Here is our sweet little set of Wooden Ducklings to go along with our Book Nook – Have You Seen My Duckling? Just like the book, I made 1 Mama and 8 little ducklings. (Notice one curious duckling has gone off on his own!) I then made 2 clumps of reeds for a lovely backdrop or for mischievous ducklings to hide in. They are swimming through a wonderful sky blue silk that makes a lovely lake.
The ducks have very simple shapes and are cut from 1″ ash. The reeds have ash bases, with 1/4″ dowel rods cut to size, covered with felt blades. Today we are sharing the Patterns for Mama and Ducklings. Like all of my wood projects, after the shapes have been cut out and sanded, I paint them with natural milk paint, then finish them with a olive oil/bees wax finish. For information on cutting out wood, painting and finishing, follow the general directions of our Wooden Apple Orchard.
Here are a couple of notes that pertain specifically to the Wooden Ducklings. The necks have a rather small area that you need to cut and sand. When cutting out the ducks (which Tim did for me… it was too cold for me to be outside :), he didn’t worry about follow the pattern line exactly. The necks aren’t quite as deep as the pattern, but that’s okay. Depending on the size of the blade and your skill, the shapes can be a little different… even desirable! Then use the pattern to lightly trace the wings, eyes and beak.
I painted the whole body first using a watered down milk paint. I like it when the grain shows through, plus you will be able to see your markings. Don’t work if they are not all the same. If you goof… it just gives a duckling character. (Remember Nemo’s small “lucky” fin 🙂
Next time we will be sharing a tutorial for making the reeds. Of course, you don’t need to make 9 ducks, actually, we made 18… 9 for our house and 9 to put away for Future Baby! And you don’t need the book “Have You Seen My Duckling?” to enjoy these… but it is so fun to reenact books. There are many other duck stories out there that would well with these little ones. Two come to mind; “The Story of Ping” and “Make Way For Ducklings“. Can you think of other duck stories to use with these ducklings?
Obviously, these would make perfect basket stuffers for Easter or spring. Enjoy!
Copyright © Wee Folk Art 2008 – 2010. 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.
You are so clever with woodwork! They are so adorable!
these little guys are adorable! i am going to try woodworking really soon….any minute now. 😉
Oh so cute! Do I recognize that silk? You continue to inspire me, Kimara, and wishing I had more time to use my hands for activities other than typing!
Yes, Sarah, that’s one of the new silks I got from Bella Luna. Your shop is such a distraction to my wallet 🙂
I love them – Ping was the first thing that came to mind when I saw your sneak peek 🙂
Tomorrow we are going to get a scroll saw. YAY! I’m just curious. How long do you think it takes to make each duck? I’m not sure if it would take 10 minutes or 10 hours. Thanks for all your inspirational projects.
Because of all the little curves with these ducks, Tim said it took him about 15 minutes per duck, which included sanding. I would say it took me about the same amount of time to paint and finish each one. So, to make each set it took 4 – 5 hours. If you are new to using a scroll saw, I would suggest you practice on a large piece with less deep curves like any of the wooden trees we have patterns for. The little pieces with deep curves are more difficult. Have fun! I have lots of other wooden projects planned.
How about the rhyme Five Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day? There are some lovely books illustrating that rhyme too. Also Nine Ducks Nine by Sarah Hayes. This is a gloriously funny tale in which the ducks get their own back on Mr.Fox. Funny that you should happen to have 9 little ducks…I am sure you must have a fox in your stash! Gill.
Thanks for the suggestions, Gill. I don’t know the book Nine Ducks Nine, but you made it sound so intriguing I just ordered it 🙂 And, I did not have a fox in my stash, but I just designed one, and as soon as I get a chance I’ll make it and share the pattern!
I love your art, you have a lot of talent. Can you do a frog?
Just finished a frog for you! As soon as I get a chance I’ll make one and have the plans available. Watch for it soon 🙂
These ducklings and reeds are amazing!!
Make way for ducklings! These are adorable! Thanks so much for sharing, I’ll be linking.
I know a couple books to add to your collection– one I haven’t read that sounds fun is “One Duck Stuck” that sounds like it would be great for kids if read properly and with enthusiasm. 🙂 “Story of Ping” fascinated me as a child and has awesome illustrations. Cute ducklings, by the way. I don’t know how to work with wood, but this project sounds like fun.
Thanks for the suggestions, Jill. Michelle’s children have One Duck Stuck and it was a favorite of theirs when they were very young. I actually have 5000 books in my children’s collection (from my children and from owning a preschool for 10 years) and when I was looking at some titles the other day, realized just how many books featured ducks! Who doesn’t like a cute duck, right?
I only started doing wood working last summer and I’m hooked, although I must admit Tim does a lot of the cutting out for me, and I do the finishing. But wood is a very satisfying medium to work with.
I asked for a scroll saw for my birthday but didn’t get one. I don’t think my parents thought I was serious. I so want to work with wood. Birthday’s coming up. Need to really sell them on this. I made alot of your gnomes for presents for my younger brother and sisters and for my cousins. I love to make them. I have to convense them that I’ll make toys for the for them too. Hear that mom? My mom reads you too LOL.
Maybe you'd stand a better chance of getting one if you can get your parents excited about working with wood, too 🙂 We'll keep our fingers crossed for you!
[…] try, as they are a very easy first wood working project. For our kiddos though, we have turned our wooden duckling pattern into a 3-D card stock pattern. You can copy the pattern onto several sheets of card stock at […]
[…] EDIT: The pattern for the Wooden Ducklings can be found HERE. […]