Part of the fun in raising Zoey is making things that delight her; I want to create lasting, meaningful toys for her that are made with love and will be loved! Wooden toys are classic and beautiful, when created and treated right, they can last a lifetime; so let’s make some!
It’s no secret that Cameron and I love Disney. Zoey’s middle name was inspired by one of my favorite Disney princesses, Belle, and that Belle in her name has also led to another Disney nickname, Tinker Bell. I cannot wait to create a whole set of peg dolls for her, but these two characters hold the most significance until she begins watching the classics on her own.
We’ve created a Peasant Belle Peg Doll, check her out!
This week I’ll be sharing the steps I took to create a Tinker Bell peg doll for Zoey.
SUPPLIES
- Blank peg doll (I used a “small angel” or “girl” shape/size)
- Small, flat & fine tip paint brushes
- Paint palette (or a tray for your paint)
- Green non-toxic acrylic paint
- Yellow non-toxic acrylic paint
- Light brown non-toxic acrylic paint
- Light blue non-toxic acrylic paint
- Light pink non-toxic acrylic paint
- White non-toxic acrylic paint
- Black non-toxic acrylic paint
- Non-toxic varnish (I used Duraclear Ultra Matte Varnish)
INSTRUCTIONS
- With a pencil, lightly sketch Tinker Bell onto your blank peg doll.
- Begin painting your peg doll with the base layers first. I started with the green of her dress, the white of her wings and the yellow of her hair. Allow this paint to dry before moving on to avoid smudging, then apply a few more layers of each until you’re happy with the colors and textures.
- Paint the very bottom and edges of the peg doll green to signify her slippers.
- After the base layers have dried, paint a border of darker green on the edges of her dress. If you don’t have a darker shade of green, you can create some by adding a small amount of black paint to the original green and blending.
- Paint an accent of lighter green on the inner layer of the dark green border of her dress. If you don’t have a lighter shade of green, you can create some by adding a small amount of white paint to the original green and blending.
- The wings can stay matte white, or you can add a pearly white finish to give them a sheen. Once the wings have dried, border and accent them with light blue paint.
- Paint light brown accents on and around the hair.
- Once the hair has dried, paint a small light blue ribbon around Tinker Bell’s bun.
- Taking something small and round (I used the opposite end of one of my smaller paint brushes) dip it in black paint and dot the two eyes. Using the finest tipped paintbrush you can find, give her an eyelash or two on each eye.
- Once the eye paint has dried, add a highlight dot to each eye with a fine tipped paintbrush and white paint.
- Using the same method as the eyes, dip the opposite end of a slightly larger paintbrush into light pink paint and dot the blush under each eye.
- With a little white paint, give her a few sparkles of pixie dust on the hem of her dress or wherever else you feel it will look right!
- Allow for all paint to completely dry, then apply a varnish and allow it to dry. You can apply as many coats as you want for the finish you want, just allow them to dry in between applications and before handing her over to your child.
- Voilà! Tinker Bell is done and ready to be played with! Enjoy!
It’s the middle of Summer and I would love to take Zoey to the beach for the first time, but just about everything she picks up is quickly introduced to her mouth! I understand she’s figuring things out (and more power to her), but I’m not super enthusiastic about her ingesting beach sand. So, until she gets a little less eager to put everything in her mouth, why not bring a little beach experience to her?
I’m always on the look out for a fun, entertaining way to pass the time like a good tabletop game! Blokus was introduced to us by my husband’s parents and we enjoyed playing it so much we purchased it straightaway!
Blokus is a two to four player strategy game that can be played with reckless abandon, or the studied care one would reserve for Chess or Checkers.
When a player reaches a point where they cannot place another piece, they are done. The game ends when no player can place anymore pieces. Once the game ends the players count the number of squares in their unplayed pieces, the player with the lowest number of squares left, wins!
My only complaint is based on the packaging or storage. The version we purchased has no storage for the 84 colored pieces which is surprising and disappointing. I use four sandwich bags, one for each color to store them. This cuts down on the amount of time spent sifting through the pieces before starting each game!
If you’re looking for a fun, fresh take on a timeless strategy game that feels like a spiritual successor to Checkers and/or Chess, check out Blokus!
Whole Heartily 