These adorable peg bears, bunnies, and mushrooms were made at the Angel Room workshop last week. If you'd like to try your hand at these, the Wishing Well carries not only unpainted pegs in various shapes and sizes, but also a great peg doll how-to book. 

And come join us for the next Angel Room workshop where we'll be making hand-sewn animals like the one below.  No experience necessary! Wednesday after drop-off!

The garden gnomes have arrived at The Wishing Well! Who better to watch over your Fall seedlings than one of these little fellows? Come by and take one home with you!

We've received a collection of fine French hair clips and barrettes in a variety of shapes and styles. The findings on these are very well designed and made, don't pull hair, and will last for years. 

Michaelmas is almost here. We have lots of beautiful things you can add to your nature table, including dragons, maidens and knights, crystals, and these multi-colored wooden blocks that allow children to build fluid, non-linear structures.

Hobbit Moleskins have come in! They include drawings and quotations from the book, and come ruled and unruled.  

We had our second Angel Room item workshop today where we made this fluffy flock.

Most of the sheep we made from wool which we wrapped around pipe cleaners but Jason needle felted his from his beard...wow!

Next week we'll be painting wooden mushrooms and making tiny clothes and hats for peg gnomes...no advanced experience in outfitting gnomes required.  We hope you can join us...Wednesday morning after drop off!

Fall arrives and once again our thoughts turn (one hopes) toward the making of our ten Angel Room items, our handmade gifts to the children in our community. Are you grumbling? Feeling anxious, or not so crafty? Don't fret! There are so many easy and sweet things you can make.

Click here to see simple, step-by-step instructions to make the little fellow above. You only need three supplies to make it, all of which the Wishing Well carries, and it only takes about twenty minutes!

list of materials:

wool roving in white, black, gray and orange
felting needle
foam block

And by the way, at our next Angel Room item workshop this Wednesday morning, we'll be making those sheep you see in the background. So stop by if you can join us, or if you have questions or need help with the making of your items!

We had so much fun at our first Angel Room workshop on Wednesday. We made vibrantly colored, wet-felted castile soap bars. (The Wishing Well carries beautiful and very reasonably priced packs of dyed wool roving in all kinds of colors by the way.)

We hope you will join us for our next workshop, Wednesday morning after drop-off, in front of the Wishing Well....Ginger will be teaching us how to make wrapped wool sheep.

One of the lovely things about this game is that small children can set it up all by themselves and play solo or with friends.  Toddlers love catching these sea creatures over and over and over again! 

Welcome back to school everyone! We've got lots of new yarn and wool roving in the store for Fall projects and Angel Room crafting. Come see!

The following excerpt is from the Virginia Beach SPCA. What a great project for parents and kids!

If You Knit Or Crochet

Many of our wildlife rehabbers use knitted or crocheted nests for the very young wildlife. These nests act just like nests in the wild, to secure the young, allow them to snuggle together and to maintain body temperature. 

Please use yarns that are not too "snaggy", double up your yarn and stitch in very tight stitches so that tiny arms and legs can't slip through. (*Kaki suggested wet felting as a way of addressing this issue as well, but you'd need to make a bigger nest as it would shrink in the felting process.) Colors do no matter! The babies do not care what their nests look like.

This is a great project for Scout groups and others looking to learn to crochet or knit, and where the final project can be lopsided, crooked, and full of errors, and no one minds!!  These instructions were written by our volunteer exclusively for the VBSPCA Wildlife Program.  If you use these instructions or our images on your own website, please include credit to the VBSPCA Wildlife Program

CROCHET NEST DIRECTIONS:
To begin, chain 3, join (with a slip stitch) to form ring.
Round 1: Chain 2 (this counts as your first “stitch), work between 10 – 15 single crochets into th ring (depending on what thickness yarn you are using). Slip stitch the last single crochet to the top stitch in the chain 2 that started this round.
Round 2: Chain 2. Single crochet into each of the next two stitches, then do 2 single crochet’s into the next stitch, single crochet into the next two stitches, then 2 single crochet’s in the the next stitch. And on and on around the circle. Slip stitch your last single crochet into the top of the chain 2 that started this round.
Round 3, 4, 5, 6, and on: Repeat Round 2 over and over, until your circle is at least 3” big. You can make your nest with a bottom as small as 3” big, up to maybe 6” big.

Once you have made the bottom of the nest from 3” to 6” big, from all rounds thereafter, crochet ONE single crochet into each stitch. You will see your “sides” begin to form. Crochet until the sides are about 2 – 3” high. Bind off and weave in loose ends.

Directions:
On size 5 dpn’s cast on 54 stitches (dividing up into 18 sts/needle). Work in knit (stockingette is automatic on dpn’s) stitch for approximately 3 inches. Begin decreasing for the crown as follows:
Next row: *K 7, k 2 tog* repeat to end
Next row: *K 6, k 2 tog* repeat to end
Next row: *K 5, k 2 tog* repeat to end
Nest row: *K 4, k 2 tog* repeat to end
Next row: *K 3, k 2 tog* repeat to end
Next row: *K 2, k 2 tog* repeat to end
Next row: *K 1, k 2 tog* repeat to end
Clip of yarn leaving a tail of about 6 inches.
Using yarn needle, slide yarn needle under all stitches on needles, and draw tight to close up the end. Knot.

Drop off or Mail to:

Virgina Beach SPCA Wildlife Program
Attn: Wildlife

3040 Holland Road
Virginia Beach, VA 23453