Walden is busy planting all the herbs and medicinal plants in his garden. He also spends many hours combing the hills and brooks, looking for wild plants to add to his collection. He’s a busy wizard at this time of year!!!

Some of my puppets have arrived in France and some are on their way!! Lucky puppets.

Puppeteer Nicolas Bernard is busy performing in France. Check out his Facebook page (Niko et ses puppets). See what puppets are getting ready for the trip below. There is a fairy, an elf, a gnome, a wizard and twin witches. More to come!

Mouth puppets have entered the store in a big way. They came along, one by one, first the bunnies, followed by the puppies. Then suddenly there were monkeys, chimps, dragons, unicorns, pigs, giraffes and more. Take a look at these fellas!

three puppies together

As you can see, all the mouth puppets are quite happy! They are great toys for toddlers and teens alike. Even grandmas and grandpas have fun with these!

Did you know that some fairies live in egg-shaped houses? I have found a few hiding around my yard recently.  This little fairy popped

out of the green egg and I nearly dropped her. That was when I discovered that every egg had a fairy or a pixie living inside. They are just in time for Easter!

I always find that I need to get organized after the Christmas rush. My workshop was in chaos and I needed to take stock of all the bits and pieces of supplies I still had on hand. Surprise, surprise. There, under the pile of faux fur and yarn was a pixie next. The little fellas flew out and landed on a basket I had just put out.

The little guys were soon followed by a group of flower fairies.

Luckily, they are all fond of helping. We organized the flowers and embroidery floss in no time, I hope you find pixies and fairies in your house when you clean.

Every home needs a fairy house. Especially if you have noticed that you have a fairy or two wandering about your house looking for a place to live.

Often, house fairies will get into the flour bag, thinking it is filled with warm snow. They do love to scatter ‘snow’ around the shelves and counter tops, making your house look like a winter scene.

You may notice the remains left by a fairy who found the chocolate chips! Fairies love chocolate. However, they may just live in the bag of chips until the morsels are nearly gone. That can lead to a fat fairy flying around the house bumping into vases of flowers or nick-knacks, knocking them over. They like to make you blame the cat and they hide in the shelves laughing as you scold Fluffy.

They will also eat the candy from a candy dish, drop bits of fluff on a newly vacuumed rug, toss papers from pile of filing onto the floor, and splash water around sinks. Fairies with no house of their own are always playing tricks.

Of course, if things go missing, like keys or glasses, you may think it is your own forgetfulness. This is common mischief that house fairies play on their humans. You need a fairy house in your home. Find, buy  or make a little house that you place on your bookshelf or windowsill. Contented fairies seldom get into the flour, chocolate chips or candy. You may find that your keys and glasses don’t get lost as easily. The rugs stay clean longer; the water seldom splashes onto the floor. And, if, after you have provided a nice home for them, you find the mischief continues, place a second fairy house somewhere in your home. You may have more than one fairy!

It has been a very busy summer and I have neglected my website. I’m sorry to all of you who hoped to see all the new puppets. So here are a few new ones who are obviously enjoying the change of seasons.  They always love the bright colors of fall. Elwen tend to like to dress up for any occasion. The change of season, the change of weather, or the change of a meal! They also love to disguise themselves as part of the scenery, so autumn offers some of the most beautiful colors they use in their camouflage.

Of course, the wizards tend to like wearing their traditional outfits. That way everyone knows they are wizards. Otherwise, when they are bumbling around the village, the elwen may mistake them for librarians or shoemakers!

Even Hootie the owl has been showing off his new hairstyle.  Silly old bird.

The new spring puppets are all set to clean their fairy houses.

The fairy houses are just the right size for house fairies.

And then there are the new mouth puppets. So many new things are happening at the mappy oakley toy shop.

A special order for these puppets gave me lots of fun and design challenges. Each one works from the back to be carried across the stage by puppeteers. Enjoy.

Ladybug and Grasshopper

Centipede with all his sneakers

In front is Worm. Back left to right, Ladybug, Grasshopper, Centipede and Spider.

Spider in his fluffy glory.

The Group again!