Tooth Fairy Pillows: How the Legends of Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy Collided at my House!

Most of us are born with the same number of parts.  We all have one nose, two eyes, two ears, ten toes...you get the point.  However, the general rule is that we keep our body parts for our entire lives.  This rule does not apply to our teeth.  As is the fashion, around the time when children celebrate their beloved fifth birthday, they also start to lose their baby teeth.  As you can imagine or perhaps still remember from your own experience, the thought of losing a tooth can be fairly traumatic.  I think that is why the tooth fairy was invented.

About two years ago my daughter started asking me questions about her teeth.  She was starting to notice the big kids in the neighborhood losing their own teeth.  I tried to explain that baby teeth need to fall out so that the permanent teeth can grow in.  She asked lots of questions and I gave lots of answers.  We talked about the tooth fairy and everything seemed okay.  Well, my husband comes home from work and Mimi runs into his arms, crying, and sobs the following words, "Oh Daddy!  Mommy told me all my teeth are going to fall out when I turn five!  I am not going to have any teeth!  Oh Daddy!"  Seriously!!!  So my husband walks into the kitchen and very seriously says to me, "Did you actually tell Mimi that all of her teeth are going to fall out?"  Are you kidding me????  A child's mind and thought patterns are very curious things.  Again, this is why the tooth fairy was invented.

Shameless plug!  Please come!

As you all know, my craft show is coming upon us.  The big day is December 10th.  I have been sewing lots and lots of pillows.  Quite frankly, I don't think I have done enough but I still have a few more days to get a few done.  Ahhhh!!!!  My craft is pillows.  Throw pillows to be exact.  I have colorful pillows, muted pillows, kid pillows, sophisticated pillows, traditional pillows, large pillows, and small pillows.  But in my mind, I was missing one important kind of pillows:  fun pillows.
When I first started on the venture, I was talking to my friend, Jill, who said, "Have you thought about tooth fairy pillows?"  This is funny because I think she and I often share the same brain and I had just thought of doing tooth fairy pillows.  But, this was when 715 Pillows was in it's infancy and it was just that, a thought.  We both reminisced about our childhood and our cloth pillows with little pouches to hold our teeth for the tooth fairy.  My tooth fairy often left a couple quarters, a note, and either a roll of Lifesavers or a pack of Bubble Yum.  I am guessing my dentist would not have approved.  My mom made my pillow.  It was made of yellow flannel with a small flower print.  I loved it.  So, last week, I started making a lot of little pillows and a lot of little pouches.  At the beginning, this was an arduous task as I did not have a pattern.  I did quite at bit of experimenting and I did discovered that knit fabric is NOT my friend.  These pillows are fun and one of a kind.  Plus, they are cheap.  I am going to sell them for $8 at my craft show.  A nice little gift for a nice little person without spending a nice fortune.  After the craft show, I am going to make something like a gazillion of these things for my Etsy store - that is if they get a good response on the 10th.

Basket of Tooth Fairy pillows for girls and boys!

The pillow fits right into the palm of my husbands hand!

While making these, my daughters, especially Violet, started asking lots of questions.  Mimi just wants a tooth fairy pillow, real bad.  She also really would like to lose a tooth.  Violet would like to meet the Tooth Fairy.  "Is the Tooth Fairy coming to my house tonight?  I am going to wait up for the Tooth Fairy tonight!  What if the tooth fairy comes when Santa is here and she gets scared?  The Tooth Fairy is scared of Santa!  She is going to leave me chocolate coins - she did in Silverlicious."  Most of all we talked about Santa and Tooth Fairy bumping into each other, scarring one other, getting into each others way, where she lives, and all sorts of other scenarios.  Either way, both of my girls want Tooth Fairy pillows and they want good ones.

Like most many stories about fairies, and the tooth fairy is no different, were written out of whimsy to delight children and adults.  It is nice to think of little fairies who live in the forest, under toad stools, in the alley at the New Baltimore Historical Museum (yes, we look for them all summer when we attend, "Books in the Barn"), and in fairy doors.  Fairies can be mischievous and good natured just like their human counterparts.  But, fairies can fly and perform magic.  Fairies make us happy.  And for a child who has teeth falling out of their head, isn't it nice to know that a little fairy is going to fly into your room, gather your teeth and leave you a little gift while you are sleeping?  I think this sounds wonderful.  After all, it was little fairies who visited my house whenever I was feeling down, had a bad day, and was picked on in school.  Sometimes it was a note, sometimes it was a warm plate of peanut butter cookies.  So go ahead parents, childhood is the time to indulge the imagination.  Your kids will thank you for it someday!  I promise - thanks Mom and Dad for indulging me and letting me believe in the unbelievable.