Baby-Related Crafts

"Magic Wands"

If you've seen the movies that shall no longer be named, you've seen the wands -- they are lovely, belonging in every child's (and child-at-heart's) imagination. They are also very simple, just a turned handle with a dowel for a wand. A couple of other pictures: wand next to bag, wand alone.

This pattern is copyright to me (Jan Andrea) and is NOT for resale under ANY circumstances!

Materials needed (makes 4 wands):

• 36-inch dowel, 3/8" to 1/2" diameter
• 36-inch dowel, 3/16" diameter, cut into four 2.5-3" lengths
• 4 "mug pegs" -- find them in hobby or woodcrafting stores. the more ornate, the better, though even the simple Shaker-style pegs ( the easiest to find) look decent.
• Water-based (or not) woodstain -- it only takes a little bit, so use some you have left over from another project, or buy a small jar.
• Varnish (optional)
• Wood glue
• Small coping saw, Swiss Army knife blade, or whatever is around that will cut through a dowel
• Sandpaper of varying grit
• Vice grip, or some other SAFE method of holding the pieces while you drill them (like a drill press, if you are so equipped)
• Drill with 1/8" bit
• Safety glasses
• For four bags: about 1/4 yard of interesting fabric, plus ~1 yard of coordinating ribbon
• Total cost (assuming you already have the drill, saw, and vice): way under $10 for 3-6 wands.

Directions for wands:

1. Cut the 3/8" dowel into four lengths. You may make them all the same, or go for a little variety (but beware of seeming unfairness if you are making them all for one set of siblings -- we'll fight about anything!)
2. Whittle and/or sand down one of the ends of each section so that it is rounded, as at right
3. Drill 3/16" diameter holes in the non-rounded end of the wands, as well as the end of the mug pegs. these will receive the 3/16" dowel segments, so make sure they are wide enough to fit, and also long enough that the segments will be completely contained in them, as below.
4. Coat the 3/16" dowel segments with glue, and/or put glue in the holes you just drilled. Insert one segment into the wand, and its other side into the mug peg. Clamp together (or hold together) until the glue dries.
5. Stain the wand, following label directions; varnish, if desired. You may also want to use glitter glue, gold wire, or other such ornaments to make the wands more "magical," or give them to the kids plain and let them decorate as they wish.

Directions for presentation bags:

1. Seam the selvage edges of the fabric (without cutting it). With 45" fabric, you'll have about 3" of seam-room on each edge. Fold the fabric in half, seam to seam.
2. Cut a 9" piece of ribbon, fold it in half, and position it within the sewing line, right sides together, at the lower edge of the selvage seam. Sew the first seam along the long edge.
3. Making sure that the ribbon is caught in that seam, pull it up out of the way (so it's sticking out between the right sides of the fabric).
4. Sew another seam about 2" from the first. This is your first bag.
5. Position another 9" halved piece of ribbon along the seam, for the second bag's tie.
6. Sew about 1/2 to 3/4" from the seam in step 4.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 for each bag.
8. Cut the four (or more) bags apart, between the close seams, and turn using the wands.
9. Tie the bags closed with the attached ribbons.
10. Voila! Simple, imaginative playings for the kids (and maybe the adults) you love.
11. You may also want to print out a magical sale label (PDF, 5 kb) on some parchment-style paper, for extra fun. (You'll need the fonts Freebooter (47 K) and Monsters of Stone (114 k) for the PDF to display properly; download the ZIP files, unzip, and install in your Font directory.)

All content, barring that which is otherwise attributed, is ©2023 to Jan Andrea. If you wish to use my content on another page, please email before doing so, even for content with the Creative Commons licenses. Text/images used elsewhere must be attributed to me. Be advised that I will pursue copyright violations.