The Tooth Fairy pays another visit...

Toucie was hoping for a ruby to appear (!!??!!), but when she found a new seed pearl in the pocket of her pillowcase, she began to see the trend. 

Extra bonus gift she's discovered with the loss of this tooth: she can whistle through the gap...nice touch, Tooth Fairy!

Tooth Fairy Visit! (caution - fairy spoiler)

That wiggly tooth has finally come out! Toucie was very excited to slip it into the pocket of her new pillowcase and go to sleep :)

Time for the Tooth Fairy to get to work. The fairy that visits this household likes to trade beautiful seed pearls for teeth. I've been gathering some pearls of different colors in anticipation of this happy event.

I constructed a tiny box out of lavender cardstock using this template as a guide. Then nestled a creamy pearl inside with a cushion of green wool roving.

A tiny box, 1/2 inches square, tied with a wisp of golden floss...just right to fit into the pillow pocket.

What a happy moment in the morning when she discovered the surprise :)  She made the lovely observation that pearls are very much like teeth! Now, what to do with this treasure?

We went out to the "jewelers" (Target in this case) to find just the right silver chain to hold this pearl. Then gathered some supplies to wire the pearl along with a tiny crystal and add it to the chain.

My intention is to add pearls to this necklace as Toucie loses teeth over the next few years.

My hope is that a 14 year old Toucie will be just as delighted by a necklace full of pearls as this 5 year old Toucie is delighted by this single one. And that a grown-up Toucie will treasure both the necklace and the memories of all the magic.

Special Handwork....Tooth Fairy Pillowcase

We've dropped everything around here for some urgent handwork...Toucie has her first loose tooth and it could fall out at any second now...we need a special tooth fairy pillowcase.

We have a very special pillowacase that that my grandmother made for me when I was small. It has sweet embroidery and a tiny pocket stitched on where one can stash one's tooth in case a tooth fairy should come in search of a trade. I used it faithfully as a youngster, and so did Naya, Sodie, and Mado when they were small. Well, it is Toucie's turn and the pillowcase is nowhere to be found. Time to whip something up!

I thought I would zip up a little case out of linen, add a pocket, and maybe a bit of embroidery like my grandmother did, but Toucie had grander visions. After a peek in the scrap box, she was committed to a plan that involved color and variety and a lot more work than mine. So we turned it into a homeschool handwork project. Toucie tore strips of favorite fabrics and ironed them all smooth. We laid them all out side by side.

I stitched all the strips together and pressed all the seams flat. Toucie used marks that I had drawn on the fabric to cut a neat rectangle. This made a 4 inch border for the pillowcase. I pieced this together with a blue fabric and constructed the case.

Next we chose a bit of fabric for the tiny pocket and stitched that on by hand.

And here is a not-so-good photo of how it turned out...but wait a minute...

Toucie had further plans...she made a pocket all by herself  and wanted to stitch it on the other side of the pillowcase.

Can you see her little pocket there above the bunny? (I think she incorporated some packing tape, too, but who am I to question the methods of an artist?).

So now we're ready. Oh, and guess what I just found?