I got inspiration for making clothes by googling free doll clothing patterns to understand the thought process behind making basic clothes, and then shrunk those ideas to make my own little dress for Adeline and coat for Timothy.

I stumbled upon Ann Wood Handmade and have already purchased some of her lovely doll patterns. They are truly magnificent! I plan to make some miniature tea sets and a small doll bed with wood craft sticks and wood clothespins. Both projects she has available for free on her blog. 

I hope you all find time to make one of the Whistle Folk or Fairies. It’s such a fun project to do indoors. My thanks to Jay Stelling for letting us in on her process of how to make her beautiful creations. Give her a shoutout and follow her social media too @jaystellingdesign! Lots of fun creatives out there. We’ve got to stick together. 

I hope you are all staying sane, safe, and finding things to pass the time. I’ll be starting the Dogghan soon for those of you joining in on that Crochet Along! I’ve got all the squares blocked and ready to assemble!

Until next time! 

~ Julianne

P.S. What DIY things have you made in quarantine? I’m always up for more fun crafty ideas. 🙂

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