Making Peg Dolls - Tapa dura

Maybe you already noticed. I have an ongoing love of peg dolls. If I had to pick just one craft to do with my kids for the rest of time, this would probably be the one. And my kids share the obsession. I pick up peg people when I house clean like other families pick up Legos. Creating peg dolls is quiet work that engages the imagination and the hands. The children and I sit around the table, quietly visiting and working on our own creations and soon a peaceful, imaginative hour (or two) has passed. It is magical. Creating a plaything is satisfying work for a child of any age, and I find peg dolls are a suitable for a three year old as a ten year old. And for their play-value, a home-made peg doll can't be beat. They are open-ended, natural, and oh-so-simple. What's not to love? Last year I was honored to be asked by fellow blogger and long-time Clean reader Margaret Bloom to contribute a few wooden peg dolls to her book, Making Peg Dolls. We were of course honored and the children I both sent some dolls to be included. Last week when the book finally arrived, how tickled everyone was to see their very own peg people in this gorgeous hardcover book! Such fun for us all. But that was only the beginning. Margaret's projects are lovely. While I am not often inspired to follow a pattern per-se, I still found the book to be brimming with beautiful, inspiring projects. And for someone looking for a step-by-step this book is an absolute treasure.Each page is magical and will light a creative spark in you and your child.Indeed, we all got lost in - and inspired by - the projects in Making Peg Dolls. Lupine made up a bright little song for every page ("We are the bumblebee babies! We are bumblebees three...") and before long the kids hurried off to gather supplies. Then we all set to work. --http://lusaorganics.typepad.com/clean/2013/02/giveaway-making-peg-dolls-book.html

On hearing the words 'peg doll' I can't say that I burst with excitement. I have a vague memory of playing with some as a child, wrapped in scraps of cloth, with blank little faces. Apparently blank faces are supposed to encourage creativity, imagination, and expression, but I always thought they were just a little sad and unloved. I certainly wasn't convinced in the CRAFT PROFILE: entertainment value of a whole book about peg dolls, so it came as a Contemporary Needlepoint surprise when a rather substantial, chunky book, called simply, Making Peg Dolls, arrived at my door. Even more surprisingly, it's full of all kinds of cute and adorable, and if I can bring myself to admit it, a little bit of excitement. We are informed that the peg doll is part of a Waldorf education (an independent alternative education movement founded in Germany, based on anthroposophy and spiritual philosophy) handcraft tradition, which may go a little way in explaining why I'm not so familiar with some of the Christian festivals, such as Martinmas, and Michaelmas. Christian, Jewish and Japanese festivals are included, and my one little criticism would be, that it would have been nice to see other multicultural celebrations featured, that we are more familiar with in the UK, such as the Chinese New Year, and Diwali. With that said, the doll designs merely represent characters that can be adapted for use for any form of story telling or play: a king, a princess, a wizard, a dragon, regardless to whether the festival mentioned is relevant to an individual. The little blank peg dolls used throughout the projects are flat-bottomed and come in a variety of sizes. The variation in size lends itself neatly to some of the different characters, so for example, the Easter Hen is larger than her chicks, However, after a quick search online, I've found that most pegs available in the UK are the standard long ones that won't stand, and would therefore need the bottoms sawn away. I only f --UK Handmade Review

On hearing the words 'peg doll' I can't say that I burst with excitement. I have a vague memory of playing with some as a child, wrapped in scraps of cloth, with blank little faces. Apparently blank faces are supposed to encourage creativity, imagination, and expression, but I always thought they were just a little sad and unloved. I certainly wasn't convinced in the CRAFT PROFILE: entertainment value of a whole book about peg dolls, so it came as a Contemporary Needlepoint surprise when a rather substantial, chunky book, called simply, Making Peg Dolls, arrived at my door. Even more surprisingly, it's full of all kinds of cute and adorable, and if I can bring myself to admit it, a little bit of excitement. We are informed that the peg doll is part of a Waldorf education (an independent alternative education movement founded in Germany, based on anthroposophy and spiritual philosophy) handcraft tradition, which may go a little way in explaining why I'm not so familiar with some of the Christian festivals, such as Martinmas, and Michaelmas. Christian, Jewish and Japanese festivals are included, and my one little criticism would be, that it would have been nice to see other multicultural celebrations featured, that we are more familiar with in the UK, such as the Chinese New Year, and Diwali. With that said, the doll designs merely represent characters that can be adapted for use for any form of story telling or play: a king, a princess, a wizard, a dragon, regardless to whether the festival mentioned is relevant to an individual. The little blank peg dolls used throughout the projects are flat-bottomed and come in a variety of sizes. The variation in size lends itself neatly to some of the different characters, so for example, the Easter Hen is larger than her chicks, However, after a quick search online, I've found that most pegs available in the UK are the standard long ones that won't stand, and would therefore need the bottoms sawn away. I only found one supplier of the dolls featured in this book, so it looks as though supply would be limited. After a thorough introduction to the dolls and materials, the first chapter embraces Spring. It includes turning peg dolls into sweet little Spring Flowers.Construction of each of the peg dolls then continues on the following pages. Instructions are written in a step-by-step format, are very thorough, but support designer makers. Making Peg Dolls is incredibly simple and easy to follow. They are accompanied by hand drawn diagrams, that look a little wonky and naive, but are quite charming, and add to the feeling that peg dolls are achievable for anyone willing to have a go. The diagrams also include actual-size templates, that can be traced and used to cut out the felt shapes needed to create clothes and hats. The dolls themselves are quirky and quaint, and I found that each page turn filled me with wonder and delight, they are so simple, but they just make you smile. I think it's something akin to when a parent dresses their child up in cute costume for their own amusement, while some dolls are simply painted, the ones in hats, that look like a small person in costume, are so adorable. I have two favourite chapters, the first Autumn, features all the things I love: Toadstool Gnomes, a Family Of Gnomes (with pointy felt hats), Owls, and Halloween Witches, Ghosts and Cats. The other chapter is at the very end of the book and is entitled Tell Me A Story, and we are shown how to make characters from the classic fairy tales: Goldilocks and the three Bears (peg dolls in bear hats - oh my!), Red Riding Hood, and Hansel and Gretel. --UK Handmade Review

Margaret Bloom's book introduces us to over 60 peg doll characters to keep hands busy. This series of delightful craft projects will inspire all the family to make and play creatively.