Toys, Family Room, Games

This giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announced shortly.

EDIT: Daria is from Israel. She will ship anywhere. All are welcome to enter :)

Several months ago I introduced you to Daria, from Art of Felting, when we commissioned her to needle felt a tapestry to commemorate my marriage to Tim.  
A few weeks ago we received an email from Daria. She was wondering if we would be interested in partnering for another give-away, in time for the holidays. It took us all of, hmmm, 2 seconds to say, "You betcha!"
 
After some discussion, we decided to offer 1 lucky winner a choice between her Waldorf King Winter

Beautiful, aren't they? So, do you think it would be ethical for Michelle and I the enter, hehe? Anyway, both offerings are lovely, and should you be lucky enough to win, you can choose which you'd like. Tough call, isn't it? To enter, simply visit Daria's Etsy shop, The Art of Felting, browse her store looking for holiday gift giving ideas, and tell us what you like best. Yep, I know it's hard to decide, but humor us, and pick :) Then, let us know, if you should win, whether you would like the Waldorf King Winter or the Nativity.
 
The contest will run from today, Wednesday, October 12, through Sunday, October 16, at 9:00 pm, EST. Then, a winner will be drawn at random. The winner will have 1 week to contact us with their snail mail address or a new winner will be selected.
 
First off... a HUGE thank-you to Daria for her talents and generosity, then, good luck to one and all. Daria's work is beautiful. We are so delighted to be able to offer our readers a chance to win one of her delightful pieces.
 

Tim often looks at me with this incredulous look on his face and asks, "How DOES your mind work?" I like to think he asks when he's awed by my creative energy... chances are he asks when he's considering having me committed! Anyway... when "creating", there are 2 different approaches I take. First, there is deliberate creating. There will be something I want to make... say, beds for the gnome house. So, I think about it and come up with a plan. Sometimes, if uninspired, I might wander the aisles of my local craft shop, or surf the web, then "bam", an idea surfaces, and I'm off and running.

The other way I create is, at best, merry happenstance. I'll just be fiddling with something, and all of a sudden, my random bending, folding, and mutilating produces an end product that actually looks like something, and the project is born. My hay bundles were the result of mindless shredding of burlap.

I had a big roll of garden burlap to wrap a few plants with for the winter. I had cut off too much, and had a long strip left over. I am a shredder, what can I say? My mom was always fearful that we had a mouse in the house, when she would discover one of my little piles. Might be a Kleenex, might be a page out of a magazine, might be unraveled yarn. I'm a pro at shredding! Well, much to my delight, burlap unravels very easily, and before I knew it, I had unraveled threads from both long sides of the strip, leaving a narrow band of fabric in the center. Then, for no apparent reason, I rolled the strip, and tah dah, it looked like corn stalks or hay bundles. I tied it off, and put it in the gnome autumn forest and it looked great.

So there you have it. I'm including the exact directions below. Trust me, these are so easy, you'll find you are tucking them all over the house!

Materials:  
6" x 36" strip of burlap, cut on the straight of the grain... very important! (To see how to cut along the straight of the grain, check out the tute found HERE. Each strip makes 1 hay bundle.

Cut out a strip of burlap 6" X 36" Most garden burlap, used for wrapping outdoor plants comes 36" wide. Cut off the 2 end selvages. (The tightly woven ends on the 6" sides.)

Unravel 2" off each long side, leaving 2" intact down the middle of the strip.

Using a pencil or other thin smooth rod, begin at one short end, and tightly roll the entire strip around your pencil, keeping the ends even. NOTE: When the burlap comes off the roll, it will curl. When wrapping, you want to make sure the curl is down, so when you are done, the curl causes the burlap to bend outward.



Using 1 of the threads that you unraveled from the burlap, overlap and end of the thread, and tightly wrap the 2" center woven section.

Using a large needle, tie off the end by weaving the end all the way through the center section 2 times. Cut off the remainder of the thread near the bundle.


Your hay bundle is now ready to add autumn flair to your gnome or doll house.

NOTE: The pattern for the mini pumpkins can be found HERE, and the Old World Gnomes can be found HERE.

Dressed in her finest, Gertrude and her family are ready to walk into town to celebrate with the villagers. They have spent the last 3 days preparing; washing and mending, gathering and baking. The children could speak of little else, and Gertrude, along with her husband, have shared tales of celebrations from their childhood. Now, they are ready to go!


I am very excited to share the first doll house character I completed, using the forms I recently received from A Child's Dream.

My head is spinning with ideas for dressing the whole family; mama, papa, brother and sister, in clothes for special events and working their small farm. I will be sharing patterns when I have completed the whole family, but being an absolutely awful secret keeper, I couldn't help but share my first creation. I am so pleased with how she turned out!

The adage "necessity is the mother of invention" is never as obvious as when a parent is trying to fashion a toy for a child when traditional toys are unavailable. A hankie becomes a "pew doll", a piece of paper becomes an airplane or a "cooty catcher", and a handful of vines or flowers can be braided into a crown. Children are very good at creating their own toys, too. I read an article that said that most popular outside toy for a child is a STICK. Yep, just your garden variety, backyard stick. Think of the possibilities!

At one time, toys were a luxury to most children. Because of that, resourceful parents made toys from discarded items or items found in nature. Corn husks, straw and other plant fibers were often the basis for toys. Bits of fabric scraps and wood pieces were saved and fashioned into toys. Following that tradition, our dolls are made from raffia, which comes from the raffia palm, indigenous to Africa. Because raffia has very long fibers, it lends itself well to make dolls very similar to the yarn dolls we shared last year. I pulled fabric from my wee pieces stash bin. Although we are sharing our how-to, this is a very "ish" project. Follow our general directions, but delight in the fact that each and every doll will be unique.

Materials:
raffia
embroidery floss
calico scraps
large embroidery needle

Take raffia out of its wrapper and hang.

Find a lid or book for wrapping the height of the doll you wish to make. You can also cut a piece of cardboard to size. Mine is 7 1/2"

Cut off several strands of raffia, and holding it at the bottom of your lid, wrap the raffia around the lid. IMPORTANT: your ends must start and stop at the bottom of your lid. Continue wrapping strands until you are happy with the size.

Slip a thick piece of raffia under all the raffia loops at the top and tie tight and securely. This will be the top of the head. Leave the ends for now.


Using another piece of raffia, create the neck by wrapping raffia around the neck several times. Tie off the neck tight and secure. This should be about 1 1/2" from the top of the head. Thread one end of the raffia tie through a needle, and weave the ends through the neck a couple of times, and clip close to the neck.


Clip the bottom loops of the raffia.

To make the arms, again wrap raffia around your lid. The arms should be about half as thick as the body. Tie off the raffia about 1 1/2" from the bottom of the lid, and then cut through the loops at the bottom. This will give you a long rope of raffia, tied at one end.

Tape the tied end to a work surface, and braid the raffia. You will want your arms to be about 7 1/2". I find it easiest to braid farther, then tie off the end at 6 1/2" and cut through the braid at 7 1/2".




DON'T throw away your scraps! Simply take the raffia you cut off, secure it in the middle, weaving in the ends, and you have a corn stalk bundle! Also, save your little scraps. You can use these in other projects... you never know!

Separate the raffia on the body in two. Slip the braided arms between the divided raffia, and push up toward the neck. Now, tie off the waist like you did the neck.




At this point, weave in the ends on top of the head. (Not pictured.)

Any number of materials can be used for hair: dyed raffia, corn silk, yarn, etc. Staring at the forehead, tack on small amounts of hair using 6 strands of matching floss. (About 9" long.) Keep adding more strands around a center part until you get to the middle of the back of the head. Tie off. You can now "style" the dolls hair into a low ponytail, braids, a nape bun, or leave it flowing. I tied off mine to make a low ponytail. NOTE: If you would like a bun high on the head, tack on hair around the hairline instead of down the middle.


Using 6 strands of floss, add eyes and a mouth. I used straight stitches for the eyes. For the mouth, I used straight stitches, then wrapped the straight stitches several times. Your starting and finishing knots can be hidden on the back of the head.


If the bottom of the doll is uneven, clip the bottom a little to even it out. (Not pictured)

To make the bodice, ripe a piece of fabric 1" by about 15". (You can learn about ripping fabric HERE.)

Lay the piece behind the doll's neck. The wrong side of the fabric should be against the doll. Crisscross the fabric over the doll's chest. Turn the doll over and tie the ends. Clip off the extra fabric, by cutting on an angle or in Vs. 



To determine the size of the skirt, measure from the waist to the bottom of the doll. SUBTRACT 1". This will be the length. For the width, add about 3". (Remember, this is an "ish" thing :) Rip a rectangle of fabric to these measurements.

Along one long side of the fabric rectangle, sew a running stitch using 6 strands of floss. (Not pictured.) Gather the fabric around the waist and tie off securely. You can either work the ends in, or tie in a bow.


Tah dah... done :) Make one or make a whole village. I will share the directions for the boy later in the week.

http://www.weefolkart.com
Copyright © Wee Folk Art 2008 - 2011. All rights reserved.

All photos, text and patterns are copyright protected. You may not copy, reproduce or redistribute any material found on WeeFolkArt.com without written permission. Wee Folk Art retains all rights.

It's been a while since we featured any of our "In the Good Old Summertime" activities, in part, because we've been out and about enjoying this Good Old Summertime. And, although we haven't featured all of the activities we planned on, our lovely sponsors aren't letting the ball drop.

This week we have an incredible giveaway from Sarah, at Bella Luna Toys. If this doesn't help your family enjoy some Good Old Summertime time, I'm not sure what could :) There are 3 fabulous giveaways. Two lucky winners will receive:

Natural Branch Wooden Walking Blocks

These natural wooden walking block stilts, cut from natural birch branches, will provide hours of fun for young children as they challenge their gross motor skills and balance.

Handmade from select birch trees by a small family business in northern Vermont.

Each walking block is approximately 3" in diameter and 3" high

Birch with100% cotton rope

Ages 3-6

Made in USA

And, one lucky winner will receive:

The Original Tree Swing

The Original Tree Swing is a classic rope swing with a handmade seat made from reclaimed elm.

Each seat is kiln dried and sanded, then hand-rubbed with a light coat of mineral oil to bring out the natural beauty of the wood.

Comes with 20 feet of the best 3/4" natural fiber rope available. No oil or chemicals make the rope and swing eco-friendly and child-safe.

Ages 3 and up

Elm and natural fiber rope

Swing Seat:  approximately 12" dia.; 2" thick

Rope: 20 ft. long

Made in USA

Sarah is also giving all Wee Folk Art readers a 10% discount on all orders for 2 weeks, beginning today, August 17, and running through Sunday, August 31. (Thank you, Sarah!) This is something you will want to take advantage of, I know I will! To take advantage of the discount, just use the coupon code WFA10 at checkout.

To enter, simply visit Bella Luna, and tell us what you would like to use your 10% coupon on. I know what I'd like. I love the Rocker Board! Check it out and make sure to watch the video.

So, get busy. Spend some time at Bella Luna Toys, then come back here and share a toy that really speaks to you! Also, let us know if you'd like to win the walking blocks or the tree swing. If it doesn't matter, then let us know that, too :)

The contest runs from today, Wednesday, August 17th, through Sunday, August 21th at 9:00 pm EST. Winners will be chosen at random, and they will have 1 week to contact us with their snail mail address or a new winner will be selected.

BTW... Sarah will ship overseas if the winner pays shipping costs. In the meantime, good luck to one and all. And as always, thanks to Sarah, from Bella Luna Toys, for sponsoring this lovely giveaway :)