Quest Number One Handmade Magical Faery Wands

For our Magical Gateways in the Whispering Woods event we wanted to have three special quests from the three Faeries who were hosting the event.  The Woodland Faery (Kelly) presented each Letterboxer with a slip of paper with a special design printed on it.  The quest was for them to return to the Kingdom of Twilight to locate their matching magical stone.  Once presented back to the Woodland Faery as proof that they had completed their quest they were allowed to select their handmade Faery wand.

Each wand was unique and hand stitched (beaded) by myself and Kelly (Pixie Dust Gal).  I started these wands in the spring before my hand injury.  I didn't feel that true Faeries would have plastic store purchased wands but would in fact have wands made from nature with scraps of cloth, ribbon and material and would be adorned with precious gems and a special charm.

I collected all the twigs I could find from the ground during my walks at Eagle Island with Raisin and Jay.  I wrapped each first with strips of material, decorative ribbon, cream or white colored lace and then finally hand stitched each with an assortment of beads and bobbles.  The finishing touch was a charm near the handle.  Some wands were heavily adorned and some were more simple in nature.  I wanted to be sure that none were perfectly symmetrical and that they were not identical to one and other.  In nature you must expect the unexpected and the wands needed to reflect the mystery and magic of nature.

Each wand took an hour or more to create.  Above are samples of the first four wands that I created.  Although I completed the first 12 or so and wrapped a bunch of others Kelly took over the painstaking creation of the handmade wands.  These were truly a labor of love by both of us.  Although I did not get to see individuals selecting their wands I was thrilled to see how carefully they were handled and loved the smiles on the children's faces as they were walking around the Whispering Woods with their very own Faery wand.

 

Part of the reason for the quests and gifts was because we usually have around 6-8 drawing baskets/bags (and approximately 35 to 40 attendees) and we just can't stand to see anyone leave the event empty handed without a special memento or two.  Last year at our Alice in Wonderland event we did pinwheels and a large candy station but I think each event lends it's self to something different and unique.

The rocks Kelly and I ogled over on Pinterest.  I have pinned a lot of rocks on my board on Pinterest since I started it.  We saw so many that were painted and decorated and knew time was running slim in addition to our abilities to actually paint rocks.  Fearlessly Kelly took over the collecting of the rocks and created 40 different patterns and special words (she is amazing) on each to match up to the quest clues.  Each person had a unique rock to locate.  She also added gems to many of them.  Then she hand decorated all 40 with Sharpie markers which you can now purchase in different colors including black, gold and silver.  Kelly did an amazing job of "painting" the rocks and each person who selected their wand was also treated to the gift of keeping their special stone.  The stones were scattered around and some did present a challenge for the seekers to find but eventually everyone was able to locate their stone and claim their wand.