My dear friend, Merrilee Liddiard of Mer Mag (one of the organizers of Midsummer Mingle with me) recently debuted a new series of children’s books that she wrote and illustrated called Fairy Friends. They’re hard book primers teaching kids the basics of counting, opposites, colors, and seasons through gorgeous floral collages intertwined with her whimsical illustrations. I love Merrilee’s look. It’s modern and so imaginative and this may be my favorite thing she’s ever done, which is risky to say because she’d produced a lot of gorgeous work. She teamed up with Meta Coleman to stage a woodland fairy tea party and the results are so enchanting. I visited them right while they were in the middle of paper maching their flowers and I was in awe. These ladies produced magic! Merrilee was kind enough to supply us with the tutorial on how to make the papier mâché oversized flowers AND she’s giving away a set of four signed books. 
See below on how to make the flowers and how to enter the giveaway!
Merrilee enlisted the help of Meta Coleman to carry out the fairy tea party. Meta explains, ” I instantly thought of the beloved Elsa Beskow books. Everything needed to be oversized and papier mache. Thus began a week where Merrilee and I worked day and night on the oversized flowers, mushrooms, costumes, hats, and tea set.”
DIY oversized papier mâché flower
supplies:
- pvc pipe
- bucket
- newspaper/newsprint
- chicken wire
- cement
- wire
- acrylic or house paint
- paper mache mix (2 parts water to 1 part flour)
- Mix cement and pour into a pail. Insert pvc pipe, let dry according to the instructions on your cement packet.
- Wrap pipe with chicken wire. Create and wrap around wire skeleton for leaf.
- Paper mâché stem and leaf. Let it dry. 24 hours is a thorough drying time.
- Cut out petal shapes from poster board. Tape and paper mâché onto stem. Repeat several petals. Let dry.
- Paint flower.
- Add details such as pistils, etc with the same method.
Note: heavier petal shapes with cause the flower to drop a bit in a natural way.
You can use this process to create headpieces and tea cups as seen below!
You can even use the papier mâché technique to create the woodland mushrooms! Aren’t they adorable?! 
Merrilee also recently opened up a doll shop selling one of a kind handmade rag dolls. She made a limited edition series of fairy dolls to go along with the books.
And this daisy headpiece? Swoon! 
Giveaway!
Enter to win 1 signed set of each of the 4 Fairy Friends books: Opposites, Seasons, Colors, Counting in two ways:
- Share this giveaway on one of your social media platforms and leave a comment here on the blog telling me where you’ve shared it.
- Head on over to Instagram for another way to enter.
Contest ends Friday, October 7th at 12am MST.
Photography by Shannon Weight | Illustrations and books by Merrilee Liddiard | Crafting and styling by Merrilee and Meta Coleman | Merrilee Liddiard dollshop here | Fairy Friends books sold here
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