Flower Fairy Magic Wands

My mom recently sent the chicks these white styrofoam flowers with the idea that they might make magic wands out of them. I thought that was as good an idea as any, and of course the chicks were up for it, so we made this our special activity for Friday afternoon/evening.

We began the project early in the day with a hunt for the right stick. Being a bit of a Harry Potter fan (not a total Harry Potter nerd, mind you, just a fan...), I thought it was essential for us to use real wood for the wands. We found a stick in the yard of the perfect width, and long enough for two wands. I sawed it in half and quickly sanded down the rough parts.

For the making of the wands, I first poked a hole in each one between two petals with a screwdriver so we could easily insert the wand part. Then, the chicks painted them, using their choice of colors:
They started out with blues, purples, and pinks, and eventually Ninna asked for black. I found myself taking a slow breath in and reminding myself that I really, really didn't want to say "are you sure? Are you sure you want black? It doesn't really go with a flower fairy magic wand." And, phew, I was able to keep my mouth shut! And, like always, Ninna's colors, while not what I would have chosen, ended up looking great on the final product.

After painting them, we coated them with glitter (of course). When they were dry, the chicks chose pieces of ribbon from the craft supplies. I filled the hole with tacky glue, layed the ribbons over the hole, and then poked the stick into the hole, pushing in the ribbons. Now that they've dried, they're pretty sturdy, but I think we might mod podge them just to make them even better.

This was a really fun project, and I could see making different ones in the future with salvaged styrofoam from packaging cut into fun, seasonal shapes.