The other week I was in the basement working on the new back gate, when Violet and Millie came down and wanted to make something. I asked if they had any ideas for something simple we could work on in an afternoon. Violet came up with fairy chairs.
She has been arranging a little fairy house outside, with moss, brick walls, a wood roof,
and a mat woven from leaves
So she thought a chair might be a nice addition. I had some scrap red cedar pieces (the cheeks of the half lap joints from the gate) that looked like they wanted to become fairy chairs, so we started cutting and fitting.
These were fairly quick and crude, but it was fun to cut up the pieces with the japanese saw and put them together, and Violet was delighted with the project. Of course I did a lot of this, but she did a number of cuts, some planing, sanding, and filing.
After the glue was dry, we did a seal coat with shellac.
Child 1 helped by scratching some scrap wood.
When the shellac was dry, we sanded lightly in preparation for further finishing.
Violet wanted to paint two chairs with Real Housepaint,
She gave one of the red ones to her neighborhood friend Maddy. I'm sure the fairies are enjoying the other two. I think they are adorable!
3 comments:
Oh, I loved this post. It so reminds me of my childhood when I spent so much time in the workshop with my Dad creating all kinds of things. A Meccano set was part of it all too.
I didn't have this opportunity with my own children, but I'm expecting my first grandchild in a couple of weeks and I now have my own shop along with some of my Dad's old hand tools. Wonderful memories for your children.
Those little chairs are the cutest things ever. This will be a wonderful memory for her when she is older.
What a great idea -- those chairs are so cute!
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