Hazel Village

The Hazel Village Animals live around a pond in the forest, where they do industrious projects together and make each other presents. · Brooklyn, NY · hazelvillage.com

[hazelvillage]

Come say Hi. Our booth is 7170 at #NYNOW. (at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center)

[campnabby]

Now this is a stuffed animal! Our friends over at Hazel Village hooked us up with the most impressive deer we’ve ever seen. Made with nothing but love, Scooter B. Nabatoff is finally three-dimensions of red, felty softness.

In April I approached the owner of HV, Jane, about bringing...

[hazelvillage]

People have asked how we can tell that kids are using their own money for the kids discount. We can tell. (at Brooklyn Flea Fort Greene)

[jesseandrews-blog]

Me and Earl is OUT IN PAPERBACK! Same great cover! Pretty much all of the same words! Actually I think 100% of the same words!! But now it costs and weighs less. And as a bonus, four of the paperbacks in our initial run have, instead of Chapter 18, eight glossy high-definition photos of lions...

[hazelvillage]

Here is the pattern for your very own bunting project!

[hazelvillage]

Happy May Day!

Lucas and Ella made this bunting for May Day. Here is how they did it:

First, Lucas traced a triangle-shaped pattern onto fabric pieces, and cut along the lines until he had many triangles. 

He made two triangles for each flag. Ella said, "That is a TON of triangles!" Actually, it was 40 triangles, which is enough for 20 flags. 

Then, the friends stitched the triangles into pairs  to make double-sided flags. For each flag, they put two pieces together with the pretty sides touching. Then they used a needle and thread to sew the long sides of the triangle. They left the short side open. 

When they turned the triangles right side out, they had reversible flags with neat, finished edges. Some had matching fabric on each side, and some had contrasting fabric. 

Lucas used a sharp stick to make sure each flag's point was as pointy as possible.

Ella used a hot rock to flatten each flag. (If you don't live in the forest and you want to do this project, you could get a grownup to help you use an iron and a sewing machine). 

Finally, the friends arranged the flags in a line, and sewed it together with a binding of folded ribbon. They left enough ribbon on each end to tie the bunting to a branch. 

Happy May Day!

P.S. Click here for animal sized and human sized bunting patterns.

[hazelvillage]

Flora Whittles Hangers

"It's terrible!" cried Emma. "Penelope and I were just practicing my new dance, Skippy Hop Hop. And suddenly poor Penelope tripped and bonked her nose! It's because my third best tutu got in the way of her paws. But the tutu was just sitting in its spot on the floor, in between Penelope's velveteen booties and my pointy winter hat. I just don't know what to do!"  

Flora said, "I've got it! I will whittle you hangers. Then you can hang up your clothes and have plenty of floor space for dances."

So that afternoon, the fox girl found some small, straight boards. She cut them into hanger shapes with her whittling knife.

  Then she sanded them smooth, so they would not leave splinters in the clothes.

   Next, Flora poked a little hole in the top of each hanger. She screwed a brass hook into each hole, and added some glue so the hook would not fall out.

Finally, Flora painted the hangers with varnish.  

In the morning when the varnish was dry, Flora brought the hangers to the rabbit twins.

  The hangers were just right! Penelope said, "I don't know how we managed before! Now we will have much more space for projects and dances. Thank you, Flora!"

[hazelvillage]

Owen Weaves a Blanket

In the winter, Owen likes to pass the time weaving on his loom. He knew that his friend Annicke Mouse had chilly paws, so he decided to weave her a blanket.

First, he got ready. He wound all his yarn into balls. And he wrapped some yarn onto the shuttle. 

Then he strung the warp yarn onto the loom. "Warp" is the pieces that go up and down in weaving. He tied a knot in one corner, and wound the warp tightly through all the slots. It was hard work to pull the yarn tight enough, but Owen says that he can use the improved core strength in his dancing. When he got to the end, he tied another tight knot.

Next, he took a wooden contraption called the heald shaft gear, and lifted it into place in front of the loom frame but behind the threads. He arranged it like this, with one piece of yarn in each slot.

Now Owen was ready to weave. He turned the heald shaft gear a little bit away from him. This made all the even numbered threads stick up higher than the odd numbered threads. He put the shuttle through the space between the threads. 

Then, he turned the heald shaft gear a quarter turn towards him. It made all the odd numbered threads stick up higher than the even numbered threads. Owen put the shuttle back through the other way, and there were two rows of weft! "Weft" is the pieces that go from side to side in weaving. Owen used a little stick to push the weft threads to the bottom.

He went on weaving, first turning the heald shaft gear toward him, then turning it away from him, then pushing the weft threads tight with his little stick. The woven fabric grew bigger and bigger.

Sometimes Owen changed the weft yarn on the shuttle. This made colorful stripes in Annicke's blanket. Owen says he used a lot of red yarn because Annicke likes red, and it is a very warm and cozy color. 

When Owen couldn't fit any more weaving on the loom, he took out the heald shaft gear. But he kept the blanket on the loom for a little while longer. He used a needle and some more yarn to stitch the edges of the blanket. He used small, tight stitches so the threads could not unravel once they were cut.

And he used a needle to weave the short tails of thread into the blanket.

Finally, he took off the blanket and cut the loops of warp thread into a fringe.

Here he is giving the blanket to Annicke. She loves it! 

[hazelvillage]

Valentines (Part II)

As Valentine’s Day approached, Oliver monitored the progress of the box. He did this mainly by peering out his window to see who put valentines in. Sometimes he scurried out and emptied the box’s contents into his mailbag. He wondered how many were for him, but as the official valentine collector he felt it would be inappropriate to peek at the names on the envelopes. On Valentine's Morning, Oliver sorted all the mail and got ready to make the deliveries. Here he is with his mailbag:

He went from house to house, giving each animal his or her valentines. “Many happy returns of the day!” he wished each recipient. No one quite knew what he meant, but everyone was happy to receive their valentines. As he walked Oliver sang a little song:

I've been delivering Valentines

all the live-long day

I've been delivering Valentines

what more can I say?

After Oliver had visited all the houses on his route there were still a few valentines left in the bag. These were for him! He hurried back home to open them. Here’s some of what he found: Max made a card out of a postage stamp from his collection

Flora gave him a pink candy heart to nibble

And Jeremy painted him a tiny portrait of how they were friends

It took Oliver nearly an hour to open all his envelopes. By then it was time for the Valentines Day Party at the lodge. Oliver donned his special red velvet tuxedo jacket and hurried to meet his friends. He was pretty sure it was the best Valentine’s Day ever.

[hazelvillage]

Lucy's Embroidered Valentines

This year, Lucy Owl made embroidered valentines for her friends. She said she wanted to do something with a real "wow" factor, which is where people say, "Wow!" when they see the thing. We can't be sure yet whether it will work, because Valentine's Day hasn't arrived yet. But anyway here is how she did it:  Lucy took some red felt, and drew heart-shaped designs on it. The designs were not too complicated, just some hearts and the first letters of her friends' names. But she was careful to make the letters as pretty as she could. Then she embroidered over the lines of her drawing. She used back stitch, which goes like this:

Lucy did not use an embroidery hoop to hold her work in place. She says the felt was sturdy enough that her stitches would not bunch up. Actually she said, "Embroidery hoops are for babies," but then she realized that some of her best friends use embroidery hoops, and that it is a matter of personal preference. Once all the letters and hearts were embroidered, Lucy cut out the felt hearts. She was careful to stay a little bit outside the stitching so she wouldn't snip the threads. Here are some of the valentines Lucy made. The R is for Reginald, the F is for Flora, and the E is for Emma. But of course Lucy made one for every animal in the village, because that is the nice thing to do.

[hazelvillage]

Valentines (Part I)

In late January Oliver asked the other animals who they thought should be put in charge of deliveries for Valentine’s Day. And the other animals said, “you, of course!” because Oliver did the valentines every year. Soon afterwards, Oliver announced that the Valentines Box was up in his front yard. “It’s snuggled in the birch tree,” he said. “Everyone should drop their valentines in there!” A few days later, Gwendolyn decided to think about what kind of valentines to make. So she went to Oliver’s yard to have a look at the Valentines Box, hoping for inspiration. And who did she find there, lost in thought and gazing at the box, but Catalina. Catalina said, “I am thinking about what kind of valentines to make.” The two friends decided to work on their valentines together. “I have lots of paper and craft stuff,” Catalina said. “Let’s go to my house.” Back at the house, the friends thought about how to make their valentines really special. “I’ve got it!” Gwendolyn said. “Let’s make custom envelopes!” So they very carefully took apart a regular envelope Catalina already had and traced the shape onto different kinds of pretty paper.

Then they cut out the new envelopes and folded them to match the old one.

They were careful to glue them together the same way the old one had been glued.

Their new envelopes did not have a sticky part to lick, so they closed them with a tiny bit of glue after the valentines were inside. Sometimes they used tape or a sticker instead.

When Catalina took a break to get them some cookies, Gwendolyn quickly made Catalina’s valentine and hid the envelope in the middle of the pile. And when Gwendolyn got restless and took a break to see if the pond was still icy, Catalina made Gwendolyn a valentine and hid it inside her bonnet.

By late afternoon they had made valentines for everyone. They pranced back to Oliver’s with their piles of pretty envelopes and stuffed them all in the box. Except they had to kind of squash the last few in, because the box was getting pretty full!

Here’s how you can make your own tiny envelopes.

Hazel Village Valentines Day Print Out

[hazelvillage]

Long distance best friends reunite over dress up. (at Brooklyn Flea)

[hazelvillage]

Can we get a big Awww going here?

[hazelvillage]

All the #embroideryfloss. Neatly organized and ready for @BKFlea this weekend!

[hazelvillage]

Owen look supper snuggly in Jacob's stocking.

[hazelvillage]

"It is a miracle if you can find true friends, and it is a miracle if you have enough food to eat, and it is a miracle if you get to spend your days and evenings doing whatever it is you like to do, and the holiday season—like all the other seasons—is a good time not only to tell stories of miracles, but to think about the miracles in your own life, and to be grateful for them."—Lemony Snicket, The Lump of Coal

http://t.co/JiZ2o27o via Cup of Jo

[hazelvillage]

The holidays are a time to visit friends new and old. Petey Ecks stopped by our holiday booth (at Columbus Circle Holiday Market)