My dear friend Kelly gave me this fabulous "hand me down" wooden farm for the kids
I love the natural look inside!
Here are the two plastic farms that this great wooden
one will be replacing.
My children have gotten a lot of mileage out of these, but in my quest to pare down our plastic toys in favor of wooden ones, it was a no-brainer to donate these to another good home in favor of our new one.
I realize that technically our new farm isn't homemade, but it is hand made. It's made of more natural materials, and best of all it is FREE, which definitely falls under the category of "Frugal".
I'll be completely dusting out and cleaning up the new one, and on Christmas eve will pack the other two into a bag (to be donated a few weeks later). I'll set up the new one on a table all ready for the kids to come down on Christmas morning, their wooden animals sitting in a basket nearby for play.
Did I mention that I'm making a Waldorf doll for Christmas as well???
Here is what I did (pics to follow later when I find have my hands on my camera):
I bought a pre-formed cloth doll form from a local craft store (JoAnn Fabrics) for about $7.00. Then I picked up a tiny patch of muslin fabric (I think it cost me about 40 cents for the small amount I had her cut). Then I got a skein of cute worsted wool yarn for approximately $6.00. I found some cute fabric to make two "dolly and me" dresses (the cost was about $4.00 for the fabric). I already have thread, needles, and felt (for booties).
I took some sturdy thread and tied it around the middle of the head for the eye line. I then created a nose and then pulled the muslin over the face and sewed it on. Right now, I'm in the middle of sewing the hair on. The next thing to do will be to embroider the eyes and mouth on and then make the dresses and booties. She's going to make a very enchanting new doll for my daughter for Christmas, and best of all it was hand made with love by ME for under $20.00. Sure, I cheated a little with the pre-made doll form. I didn't think of the doll until very recently, when I realized that I didn't really have the time and resources to make the entire thing by hand....and how tragic it would have been if the attempt had not been very good. I wanted to ensure my little princess had a handmade Waldorf doll under the tree, and given my busy schedule it didn't make sense to leave the entire thing to chance at this late date.
Now that the doll is 3/4 of the way done, I can focus on the other handmade holiday gifts I want to make.
On My List:
1. Use my new moto saw to cut out about 20 wooden figures. My son is into Plants vs Zombies (getting the internet completely out of the house was not going to happen, but we have limited screen time) so I'm planning to make some sunflowers, pea plants and other various flowers. What's nice is they can also be used with the farm and other imaginative play. I will also include a couple of zombies. I am going for compromise here, instead of rigidity. Besides, in a couple of years when he's gotten tired of zombies, I can repaint over the zombies and put something else there.
That's the beauty of wooden toys!
2. Arm-knit a couple of infinity scarves for my teen. I just need to clandestinely figure out what her favorite colors are this year week ;)
3. Purchase some handmade socks/booties for everyone. Again, I don't have the time this year to try to learn a new skill so close to the holidays. My aim will be to visit craft sales and buy from a local artisan to support our local economy.
4. Make a certain handmade item for my husband (I don't dare give it away in case he reads this). It should be a welcome surprise. It will take a bit of time to get it just right, so I need to get materials fairly soon *note to self*
5. Purchase only hand-made items from craft sales for my in-laws. I may have time to use my moto saw to create wooden tree ornaments, but if I run out of time and energy, I'll be looking to buy some.
6. Shop places like Goodwill and thrift shops for any additional items for under the tree. The items do not all need to be handmade, but I will of course be keeping an eye out mainly for handmade items. If something speaks to me that is not handmade, I will certainly consider it.
7. Donate unused items (toys or otherwise) soon so that other families can also have a frugal holiday season.
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