Little felt horse or unicorn pattern

 This post is a response to Jennifer’s comment on the toys post. I used a pattern for the rainbow horses from a book called “Feltcraft”.  (If anyone reading this does not have this book, you need to get it. It’s been a perpetual resource for toys and crafts for me.) Echoes of a Dream posted the same horse pattern that is in the book  on her blog . You can sew the hair on as she did, or if you stuff with wool, you can use a felting needle to felt on hair from wool roving.  One thing you need to know when sewing the horses is to sew the bottom piece (known as a gusset) to the 2 sides first, then the hooves,  then stuff legs. Next sew the neck/head/back in that order. Stuff the head after you have sewn it because once you have sewn to the tail it will be difficult if not impossible to stuff. When you get to the tail area stuff the body, and sew up. Once it is sewn add the hair. For me it took about an hour to sew.  As far as the mermaids go, I made that pattern myself, and basically I made tiny waldorf style dolls, and put a tail where the legs used to be.

Some well loved toys I’ve made

I am in the process of cleaning out and switching  our play room, and craft room. I cleared all of the toys shelves, and in doing so realized just how much of my daughters toys I had made.  We decided when she was a baby that we were not going to spend tons of money on cheap, junky, commercial toys. I bought a few books, and learned how to do it myself, fully committed to raising our child according to waldorf principles. I learned how to sew dolls. First just tiny, simple things. My little girl was so happy to hold the tiny, nearly formless pocket dollies I had made her in her sweet, dimpled hands. One of those first little pocket dollies still remains. You can see it in the picture below. It’s the little blue one at the bottom without a face. After a few I got better, and better.   I did not make the silver shell. I found it in a thrift store. It reminded me of the poem  “Minnie & Winnie” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. I had read it to her so many times. When I saw that silver shell I knew I had to make a minnie & winnie & a little bed for them inside of it. When she opened it and saw the two sleeping inside, her face lit up so brightly it shamed the sun. I will never forget that moment.  Only one girl is left. Not sure if it’s minnie or winnie. After 5 years it is still loved & played with.

Minnie and Winnie
Slept in a shell.
Sleep, little ladies!
And they slept well.

Pink was the shell within,
Silver without;
Sounds of the great sea
Wandered about.

Sleep, little ladies!
Wake not soon!
Echo on echo
Dies to the moon.

Two bright stars
Peeped into the shell.
“What are they dreaming of?
Who can tell?”

Startled a green linnet
Out of the croft;
Wake, little ladies!
The sun is aloft.

Then came the woodworking. Anytime my birthday or christmas would roll around, and someone would ask what I wanted, I always asked for tools. A delux dremmel, a band saw, a scroll saw, chisels, even sandpaper. I made tons of trees, animals, fences, castle blocks, and other little things. My daughter requested the rainbow mushroom set below, and I was happy to accommodate her wish.

One of her favorite things was the little felt heart pouch. I sat up late christmas eve sewing it, and 10 little felt hearts to go inside. She loved it, and it could not have been simpler to make.  I told her they were hugs and kisses, and anytime she needed one and I wasn’t there to give one to her, all she had to do was take one out of the pouch and hold it tight, and it would be just like I was right there. 

  Gnomes, gnomes, gnomes. These were just made from those wood game piece bases you can get at any craft store. The stones came from our campsite one year at Grassroots Shakori Hills festival one year. They were making our tent lumpy, so we dug them out & brought them home for the playroom. We don’t have rocks on the carolina coast. The rocks were excellent for cave building. They were often used when my daughter would make her elaborate “scenes”.

 castles made from construction waste. Rainbow ponies sewn by hand from wool felt.

 Trees also made from construction waste, and fences made from branches when a neighbor decided to top all of their bradford pear trees. Yea for me, boo for the trees. I had enough good limbs for a huge basket of tree blocks.

 These play boards were made from the bottoms of  dresser drawers that were being thrown away. They are made to be dirt & water. I have a couple very large green ones for grass, but they are currently being used.

  Sea shells of all sorts. Mostly found here at our beach. The large conch was found outside my house when I moved here. Gnomes like to hide in it.

 After watching me make toys for her entire life, it seems natural to her. These cats she made for herself  last week. They are orphans & live in a mammal orphanage. They love banana cake.

She has a few purchased toys. She has a large treehouse, and the huge stacking rainbow from speil & holz. We always kept a big basket of silks for her also. They are inexpensive if you buy them from dharma trading & dye them yourself. She also has a few large waldorf dolls that have been everywhere with her, and look like it too. I spent $25 tops on everything on the table. Anyone can make toys for their child. Making toys, like any journey begins with a first step, and you won’t regret making the leap.

Homemade moonsand recipe

Skip to My Lou (one of my faves) has posted how to make homemade moonsand. You may have seen it before. It is a sculptable sand that comes in different colors. My daughter has asked for it before, but I am always sceptical of anything made with colors & chemicals in a foreign country with little oversight or concern as to what goes into a product. I like the idea of the sand remaining it’s natural color, but you can buy premade colored sand as she did, or you can get a huge bag of playsand at a home & garden store like Home Depot, and color it yourself. Last fall we did a tutorial on how to color your own sand for crafts.  You would simply color your sand, and skip the drying phase since it is used wet anyway. Her ratio of cornstarch to moonsand is 1:3.

Tutorial: easy pies for the doll house dollies

I found this tutorial for tiny pies at the Whimsy Love blog. So easy & so cute!

A little fabric shop for the dollhouse dolls

This is the cutest idea I have seen for doll play in a long time. It’s a mini fabric shop in a shoe box for the dolls.  I can’t wait to dive into the scrap bin & make one of these!

Waldorf wood & felt gnome pattern tutorial

Wee Folk Art has generously provided a concise photo tutorial on how to make these gnomes. You can but the wood bodies in any craft store. She also has provided a cute printable pattern for the felt pieces.

Beautiful knitted bendy doll tutorial!!

I found this adorable knitted bendy doll tutorial.

A very easy & very fun play kitchen you can make

The best toys, the most fun toys, the toys that get the longest use are the simplest, and easiest to make. This one is no exception. Apartment Therapy Ohdeedoh has a simple explaination of how you can make this play kitchen for your little one. The best thing about it is you can wash it.

A wooden sword tutorial

I had desperately wanted to make a sword, and a tutorial to go along with it. We are just too busy this week to do it. I did find a nice tutorial for a wooden sword over at Neither rhyme nor reason. It is pretty simple, and only requires a jig saw. He also shows an easy way to make a shield in the same post. I suppose you could do this on a band saw, or scroll saw too if that was what you had available to you. You can even make your own sandpaper for the beginning phase of sanding your sword.

 

Gourd dollhouse tutorial

This would be a beautiful home for the gnomes that resurection fern did the tutorial on. Bitter Betty provies a very thorough tutorial on how to make one