Wooden Toy and Gift Diversifies~

The winter weather will soon come to a close, and the construction will soon after begin to take place, making more room in the Wooden Toy and Gift Shop by opening the second floor of the shop for quilt classes.  As the snow melts, some flowers will begin re-appearing in front of the house and the shop.

Rick is consolidating and diversifying simultaneously. His original 18" doll furniture is dwindling in number as customers hear about his 33% markdown and have been finding their way in to purchase the remaining pieces. There are still a few pieces left in stock that could be put on layaway for birthdays and holidays yet to come, but it seems likely that by December 2014 they will all have been bought or reserved, so come in now to make arrangements so that your little one can enjoy this furniture for years to come:

    

His new collection of scroll-sawn plaques made of Baltic Birch Plywood is also growing. In addition to the Military and Public Service plaques, the Butterfly Disability Awareness plaques and the Retirement/Career plaques, he is branching out into Spring  Flower plaques, which can be viewed hanging in the shop door window, just above our old-fashioned brass turn-key door bell (please make sure you ring it as you enter, or let your little one do it for you.) 

 

                     
                                                                
                                                        

They are attractive inside the windows as well, with the sun shining through and giving the look of stained glass to the color backing (which is quilt-quality cotton fabric.)

                                                
                                            

Rick will soon add a larger plaque incorporating all four: rose, tulip, sunflower and daisies. Individually, they are beautiful, and as a  larger piece, they are strikingly eye-catching.  Stay tuned for the reveal.

Of course, Rick is also still adding to his line of toy trucks, made of quality Eastern White Pine in its natural, smooth, hand-rubbed state.  He's added a new one for this year: an ATV on a trailer pulled by a monster truck with oversize wheels. The trailer can be tipped back by pulling a dowel to allow the ATV to roll off, just as a real one might! 

Remember to visit at www.woodentoyandgift.net to see these pieces with prices. And check out what new arrivals for spring are coming in to the Quilters' Quarters by visiting us: AtQuiltersQuarters.blogspot.com. 

Be well - remember to play with toys now and then - and thanks for coming in to see all of ours!

~ Rick and Terry Palardy

Fall Season is ending; Winter changes are ahead.

We've had some time this fall to think about the changes ahead for Wooden Toy and Gift.  The larger pieces, including the rocking motorcycle and 18" doll furniture are dwindling in numbers. They continue to be sold with a 30% discount to lucky buyers who will  have items in the limited collection designed and made by Rick. The shop will be adding more plaques, puzzles and small wooden items in place of the larger ones.

Please stop in to see us on Small Business Saturday (November 30, 2013. We'll be celebrating the new Quilters' Quarters with door prizes and discounts on fabric, batting, sewing notions and more. And of course, we'll be serving hot cocoa and home made cookies.

Visit our webstore at the www.woodentoyandgift.net site to find which items are still in stock and on sale. Or come visit us and save shipping cost! We'd love to see you.

Stitchers' Delights

Rick does make beautiful things of wood that make people happy. I'm Terry, his wife and partner, and Rick never fails in making things that I, a quilter, absolutely love. And so it stands to reason that other quilters or stitchers of other talents will also love these. Take a look at some of the special work he is doing on stitchers' behalf.

Rick's quilt racks are made of his favorite wood for furniture: Eastern White Pine, select quality. His choice of planks have few knots visible; sometimes, though, customers want a knotty-pine look, and he will choose wood that has visible knots. As you can see in the picture, the racks have five rods: three at the top are one inch diameter dowels, and two lower rods are a three-quarter inch size. The racks shown stand thirty-one inches tall, twenty-nine and a half long, and eighteen inches deep. 

Originally, the intent of the lower rods was to 'tuck in' the bulk of the quilts hung over the upper rods. I choose to use the lower rods to hold small baby quilts or matching pillow covers. Because some stitchers make or collect crazy quilts with lace embellishments, Rick also offers to cover one or more of the rods with white pvc piping. Although he carefully sands and smooths the dowels, varying humidity levels in homes can tend, over time, to raise the grain slightly; in turn, that wood grain might snag an aged fabric or delicate trim. 

Rick enjoys making special pieces of furniture for special people. He also has a whimsical side and likes to make plaques that appeal to different artists, professions, services and more. We shared the disability awareness plaques with you in an earlier post. 

But these plaques are what I call a "stitchers' delight" as they make use of many familiar sayings that quilters and other needleworkers can relate to. "Any day spent sewing is a good day," is one that most of us can say is true.

"May your bobbin always be full!" is a way of leaving a stitcher with good thoughts in mind, and optimistically a needle and fabric in hand. "Sew much fabric Sew little time" is a sweet play on words that stitichers will appreciate.



I think my favorite, and the truest one that fits my lifestyle, is the one that reads "When I learned to sew I forgot how to cook." Rick is the chief cook and bottlewasher in our house; he may have to make a small plaque that holds that saying as well.

These plaques are all scroll-saw cut from one eighth inch Baltic Birch Plywood and hand-filed and then sanded to a smooth natural beauty. They can be hung as ornaments in sewing corners, windows, doorways or on trees. As with all of Rick's creations, they are left without stain or paint. They measure three and a half by five inches; they can also be mounted in a plexiglas-sealed frame, like the disability-awareness butterflies, if customers want.

Visit our webstore (www.woodentoyandgift.net) to order online, or come by our shop to see these sweet, delicate plaques that pay homage to the stitcher in your life. Or email us at woodenoyandgift@comcast.net to special order a framed plaque. Let us know what color fabric (or natural wood) you would want in the background. 

Wooden Furniture for 18" Dolls

As we wrote in a previous post, Rick often works with select quality Eastern White Pine, and sands and rubs the wood to a beautiful natural finish. He doesn't use stain on the woods, instead leaving them "unfinished," which is a misleading word. He prefers to sell the items in a non-toxic state, leaving the choice of natural or color to the customer. In the case of the motorcycle, we know of two that were changed: one was painted to match Grampy's purple motorcycle, and one was treated with several coats of clear spray varnish to enhance the beauty of the wood and the durability of the heirloom.

Rick finishes his doll furniture, also made of select quality Eastern White Pine, in the same way. He designed the picket fence bed many years ago, and made a headboard for a twin size bed to match. The full size headboard was soon purchased, and though he hasn't made another, he would if asked; one customer asked for a bureau, and Rick made one with deep drawers to hold doll clothes. Because these dolls have many outfits, one bureau was not enough. So Rick made an armoire to hold fancy dresses and shoes.

He's made a 'pedestal table' and arm chairs out of high quality plywood with carefully scroll-sawn patterns in the chairs' backs. To complement the table and chairs, he's made a china hutch with linen storage benath and a grandfather clock with working movement: the only battery powered item in his collection!

Terry dresses the table with a 100% cotton, washable table cloth, coordinating napkins and seat pillows. It makes for quite a display when the table set, hutch and grandfather clock are used together. Tea sets of old can be purchased at many gift shops - plastic sets for younger children are available at many mall toy store chains.

Due to the small cabinet door handles, these pieces are not recommended for children under four. But once your children are interested in the 18" dolls and their accompanying stories, this furniture is a very good investment. Children playing with tea sets and dolls often become very creative in their thoughts and vocabularies. Many hours of good old fashioned fun will take place around this table!

It's important to note that these pieces also nicely accommodate a family of teddy bears~ He even made a park bench to allow the dolls or teddies to chat about books outside.

Visit our webstore at www.woodentoyandgift.net to find these furniture pieces, or drop by our shop to see them in person. We'd love to introduce you to our dolls and teddies and have you join their tea party!

Rocking Motorcycle made of Eastern White Pine, gentle to the touch

A board of Pinus strobus (eastern white pine) having a dovetailed joint cut in it. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Newsletter # 3:

People are always curious about what kinds of wood we use in our products. We use a variety of woods, enjoying the contrasting colors when pieces are made of more than one type.

Many of our pieces are made of Eastern White Pine. But not all Eastern White Pine planks are equal. Our wood must be carefully viewed and pass the test of 'select' wood ... that means that there are few knots, widely spaced, and the planks are straight.

If you have ever gone into a lumber yard and watched people choosing boards for their D.I.Y. (do it yourself) projects, you may see some setting a pile of good lumber to one side, and of 'rejects' to the other. At first glance, you may not recognize the flaws in the 'reject' pile ... but a woodworker would quickly show you how to hold a board and look down its length for a straight line indicating that the board has not warped or twisted since being cut, and then to turn it over scanning the back, edges and front for loose knots that would cause a saw to jump, or be in the way for positioning joints such as the dovetail joint in the photo above.

The Rocking Motorcycle made here in our shop is made of select Eastern White Pine; the body has to be 'built' by joining several lengths and thicknesses of pine planks with glue. The body pieces are then shaped with sanding, resulting in a very smooth, gentle-to-the-skin touch. Each wheel is made of more than twenty separate pieces of pine. The wheels do spin on their axles.

Its rockers are made of Hard Maple. Hard Maple is often cut from Sugar Maple trees (the ones that people tap in late winter/early spring to gather maple syrup.) You can tell the difference between a board of hard maple and a board of soft maple by finding a smooth edge of the wood and firmly pressing your fingernail against it. If you can leave a mark, it's soft maple. If you can't, it's hard. The rockers will get a lot of wear and tear, and so the wood needs to be hard to hold its arc shape.

Even though the motorcycle has three times the quantity of pine in comparison to the quanitity of maple in the rockers, that smaller amount of maple will cost more than the larger amount of pine. But it is worth it for the life of the rocking motorcycle. This piece of 'furniture' will last for decades and will become a family heirloom to be shared from generation to generation. That is said with this caveat: even though it is a toy, it must be cared for like a piece of furniture. Leaving it outside in the rain will age the pine, may warp the wood, and weaken the joints. Lifting its full weight by the handlebars to move it from place to place will also strain the wood along the grain. But given the right care and treatment, this rocking motorcycle will delight many for years to come. It is an investment for your family, and has been made with a loving labor.


Remember, you can see images of the rocking motorcycle at our website. It is also currently being featured on eBay. See the right side margin for links our webstore and Etsy and eBay. Or drop by the shop, if you're local. If you're coming a distance, call us at 978-352-2676 and leave your name and number or email and we'll set up an appointment for you.

And one last thing - if you want to receive an email each time we update this news, just 'follow' us at the links in the margin.  Thanks!