Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven series is rich with ideas for favors. These are the items we chose for our favor bag:

• Magic Knots Bracelet
• Dizzy Crystal
• Pixie Cocoon
• Nero’s Gold
• Walrus Butter

Magic Knots Bracelet:  The fairies created magic knots that kept Murie,l the witch, captive.  By blowing on a knot a person could have a wish come true, however, it also unties the knot. Our magic knots bracelet boasts only wish granting powers.

I used a basic square knot for my magic knots bracelet. This article from About.com has a number of great ideas if you’d like to add a little something extra to your bracelet.

Dizzy Crystal:  This crystal makes anyone around you disoriented. Helpful for fighting dark faries and preschool playdates.

You can find your interpretation of a dizzy crystal hanging out with the glass marbles at your craft store.

Pixie Cocoon: These magical cocoons expand into a life-supporting shelter when bitten.

I took a lot of liberty with this item. These Pixie Coccoons begins as fortune cookie batter. I started with a recipe from MarthaStewart.com. However, I added mint extract and green food coloring. Also, I cook my fortune cookies like pancakes on a griddle, instead of baking them in the oven. It makes folding them more managable for me. Even so, be prepared to destroy plenty of cocoons before you get your cocoon-rolling groove on.

Nero’s Gold: Just the right rock and a little gold spray-paint make the favor sack feel a bit more substantial and are a surprising hit with small Fablehaven fans.

Walrus Butter: Special chocolate candies made from magic walrus butter help distinguish fairies and other magical creatures. Any smartly wrapped chocolate candy will suffice.

*Potions: Vials of potion from the lab complete the favor bag. If you decide against having the kids make their own, consider preparing the potions ahead and including one or two with the favors.

We had the bonus of having Brandon himself tell our guests about the items in their bags. Without the benefit of the author’s input, I would insert a list describing the benefits of each item.

The sack is sewn from light muslin. I scanned the design from the front cover of a hard-bound copy of Fablehaven and ironed-it onto the bag.

Check online for a complete list of Fablehaven magical items to spark your favor imagination.

In my dream-world I’d have a room full of shelves holding every kind of serving dish, pitcher, glassware, etc  for every occasion and holiday. In my real world I have a little cupboard tucked in the corner of the kitchen with a few platters and serving bowls and a Fry-Daddy. I’ve also got a few dishes and stemware tucked in a basement closet.

This is why I have a fondness for simple, clear, serving pieces. Unlike the red, Santa-shaped, catering-tray which seems out of place any month other than December, a nice clear platter can adapt to any occasion. I don’t mean because it’s plain and goes with anything. Better than that, because a clear plate or platter can easily dress up as something else.

For Liz’s shower last week we dressed up a couple acrylic platters to fit-in with her blue and brown airplane theme.

We stamped the airplanes onto white tissue paper and adhered it to the underside of the platter using a light layer of spray adhesive.  When adhered to acrylic the paper takes a little more scrubbing to remove later. However, when using glass plates the paper peels off easily and leaves the dish ready for its next masquerade.

You can see more clear plate ideas at OccasionalGenius.com.

Before you go, I’ve got to annouce the winner of our Utah bloggers drawing. Clearly I need to work on promoting the next give-away a little better. But for today, the winner of the $25 gift certificate to Robert’s is Jaimee.  I removed Occasional Genius, cuz that’s me. So, everyone had dang-good odds of winning. Maybe we can get more people to play next time!

We’re a little frantic getting everything ready for the Fablehaven launch party this evening! But I wanted to post a couple ideas for the party we’ll be hosting this summer.

I’m excited about the invitation..

The paper is rolled up and secured by a paper band. Beads are strung on each end by a cord running through the center.

The favors are magical items found in the Fablehaven series:

If you can’t make it to the launch party, be sure to sign-up to win on the website!

I’ll post all about the launch tomorrow!!