Monday, February 28, 2011

Wooden Waldorf blocks

I love the wooden blocks from Waldorf stores, like these ones, they are just so natural and open-ended but are also quite expensive. I thought it should not be too difficult to make my own and was right! The most difficult part was to find the right wood. Here in Texas you just don't so easily find smooth-barked trees in a park like the ones up north. But I finally found a couple of nice dry juniper sticks and set to work. My husband taught me how to use a power saw (I loved it!) and I created different length blocks. I did not think it necessary to do them in increments like the ones in stores but I could have. Next I sanded the cut ends and removed sharp side branches. I finished cut ends with an oil-beeswax mix (directions I used can be found here) and polished them with a cloth. They smell divine and I just love how they turned out. Now I need to find other diameters and also make some longitudinal cuts to create long narrow pieces. So many possibilities with these! Below are some ways we have already used them.
 Stacking
 Building structures and furniture
Nature table

6 comments:

  1. Julia - or is it Julie now? How are you? Is that your daughter? (Obviously it is), she's beautiful!

    How have you been in the last few years? It seems wonderful! :)

    This is Jenn Daniels. :)

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  2. Wow, Jenn! Didn't expect to hear from you, so happy! I will reply on Facebook to not overload anybody reading this blog, OK?

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  3. Julie, you are so amazing! I totally thought you bought these, and was wondering why you are bragging about how expensive they are :) They look freaking COOL!!! Your own multiple talents weren't enough for you, you decided to steal Dennis' one hobby too? ;))) Kitten is one lucky toddler!

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  4. Awesome! I made some of these too recently. We love them. I too need to find some larger pieces now for platforms. I thought maybe I'd try to freecycle a big stump.

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