It's Finally Fall!

Fall is here and summer is over, but it was great to see everyone at the barbecue and sidewalk sale on Saturday! Even though the weather was a little bit crazy, a lot of people showed up and it was a great time (and the salmon & corn sure were tasty, too!). Even our gnomes were spotted Saturday afternoon down on the green, making all kinds of mischief!

We also got off to a great start building our big colorful castle, and handed out the castle contest forms all day. I really hope we get a lot of beautiful entries back in to brighten up the store even more as the days start getting shorter and darker. So far not too many people have turned their drawings in so everyone's odds of winning are good!

If you're in our Kids Club, don't forget that our next monthly event is coming up on the 27th at 4:00 pm.! We're all so excited because Libby will be visiting just for this special afternoon! We'll all be dressing up in our pajamas (you should, too!) and reading some of our favorite stories aloud. Since summer has come to an end and Kids Club events have now returned to the store location, space is limited to 10 kids. If you're interested in coming down, call and let us know (360-714-8552)!

One other thing to note this month is our new online trivia questions. Be sure to check the Fairhaven Toy Garden facebook page to stay up to date with our latest toy-and-game themed puzzlers. Come in with the correct answer and choose a prize from our treasure chest!

Tuck, Trixie and Toggin playing dress up on the green!

(Photos by Jen Martin Studios)

Last but not least, it that time of year again for the Best of Western Washington contest. If you've enjoyed our store and have a few extra minutes, we'd love to have your vote! Go here to vote for us, as well as your other favorite local businesses! We appreciate your time and positive feedback so much!

Fairhaven Salmon BBQ & Sidewalk Sale

Here at the Toy Garden we are all very busy this week preparing for the big weekend ahead!Once Again the Old Fairhaven Association is hosting the Fairhaven Salmon Barbecue, sending summer off with delicious local food, music and general fun for all ages. Many Fairhaven businesses (including the Toy Garden!) will also be having sidewalk sales with all kinds of great specials and surprises. Our lovely gnomes, who are all big fans of a good barbecue, will be out and about all afternoon too!

This year we are also participating in Faber-Castell's 250th Anniversary "Dream Castle" contest. We carry many of Faber-Castell's great art supplies and are very excited to use some of their products (the twist-up gel sticks are my absolute favorite!) while building & decorating! Saturday we'll be out on the sidewalk pasting, painting and assembling our castle; kids ages 3 to 12 are invited to come down and color or draw castles from their own imagination and enter to win a Grand Prize of $500 in Faber-Castell children's art products, a year of art classes at Yong Rembrandts and a $500 Visa gift card! To get a head start on the contest, or just to check out some of the other cool entries Faber-Castell has received, anyone can visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/CastleContestUSA. We're really encouraging everyone to put their wildest imagination to use and enter the contest because the prizes are awesome!

Alongside the castle-building extravaganza, we will also have all kinds of great toys on sale at our sidewalk sale. This includes a last chance to snag some discontinued items that we'll no longer be carrying at the Toy Garden so be sure to stop by!

Fairhaven Salmon BBQ 2011

Sidewalk Sale 11 am - 5 pm

Barbecue 1 pm - 4 pm

For more information, click here.

Hedgehog Pincushion Workshop

The 5th season of felting came to a close today. I lead a class on making felted hedgehogs. If made compact enough, the little critter could even be used as a pincushion. I got this idea out of a book we sell entitled "Wool Toys and Friends" by Lauren Sharp. I made my first one in March. I was leading a tutorial at an employee meeting to teach some of the others how to felt and thought that it would be a good beginning piece. Since then I have made several as presents for family members and friends, which were all well received.

I eagerly requested to teach this workshop and was so excited to see how the different hedgehogs would turn out. Since this is a great introduction to felting, a couple of younger students were able to join. They were very patient and excited to learn and give character to their creatures with lots of color. As Carol has mentioned, one of the best parts of teaching the classes is seeing all the different variations that the participants will take from what you show them. Several of the adult students decided that instead of using the curly roving that takes the place of quills, they would keep the smooth, brown surface and just add the decorative head bow. They turned so well, that I want to try one for myself!

Classes will start back up in the Fall. Check back in on our website for a schedule.

Puppy Workshop

We're getting down to our last two workshops of the season. There is a little break at the end of May for summer, but don't worry, we start up again near the end of September. We all know there are dog people and then there are cat people and for those who didn't come to last week's kitten workshop, Carol taught today's students how to make a felted puppy.

I wasn't in the store during the workshop, but I got to talk to Carol about how it went. She said, "Everyone loves puppies. This seemed to be true as our workshop this time was full with people on the waiting list. Participants brought photos of favorite canine friends. There was a nice mix of children and adults and as we got into the project I heard a lot of sharing of tips about how to create an ear or a collar. A few had to leave early and not everyone finished, but the photo shows the range and creativity of this project."

Not only were there lots of different breeds created, but oodles of color not usually seen on dogs. Employee, Robi, commented, "There were blue dogs, there were green dogs, it was like Go Dog Go!" It sounds like quite a bit of imagination

Kitten Workshop

Every Saturday from late November until the end of May, we have felting workshops in the store from 11:00-1:00. This week local artist, Carol Hewitt led the class is making a felted kitten. The ages ranged from 91/2 to adult, but all students had high energy. Everyone was equally ecstatic to learn how to turn a pipe-cleaner feline skeleton into a cuddly kitten.

When asked how the work shop went, Carol replied, "I am impressed by the variety of colors used. We have orange & black, lavender striped, orange, blue & gray cats as well as black & white. Participants had time to make sparkley collars and even several cat beds and play balls". Next week is a puppy. I can't wait to see what colors and breeds are created!

Dirty Dan Days

I was recently told that this is the coldest Spring on record since....forever! And I believe it. We've had so much rain and and freezing temperatures that it is hard to believe that it's closer to Summer than Winter (technically of course). In Fairhaven, there have been a lot of fun events to attempt to usher in the sun. Accompanied by Robin and Carol, I worked at the Fairhaven Toy Garden booth at Dirty Dan Days. We were teaching children (and anyone who wanted to learn) how to make wet felted balls. In order to do this, you put wool roving into a nylon, dip it in warm soapy water and then alternate pounding it on the bricks or rolling it between your palms. By far the best part was watching the children smacking their balls onto the ground, sending sprays of sudsy water every which way. Over 150 balls were made and we had a great time helping the kids and listening to the live music.

Spring is in the Air

We had two Kids' Club events in the last 30 days. We did egg games and window painting in April for in anticipation of Easter. And this month, for Mother's Day, the club members made glass bead necklaces. Both of these activities were really fun. During this last one, it was really interesting to see all the different designs and patterns that kids came up. All of the necklaces turned out beautifully. You can see all of them and their creators on our Facebook! Our next activity will be a picture frame for Father's Day. Check out Fairhaven.com for complete details.