Rockin' Robin

It's Christmas, so I got seasonal and used Nellie's bird pattern to make a robin:


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He's made in brown faux suede with a velvet breast, felt beak and wired legs. Because it's Christmas he got a nice glittery look with some red bugle beads and a piece of holly in his beak. Here he is with some friends:


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This is what I told two little boys that visited my stall the other weekend while their parents were getting coffee and cakes.

"That lady in the pretty dress is the Holly Mother. She looks after all the Holly Elves and Holly Sprites. The Holly Elves are boys and the Holly Sprites are girls. They sleep all through the Spring and Summer, and they wake up when the apples begin to ripen and the berries and the rose hips start to turn red. They live in the holly bushes, where we cannot see them and they eat nuts and berries. The Holly Elves, being boys, hardly ever wash themselves or brush their hair, so they are always up and about first. The Sprites, being girls, take ages to get ready.

The Holly Elves and Sprites are at their busiest in December, when we are all getting ready for Christmas. They creep up to the windows at night to look at all the shiny decorations and the Christmas trees in our houses. Sometimes, if they can get into the house; through a crack, or perhaps a mousehole, they wait until everyone has gone to bed and then they go right up to the Christmas tree for a really good look. They cannot resist the sugar mice, the candy canes or the chocolate tree ornaments, they are so much nicer than wrinkled berries and nuts.

Sometimes they steal them, so perhaps we shouldn't always blame those naughty children!"