happy hanukkah!

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah.  We will be lighting the Hanukkiah, eating latkes, spinning dreidels, eating chocolate coins, singing songs, and maybe even opening a few gifts in my house.  Happy Hanukkah to everyone else celebrating the festival of lights!

Note: this peg doll Hanukkiah is a project from my first book.  In my second book there is a dreidel project!

solstice sun catcher :: tutorial

Hello Dear Friends!  Winter Solstice is nearly upon us... Here is a quick project in time to bring a few rainbows, even during the darkest days of the year (or brightest days of summer solstice, if you are in the southern hemisphere).  I've hung my sun catchers in the window, but you could also hang them on a Christmas tree.

 

SUPPLIES
-- Wooden cut-out shapes such as stars or moons (I used these)
-- Beeswax polish or paint (you can make your own polish or buy some here)
-- Glass crystals (I used 3/4 inch/18 mm crystal beads from my stash)
-- Small beads (1/8 inch/3 mm)
-- Electric drill, small drill bit & workbench vise
-- Heavy weight button thread & needle
-- Ribbon
-- Scissors
-- Pencil

Step 1: Using a pencil, mark where you plan to drill in the center of one of the points of the star, and directly below, where you plan to hang your crystal.

Step 2: Secure your wood piece in a workbench vise and, using a small bit, drill holes. (safety note: to protect your fingers, always secure wood in a vise before drilling!)

Step 3: Rub your wood piece(s) with beeswax polish or paint them if you wish.

Step 4: Draw a 10 inch (25 cm) length of heavy weight button-thread through the bottom hole in your star (or other wooden shape) and tie a knot close to the wood.

Step 5: Thread a needle with both ends of your button-thread.  Run the threaded needle through the crystal and through the small bead.  Decide how long you would like the crystal pendant to hang, and adjust the height of your crystal and bead, then knot the thread above the small bead (the knot will go around the thread between the small bead and the crystal).  After you have securely knotted the thread, run your needle back up through the crystal and cut the threads from the needle just at the top of the crystal.

Step 6: Find a pretty piece of ribbon and thread it through the top hole, then hang your sun catcher in a window where it might find even a bit of sun during the darkest days of winter.  Or pack up your sun catcher and send it to a friend (note: if your initials are ES, you know you shouldn't be peeking at this post, you naughty thing!!)

winter candyland

Marilyn Scott Waters (aka The Toymaker) has a website with the loveliest paper toys which you can download and print out for free.  Her newest creations are Ginger & Snowy in a fun, candyland scene which you or your children can cut out and set up in no time at all.  The figures could be used to play with like paper dolls or they can be set up as decorations.  To find them click here...

 P.S.  Marilyn is also the author of several books.  Her newest one is A Year in the Secret Garden.  You can find out more about it here.

favorite tutorials

Dear Friends -- Are some of you new-ish visitors to we bloom here?  If so, maybe you haven't had a chance to fully explore, so I wanted to draw your attention to a particular area of my blog.  Did you know that there is a place where you can quickly look over the various tutorials I've posted over the years? You can find them right here on my craft tutorials page (usually accessed via the menu bar beneath the photo of those gorgeous golden mirabelles).

Are you looking for some hand-made gift ideas you can quickly whip up?  This list of tutorials might help!

Speaking of tutorials, I've been working on several for you.  I realize that gift-giving season is upon us, and I am running a little late with these; however, between hosting Thanksgiving & children underfoot, things have been delayed (I'm sure you understand...)  Anyhow, please know that I'm doing my best and will have a couple of new ideas for you next week.

Also... a *give-away* on Monday! What am I giving away?  It's a book plus a few more surprises. Not one of my books, but trust me, it's utterly delightful and seriously wish-list worthy. Okay, twist my arm... do you really want to know?  Have a look here...

A final note: did you know that, even if you "Like" we bloom here and/or Making Peg Dolls on Facebook, you may not be seeing updates and messages from me in your Facebook feed?  Here's what you can do so you don't miss anything: once you’ve liked the we bloom here and/or the Making Peg Dolls page (thank you!), use the dropdown menu right under the “liked” button to select “get notifications.” This lets Facebook know, going forward, that you really do want to know when I've posted a new tutorial, give-away, and other assorted nonsense.

Another way you can hear from me is to have a look at the right-hand sidebar of this blog, and find the widget which allows you to "follow by email."  Once you've typed in your email, you will get notifications delivered directly to your inbox.

See you Monday --
xo
mb

photos from new book plus important message

Dear Friends,
For your amusement here are a few photos from the new book, and also an important message.  Did you know that, even if you "Like" we bloom here and/or Making Peg Dolls on Facebook, you may not be seeing updates and messages from me in your Facebook feed?  Did you know that you might be missing tutorials for lovely, quick-to-whip-up gifts? Missing information about the upcoming blog tour? About book give-aways, and other give-aways? (yes, an assortment of give-aways coming soonish!!)  What can you do so you don't miss blog posts, updates & messages from me?  Keep reading...

Here's what you can do so you don't miss anything: once you’ve liked the we bloom here and/or the Making Peg Dolls page (thank you!), use the dropdown menu right under the “liked” button to select “get notifications.” This lets Facebook know, going forward, that you really do want to know when I've posted a new tutorial, give-away, and other assorted nonsense.

Another way you can hear from me is to have a look at the right-hand sidebar of this blog, and find the widget which allows you to "follow by email."  Once you've typed in your email, you will get notifications delivered directly to your inbox.  I don't have access to information about who signs up for email through my blog, so there is no way I could add you to some list and send you junk-mail (not that I would ever consider doing such an annoying thing anyhow, I promise).

I hope your December is off to a good start.  I will be posting some more tutorials soon, and meanwhile, please stop by and say "hi" any time!

xo
mb

another book trailer!

Another book trailer -- hooray! (Did you miss the first book trailer? You can find it here.) But first a bit of happy peg doll information:

1) Making Peg Dolls & More is now available for purchase at the Bookstore at Rudolf Steiner College, Amazon and Book Depository.  Please consider buying books at smaller, independent shops.  Also, you can find supplies at wonderful shops such as this one, this one, this one and this one (plus a list of more shops which stock supplies, including ones in Canada and Australia here).

2) Mark your calendars (or sign up for emails) so you don't forget to come back during the first two weeks of February. There will be ...drum roll... a blog tour for Making Peg Dolls & More; this means visiting some of my favorite blogs to see best-loved projects from the book, give-aways (thanks to the generosity of Hawthorn Press), plus a few other surprises!

Please feel free to re-blog, re-post, and forward this trailer to friends and family alike.  The peg dolls are dancing... won't you join in, as well?

hair-sticks & knitting needles :: tutorial

 

Are you looking for a super easy, super quick holiday gift?  Here's a good gift for anyone you know with long hair... or someone who knits.

I came up with this project last week after walking around all day with a DPN knitting needle stuck in my hair to hold it off my face.  I've been known to hold back my hair with an assortment of odd items: pencils, paintbrushes, plastic forks and spoons, etc... Before things got too ridiculous, I decided to make something specifically for my hair.

 

SUPPLIES
Wooden beads or other small wooden shapes (I used these, these and these)
Dowels 3/16 inch /.5 cm diameter)
An electric drill plus 3/16 inch/.5 cm diameter drill bit (optional if your beads already have 3/16" holes)
Woodworking vise
Small saw (hack saw, carpentry saw, folding saw, etc...)
Sand paper (medium and fine grit)
Pencil sharpener
Paint and paint brushes
Beeswax polish
White craft glue

Safety notice: always use a vise to protect your hands & fingers when using woodworking tools!

Step 1: My wooden beads and mushroom-shaped drawer pulls already had 3/16 inch/.5 cm holes, however, I needed to drill holes in the bases of the peg dolls.  If you are using peg dolls for this project, secure them in a vise (and you might notice that I have lovely yellow vise jaw pads; these vise jaw pads are amazing for protecting wooden pieces from becoming dented and damaged in the vise).

Use a 3/16 inch/.5 cm drill bit to make holes in the bases of the peg dolls.

Step 2: Secure dowels in vise and use a small saw to cut them to size: 10 inches/25 cm for knitting needles and 6.25 inches/16 cm for hair-sticks.  After they have been cut to size, create points on one end of each stick with a pencil sharpener.  Use sandpaper to smooth the sticks and pointed ends. 

Step 3: Paint your beads, dolls, drawer pulls, etc...

And add any small details you wish... (Note: This is where you can let your imagination run wild. I chose to paint faces on my beads, but you could paint stripes, solid colors, abstract designs, add glitter, etc... You could also paint the sticks!)

 Step 4: Rub your sticks with beeswax polish, and if you painted your beads or dolls with watercolors, you can rub them with polish to brighten the paint, too. In case you have never made beeswax polish, here is the (very simple) recipe:

In a double boiler, heat a small amount of beeswax with some almond, jojoba or olive oil.  The usual ratio is 1:3 (one unit beeswax to three units of other oil).  Once the beeswax has melted and combined with the other oil, pour your polish into a small container (a throat lozenge tin or small mason jar works well) and allow to cool.  You will only need tiny amounts of polish at a time and the polish will keep for at least 2 years.  (Or you can buy beeswax polish here or here.)

To use the polish, put a small amount of the beeswax & oil mixture onto a paper towel and rub until there is no excess polish on the wood.  If the surface you are polishing is painted, you will know you are done when very little paint pigment rubs off on a clean piece of towel.

Step 5: Insert the unsharpened ends of your sticks into the holes of your wooden pieces.  My pieces fit so snugly that I did not need glue, however you can put a tiny drop of white craft glue inside each hole before inserting the ends of the dowels.

If the ends of your dowels are too large to fit inside the drilled holes, use sand paper to slightly decrease the diameter of the unsharpened ends.

Viola!

A note about knitting needles: 3/16 inch/.5 cm diameter dowels correspond with 5 mm metric/European size and US knitting needle size 8.

fancy hat

Peg dolls love to keep their wee noggins warm with acorn hats this time of year.  Luckily, I find lots of charming specimens by the wayside which are not only functional, but stylish.

peg doll pilgrims & native americans :: tutorial

MATERIALS REQUIRED

 -- Peg Dolls (click here for a list of shops where peg dolls may be purchased)

-- Brown, black, white, yellow & blue wool felt scraps (note: paper may be used for embellishments when working with children as paper will be easier to cut)

-- A tiny bit of brown wool roving or yarn (for beard)

-- A small amount of black wool yarn for hair

-- Watercolors plus black acrylic paint

-- Beeswax polish (optional)

-- PVA or other non-toxic white craft glue

 -- Paint brushes

-- Scissors

-- Pencil

Step 1: Paint clothes -- I used black acrylic paint for the pilgrim clothing & brown watercolor paint for the Native American clothing.

 

  Step 2: Paint hair.

Step 3: Paint faces (or draw with pencil).  Use beeswax polish to brighten the paint of watercolored areas (optional).

Step 4: For Native Americans, create headbands from tiny strips of wool felt.  Braided hair may be glued across the head and anchored beneath the headband.

Use tiny strips of white felt to create hat, shawl, apron and collar for Pilgrims. I added a needle felted beard to the man -- a bit of yarn or felt would work as well for creating a beard. (note: paper may be used for embellishments when working with children as the paper will be easier to cut)

I hope these little turkeys, Pilgrims, Native Americans bring smiles & joy to your holiday table.

P.S. Don't forget to have a look at my turkey tutorial, too...

a tiny turkey protest

I'm afraid not many will heed the protest of my tiny turkey; after all, few people prefer turnips over turkey.  Still, this opinionated little turkey is ever hopeful on behalf of his non-wooden brethren.

If you would like to create a flock of tiny turkeys to march across your table at Thanksgiving, please have a look at the tutorial I posted yesterday.  And come back tomorrow if you're interested in a tutorial for peg doll Pilgrims & Native Americans...

a tiny turkey tutorial

The other day I got it in my head to create turkey peg dolls.  Rummaging through my stash for blank pegs, I ran across a few small wooden bowling pins, finials and Parcheesi game pieces which I'd purchased with no clear intent beyond the thought that it would be interesting to paint different sizes and shapes.  It turns out that wooden finials make charming turkeys.

Before starting, I pulled up a photo of a turkey and learned that wild turkeys have blue & white heads.  I decided not to paint the heads of my turkeys blue, but I enjoyed digging through my felt scraps for shades of brown to create tails.

MATERIALS REQUIRED

-- Peg dolls or other wooden shapes such as small bowling pins, game pieces or finials (I used one of these, one of these, one of these & these)

-- Red, yellow, white & various shades of brown wool felt (note: if doing this craft with young children, colorful paper will be easier for them to cut)

-- Watercolor paints, or brown acrylic paint, plus black acrylic for the eyes.

-- PVA or other non-toxic white craft glue

-- Beeswax polish (optional)

-- Paint brushes

-- A pencil

-- Scissors & pinking shears

Step 1: Paint your pegs, finials or other wooden shapes shades of brown.

Step 2: Use black acrylic paint or pencil to add eyes.  Rub with beeswax polish to give watercolor paint an nice patina (optional).

Step 3: Cut beaks and wattles from wool felt, and use white craft glue to attach to the face.

 

Step 4: Cut curved pieces of brown felt, glue together in layers, trim in white, and attach to the backs of your turkeys with white craft glue.  I found that pinking shears give a nice edge around the tails, mimicking the scalloped white edge on tails of real turkeys.

knitting a fairy cup cozy

Do you love drinking from mason jars as much as I do? Isn't it nice to have a cozy to protect hands from hot drinks?

I've sized these cozies for an 8 oz. (240 ml) jar -- just right for warming small hands around little wintertime cups of cocoa. And these cozies are quick to knit up, so you might think of making a few as you work your way though your holiday gift list...

MATERIALS REQUIRED

For this project you will need a few yards worsted wt. wool: I made three cozies: one from Noro Kureyon, another from Knit Picks Wool of the Andes and a third from Knit Picks Chroma worsted. You will also need a stitch marker (optional), a tapestry needle and a tiny, 3 cm “baby/bee” size peg doll (please check the CRAFT SUPPLY RESOURCES page on this blog for places where you can order blank wooden peg dolls by mail).

NEEDLE SIZE

US 5 (3.75 mm) dpn needles

US 7 (4.5 mm) dpn needles

(or whatever needle size you require for gauge)

GAUGE

5 st/ 8 rows per inch. Please use which ever needle size will achieve the gauge.

Note: as you are knitting, the cozy might seem too small; please trust me that it will stretch to fit your jar.  It should fit snugly.

ABBREVIATIONS

CO: cast on

k: knit

k2tog: knit 2 stitches together

Kfb: knit one in front and one in back of st to increase
p: purl
rnd:- round
st:- stitch

PATTERN:  MAIN BODY OF THE COZY

CO size 5 needles, use long-tail method (or other method) CO 36 st.  Evenly divide between needles and join in the round. Place marker to indicate start of row/round (optional).

Rnd 1-6:  knit 1x1 ribbing (k1, p1) for ¾ in

Rnd 7-28: switch to size 7 needles.  Knit in stockinette. 2 ¾  in (approx. 21 rnds)

Rnd 29: purl all st. (i.e. 1 rnd garter st)

REDUCTION ROWS FOR BASE OF COZY

(knit in the round on dpns)

Rnd 30: *(k2, k2tog) Repeat pattern through entire round (27)

Rnd 31: knit all st

Rnd 32: *(k2, k2 tog) Repeat for entire round (21)

Rnd 33: knit all st

Rnd 34: *(k1, k2 tog.) Repeat for entire round (14)

Rnd 35: knit all st

Rnd 36: *(k2 tog) repeat to end of round (7)

Cut yarn and thread end through a tapestry needle.  Run needle through all st. and secure end.

 

KNITTING THE POCKET

Count up 3 stitches from the purl (garter) row. From left to right, pick up 5 st. using size 7 needle.

Row 1: knit all st

Row 2: purl all st

Row 3: k1, Kfb, k1, Kfb1, k1

Row 4: purl all st

Row 5: k 1, Kfb1, k3, Kfb1, k1

Row 6: purl all st

Row 7: k1, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k1

Row 8: purl all st.

Row 9: bind off, cut yarn and thread yarn through a tapestry needle.

Sew up sides of pocket so that the interior width of the pocket is 5 stitches wide. Weave in all ends.

Have you created a cozy from this pattern?  I'd love to see your photos posted here on Ravelry!

making peg dolls & more :: book trailer

Dear friends -- I am excited to show you the first book trailer for Making Peg Dolls & More.  But first, I want to share good news about the availability of the book.  It was uncertain whether Making Peg Dolls & More would be available in time for holiday crafting and gifting, however, there are a number of ways you can purchase the book. Currently, the book is available for immediate purchase from The Bookstore at Rudolf Steiner College, and starting December 1st it will also available via Amazon and Book Depository. 

Please know, I understand that the discounts and free shipping offered by large, online retailers are enticing; however, I urge you to consider also supporting smaller shops such as The Bookstore at Rudolf Steiner College, plus Bella Luna Toys, A Child's Dream and Castle in the Air, all of whom will carry my new book starting January.  If you are buying books elsewhere, perhaps browse the craft supply sections of these shops for peg doll bases, wool felt, millinery flower stamens, paint, etc... (Also, do have a look at the peg doll base selection at Mother Goose Online -- it's astonishing! The biggest selection I've ever seen.) I love these stores, and they need our business to stay in business.

Now, without further ado, the book trailer!

(please feel free to re-blog, re-post, and forward this trailer to friends & family... share the peg doll love...)