A Jolly Good Halloween

I've expanded my Halloween collection to include 5 new printable sets. Inspired by old timey Halloween graphics with a Fantastic Toys twist, the collection includes a haunted house, party favor toys, treat containers, award ribbons and rosette decorations. Have a jolly good Halloween!

 Halloween Party Favors

Halloween Treat Containers

Halloween Award Ribbons

Halloween Decorations

Nutcracker and Mouse King Holiday Paper Printables

The classic story of the Nutcracker and Mouse brought to life as printable paper toys. Now you can reenact the epic battle between the Nutcracker and Mouse King. I'm not sure what they were fighting over, the Sugar Plum Fairy or just peanuts?

The Nutcracker even has a movable jaw! Although I wouldn't try cracking any nuts with it. The Mouse King has this cool feature which allows you to roll it on the floor. Not only will the kids love the rolling mouse but your cat just might too.

North Pole Printable Gingerbread Collection

Three new paper toys for the holiday season available in my Etsy shop. I've been wanting to add more PDF playsets to my original gingerbread cottage and now its starting to look like a Christmas village. I like the choo choo train best... you can add small treats to the carts behind. The new cottage features elves having fun in the Winter snow.

Yesterday the giveaway for the white reindeer ended. I always feel so bad having to pick one winner from all the comments made. I thought it would be great if I had another quick giveaway for fun. I will give all 3 playsets from the gingerbread collection to 3 winners. To participate tell me your favorite Christmas song along with a way to email the PDF's to you. I grew up in the 80's so my favorite tunes are "Do they know its Christmas?" and "Peace on Earth" by David Bowie. Giveaway ends December 6, 2010.

Christmas Collection 2010

The holidays are fast approaching and I have finally finished my Christmas inventory. I now know what an elf must feel like getting ready for Christmas. As I mentioned in my last post my home has been scattered with red, green, pink, and white felt since August. My Etsy shop is now filled with Christmas goodies! These adorable snow people available in 4 styles and are the newest addition to my Christmas Collection. 

Its also time for the Christmas giveaway. The last two years I have given away a white reindeer and fawn. This year I thought I would leave it up to you guys. What should I giveaway this year? Which of the following would you choose?

Snowman

Snow Seal

Polar Bear

Ornament Set

Fawn

That time of year again...

I know its a little early for Christmas but when the holidays are the best time for your business, I begin the holiday inventory in the summer. Its no wonder why I stopped decorating the house for the holidays. I've been making decorations since August! The picture above is a mountain of of softie ornaments I'm currently making. I've added 5 new designs to my existing ornament collection. I didn't realize I was making so many but after stuffing them all, I have well over a 100. I'll be glad to finish these up and pack them away for my upcoming shows.

Last year sales were kinda of slow. As a result of that I've tripled the amount of shows I'm doing this year. I'm looking forward to the new craft shows this holiday season. My work will be on display at the Textile Center for there annual holiday sale. I was also asked to be involved with Peggy's Holiday Boutique. This will be Peggy's 33rd year featuring the work of over 150 artists. I've never been there so it should be interesting. Lastly I'll be at HandmadeMN 1st annual holiday market. Don't you love the graphics for the event! Check show info for specific detail on all events.

Pom Pom Bunny and Mushroom Egg Tutorial

Just in time for the Easter holiday, a simple and sweet Easter tutorial! This has to be my easiest crafty tute so far. The young ones will be delighted with this cute little bunny and mushroom egg.The bunnies are made with three different sizes of pom poms and a bit of felt. I purchased the wooden eggs for the mushrooms at Michael's. The wooden eggs are great because they're already painted white and they have a flat bottom to stand upright. You could also use blown eggs which can be a bit messy and quite tricky. Another option is to put a string on the mushroom egg to hang from your Easter tree.
Have fun and Happy Easter!

For personal use only. Commercial use prohibited.

Download Instructions and Pattern

Materials Required

Red, White, Pink, and Black Felt
1/2”, 2”, 1 1/2” Pom Poms
Wooden or Blown Egg

Instructions

1. Print pattern and cut out pattern pieces.
2. Pin or trace pattern pieces onto felt scraps and cut out felt pieces from pattern. Use a paper punch to punch out bunny nose and eyes.
3. Glue ears to back of 1 1/2” pom pom. Assemble bunny together using 2” pom pom for body and 1/2” for tail. Glue bunny face to head.
4. Create mushroom cap by overlapping access to create wide cone. Glue felt spots to mushroom cap.
5. Finish mushroom egg by gluing felt cap to wooden or blown egg.

Don't forget last years Easter freebie!
Download Printable Easter Cone

Easter Sweets

With Easter just around the corner its time to unveil my newest plush characters. There is something about a duck that just makes me laugh and smile. They're such a goofy bird and I knew I had to design one for my collection. One thing led to another and well I couldn't have a Mama Duck without a bunch of baby ducklings.. sooo why not have a whole duck family as part of my Easter collection.

Each baby duckling sits in a round box covered with felt and felt flowers. The girls are dressed in a removable bonnet and the boys wear a mob cap and gingham tie.There is just enough room in the box to add a few Easter treats of your own. These darling ducklings will surely be treasured by someone special as an Easter gift. Visit my Etsy shop for more details.

Papa and Mama Duck

Valentine Owl Softie Giveaway

Giveaway is now closed. Congrats Adrienne!
You are the winner of this darling owl!

Here is the winning comment picked randomly by random.org.

Adrienne's Whimsies said...

SOOOOOOO Cute!!! You always have the best toys!

Yes another giveaway and I just had one last month. This time its for a sweet Valentine Owl softie. She certainly will make someones Valentines Day special. Once again please leave a comment and email address below to qualify. Just for kicks and giggles I thought it might be fun for entries to add a silly/corny Valentine poem as your comment if you so desire. A winner will be chosen randomly on February 7. Thanks for playing!

Easter Sneak Peek

I think Easter is becoming my second favorite holiday right after Christmas. I love the pastels and all the cute critters associated with the holiday. Ducks and baby ducklings have been at the top of my list for new critters to make. These little darlings will be available next month as a limited edition. I'm also working on an Easter tutorial featuring bunnies and mushrooms I can't wait to share.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Fantastic Toys. Thank you all for visiting my blog and making comments. I wish the best for you and your family in 2010. I'm looking forward to the New Year and creating some fresh product. I'm already working on some new plush characters for Spring and Easter. Have a safe and fun holiday , see you next year!

Cinderella Clothes Pin People Ornaments

Inspired by the Christmas pin doll collection of my youth I have started a new tradition of offering exclusive ornament kits. This is the second year I have offered the clothes pin people ornament kit and this year I designed a winter themed version of Cinderella. Each kit contains materials to make Cinderella, her charming Prince and even the glittery carriage. Inspired by the fashion of Marie Antoinette, Cinderella wears a lovely ball gown and a powdered wig. Kits are available as a limited edition while supplies last. Last years Nutcracker set sold out fast so get this set before its gone. Kits are available in my Etsy shop. Happy Holidays!

Easter Goodies

The Easter goodies have arrived. Not only are they available in my etsy shop but you can also find them locally at Creative Kidstuff. Included in this years collection is an adorable handmade cloth bunny wearing a robins egg blue felt jacket. Also, inspired by sugar Easter eggs of past I designed a paper version featuring bunnies on an egg hunt. To kick off my new cloth doll sewing kits I will be offering a DIY set of two bunny children. The kit will also have a paper picnic set to go along with the dolls. I will be introducing more critters in the near future. Lastly an Easter cone FREEBIE to download and fill with treats for the holiday. Have a HAPPY EASTER!

Cloth Easter Bunny


Easter Egg Diorama

DIY Cloth Bunnies Kit

Download this cute Easter Cone PDF and fill it with your favorite treats!



Materials required

110 lb. Cardstock
Double Sided Tape or Glue
Ric-rac or String

HOORAY! Finally finished!

Today I delivered the last of my wholesale order to Creative Kidstuff. Creative Kidstuff is an award winning toystore in Minnesota with 7 stores in the midwest. My toys will available in the upcoming weeks for the Easter holiday. In addition to the plush they will be featuring new paper toys and the first of my printed cloth doll kits.

I 've been working on this order since Christmas I'm so happy to finally finish. Its been quite the challenge and I learned a lot while doing this. At times a thought I would never finish but with the help of my crafty Mom I was able to finish before the deadline. My Mom gladly came over during the weekends and some times after work and helped me finish until they were done. She cut, stuffed, packaged, glued and I even got her to sew some tails. Thanks so much Mom for all your help!

My DREAM job!

Every year during the holidays Macy's Mpls. puts on a spectacular Christmas show. Its the closest thing our city has to a Disneyland attraction. Many artists and designers combine their talents creating an animated walk through depicting illustrations from classic children's stories. This years show was an original story, "A Day in the Life of an Elf". My favorite scene was the toyshop and candy factory. Some day I hope to work with this group of people. Macys if your reading this I'm available!

Christmas Giveaway! Win a White Reindeer!!!

Giveaway is now closed.

As part of my blog launch I thought it would be nice to offer another freebie. This is the first year I have made this gorgeous white reindeer. This limited edition softie is only available during the holiday season. I'll even pay for shipping within the United States.To enter, fill out the form to the right and at the end of the month I'll pick a WINNER! Contest ends Nov. 30. Make a comment to improve your chances of winning. Who knows I may have a giveaway every month so check back often. :D

Christmas has arrived early this year!

I just LOVE this photo. Can't you just see them celebrating and dancing around like the timeless Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer Christmas special? Included in this years Christmas Collection are elves, snow people, whie fawns and whole lot more.

Nutcracker Clothes Pin People Ornaments

When I was a child my favorite part at Christmas besides opening presents, was trimming the tree. Every year the best part was unwrapping the clothes pin people from storage. It was such a treat to unveil each handmade pin doll from its packaging to discover what wonderful character was inside and place them on the tree.



I'm excited to share with you a limited edition Clothes People Ornament Kit. Based on the holiday classic the Nutcracker, each kit contains materials to make three enchanting characters from the timeless story. Everything is included to make the Nutcracker, Sugar Plum Fairy and the Mouse King.