Friday, December 17, 2010

Rainbow arches and a miniature enchanted forest

Outside our apartment are some haphazardly pruned plants that I've been eyeing for the past month. Every time I see them, I imagine a fairytale forest on a tiny scale. Today the sun was shining, so we brought out the rainbow arches and little wooden people and acquainted them with the California flora.
I have become increasingly interested in wooden toys for my girls. I'm in love with their beauty, durability, simplicity and versatility. I saw some stacking rainbow arches in a friend's home and decided to try making my own. With my dad's woodworking know-how (and his bandsaw) I made these from an old chunk of a tree in his garage and painted them with watercolors. Our two-year-old block-stacking guru loves them.
 

7 comments:

  1. Whoa Jennie, they are AWESOME. I am a lover of wooden toys too, for the last 25 years I've invested in wood when I can. In fact my oldest son teases me that he is glad Mike is around to teach Mac modern games "otherwise he would be sitting in the corner playing with homemade wooden blocks" From his humble homemade wooden beginnings he has become a lover of techie gadgets all the way!

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  2. Thanks, Gail! I'm glad the girls are still young enough to not protest too much about my luddite aspirations. Though, sadly, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to keep our home princess paraphernalia-free...

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  3. Those are gorgeous!!! I can only imagine how many fun little rainbow worlds will be played out with those!!

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  4. YOU DID IT! i like that you made them so thin and even more arches to play with. Alicia and John would be proud (they are the ones who made ours). and kudos for reusing the wood.

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  5. What kind of wood did you use and would you be able to share how you made these? I want my husband to make a set like this for our littlest for christmas this year.

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  6. Sure, Anna! I posted a tutorial for these arches:

    http://shapeofaspoon.blogspot.com/2011/05/wooden-rainbow-arches-tutorial.html

    It was really an enjoyable project and would make a wonderful Christmas present!

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  7. Children want to play with toys that's why enchanted Forest Toysis the best option.

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