Around the [felt] campfire

Photo by Sam

If you've read either of my blogs for very long, you've no doubt seen a lot of felt food.  I discovered this fun form of handcrafted play food several years ago, and have not looked back!  I've made everything from Christmas cookies ...

 to bacon and eggs ...

to cinnamon rolls ...

 to lemon meringue pie ...

 to toaster pastries ...

 to ripple chips ...

 to cheesecake with strawberries ...

and everything in between!

A couple of years ago, my younger daughter sent me links to some felt projects she thought her kids would enjoy as a group gift.  I looked at them, saved them and ended up choosing one idea -- some felt play mats -- to make for gifts that Christmas. 

Another of the ideas was for felt s'mores and even a campfire! Although I put that idea on the back burner, it started simmering again in time for spring birthdays this year.  I made the campfire for one child and the s'mores for his sister.  It looks as if the Nevada grandkids (the ones whose mom sent me the ideas originally) will be recipients of the same gift projects this Christmas.

Although I got some (blurry) pictures of the marshmallows, the roasting sticks, and the s'mores, I didn't do as well getting a picture of the campfire itself.  Finally,  months after the fact, I asked if my local grandkids would set up the campfire and take some pictures for me.  Did they ever!

I took the next 3 pictures:

Graham cracker, melted marshmallow and chocolate square

This shows the graham crackers, chocolate and melted marshmallow

This gives you a good look at the sticks as well as the marshmallows and how they are crafted to fit together well.

I promised to share links to the tutorials I used, along with the photos.  So, I will start with the roasting sticks and the marshmallows.  There are all kinds of ideas out there, including using dowels for the sticks (not a good idea, I thought) but this is the one I settled on:  Felt Marshmallows and Roasting Sticks.  The sticks are actually chenille stems (pipe cleaners) wrapped in felt casings.

All of the photos below are by Sam:

The kids set up the campfire surrounded by stuffed animals who are toasting marshmallows.

This little guy looks so at home!

This shows the drawback of using chenille stems -- maybe a little too much bendability.

But, on the upside, they do look like real sticks.

Just like around a real campfire, some are toasting marshmallows ...

And some are munching s'mores.  Others are just waiting their turn!

The campfire, logs, graham crackers, chocolate bars, and melted marshmallows all came from this tutorial: Felt Campfire and S’mores. The only part I had to sort of figure out on my own was the campfire ring of felt "stones".  In retrospect, I sort of wish I had attached the stones together into a ring shape, but I felt it would be more fun for the kids to "build" the fire ring for themselves.

A snail and turtle share a s'more

A Dalmatian munches a s'more

Hope you have enjoyed this look at the felt campfire and accessories.  It does make a great group gift for siblings.  For more felt ideas, check out my Fun with Felt Pinterest board!