Monday, December 2, 2013

Faraway Tree Update



Okay,  I know rehashing old cardboard posts in lieu of sharing new cardboard posts is a major cop-out. Especially for someone who's purportedly a cardboard addict and who's been posting nothing but sewing and drafting nonsense for yonks. Unforgivable. Before you hurl virtual rotten tomatoes my way, let me say that I am going to be making a cardboard thing soon, but it's a present for someone who reads this blog, so I can't share that yet. 

Back to the rehashing - Kate was playing with the old cardboard Faraway Tree last week, in a location in our house that actually had half-decent lighting, so I thought I'd take some pictures to share. Several reasons:

  • the rare nice lighting, as earlier said
  • the actual use of the Tree as a treehouse with wooden furniture
  • a transparent (i.e. not posed) example of how one of our handmade toys gets playtime
  • an update on how well (or not) one of our handmade toys has held up over time and use.


As you can see, it hasn't collapsed yet.
Even under the stress of all that furniture.
And all the parts work, including the elevator and Slippery Slip
(all hail cardboard).


However, as you can also see, one of the tree legs has had to have a splint to hold it straight. That's the little rectangle of masking tape, under which is a Makedo hinge fixed at 90 degrees. Very useful, those Makedo hinges. 

Kate has peopled the Treehouse community with all her wooden peg doll friends, including party-Rapunzel


Also the rest of the original Treefolk, of course. We're missing Bessie and The Angry Pixie, unfortunately - they haven't been seen for quite a while :(

Incidentally, I had grand plans to paint Kate a whole new set of peg dolls of herself-as-all-the-Justice-League-of-America superheroes, including Zan and Jayna, the Wonder Twins (anyone remember them?).

As if I had the time. 
I got as far as picking out the wooden blanks, painting their faces skin-color and then leaving them to dry for more than a year.

I don't know what the road to good intentions looks like in your house, but mine is covered with cobwebs, is riddled with striped construction road barriers and usually leads nowhere.


11 comments:

  1. I love the tree house! I think of you often as I pack some fabulous cardboard into the compactor at work. Weber Grills packs in all cardboard, no plastic!

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  2. First, that treehouse is awesome. Nothing wrong with rehashing old material, since new readers (like me!) may not have read all the way back through the archive.

    Second, every post that is not dollies is driving me a little bit crazy. I bought fabric at Black Friday sales. It wants to be turned into Christmas dollies. :)

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    1. Rachel! Thank you for your patience - the pattern is on its way. I'll do a Materials List post ASAP so you can start gathering even more materials ahead of time.

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  3. My good intentions are packed away in trunks piled as high as the Everest, probably as old too!

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  4. Rewelacyjny ten domek. Super pomysł. Serdecznie pozdrawiam. Jola

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  5. I am absolutely in love with this. I would've loved one when I was little. Actually, I'd still love one now. You are amazing!

    Adele @ Mammy Made

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  6. What a wonderful toy! Where did you find that wooden dollhouse furniture? It looks like it was made for your tree house rather than the other way around.

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  7. My little girl would love this, though it would be filled with animals instead of dolls. Where did you get the little wooden furniture?

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  8. I'm so impressed that it has held up so well! Planning peg doll stocking stuffers this year, and need to order ASAP.

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  9. amoret and Erica: the wooden dollhouse furniture was bought years ago. Ours was of the brand "Ryan's Room", but you can buy other brands as well.

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dtoys-and-games&field-keywords=ryan's%20room&sprefix=ryan's%2Ctoys-and-games&rh=i%3Atoys-and-games%2Ck%3Aryan's%20room

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  10. I am SO amazed with this tree and your blog! You have so much creativity and that teacher instinct is being put to good use.

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