Handmade Archives ~ Page 57 of 58 ~ Happy Whimsical Hearts

Gnomes and fairy doors

Browsing through Etsy (as I often find myself doing) I came across some gorgeous fairy doors and gnomes. After buying a couple (who could resist) I thought I would have a go at making some myself. Luckily I came across some great tutorials and patterns on Wee Folk Art.

This is one I bought from Beneath the Rowan Tree on Etsy

After rummaging through the garage to find some wood scraps and buying a wood burner (new tool yay!) I gave it a go. I did some test burning first and then tried out the gnome patterns and some fairy doors. My husband then gave me a quick tutorial in using the jigsaw and off I went (with a new found love of power tools)!

After I had them all cut out, I got to try out another power tool – a dremel (what fun!), before doing some hand sanding. After they were nice and smooth I painted them with milk paint which is non toxic. Awhile later I made up a beeswax and olive oil treatment to go over the top. Here they are – I love them and have a whole new lot ready to go!!

Using the gnome pattern

The next lot

Thanks for reading, Kelly

October 26, 2011 by Kelly

Finger puppet fun

Listening to Master D play with his homemade finger puppets cracks me up. The other day his puppets were asking each other ‘are you naughty sometimes?’ to which another would answer (in a very serious voice) ‘ yes, sometimes’. LOL 🙂 Lucky for him (and his sometimes naughty finger puppets) they are super easy and fun to make.

Normally I have an animal in mind when I start – usually inspired by my wool scraps 🙂 Sometimes I sketch my idea to start me off (and I’m no artist as you can see):

Then I cast on around 12 stitches, before knitting about 18 rows of stocking stitch (knit a row, purl a row, repeat) before casting off. When I cast off I leave a good length of wool attached (I use this to sew my little creature up at the end).