Art Exhibit ~ Reception open to public, Tuesday October 21 5 - 7 pm

Tonight! Don't miss it!

Come to our open house at the Pine Grove School in Rowley, Massachusetts to see Rick's art exhibit installed in six alcoves throughout the corridors of the school.

On Tuesday, October 21st, 2014 we will be hosting visitors from 5 to 7 pm. Walk with us through the hallways to hear Rick talk about the scroll saw work and other projects he has done.

Light refreshments will be provided, along with tea and coffee, water and cider. There are many different selections of Rick's art to see.  He will, of course, display his wooden trucks and cars, with a backdrop of a construction zone quilt made by Terry, his wife.

In another alcove, small plaques of scroll-sawn bird silhouettes and flowers will be on display. Each of these cuttings is backed with a colorful fabric that makes each plaque look like a stained glass ornament when hung in the windows.

Some of his art is holiday related: Halloween images cut from Baltic Birch Plywood will be shown in front of a Halloween quilt; Carousels of wood bearing a ghost, pumpkins, and witch along with wooden flying bats will also be seen in an alcove.

The art will remain at the school through the month of November, and on Tuesday the 25th of that month, it will return to Wooden Toy and Gift at 59 North Street in Georgetown.  That following Saturday is Small Business Saturday, and is Wooden Toy and Gift's 20th anniversary.  To celebrate that milestone, Rick has been re-structuring his workshop and Toy and Gift shop.  The new display area is still on the first floor, but in the new section of the barn at the back. Some of Rick's tools will forfeit that space so that children and their parents don't have to climb to the second floor workshop, where Rick will be setting up more space to continue making wooden toys and gifts!

We look forward to seeing you at the Pine Grove School on the 21st of October, and of course, back at our shop for our Anniversary Celebration on the 29th of November.

Remember to shop local, shop small, buy American and enjoy all that we have to share with  you!

Winter has set in with a ferocity here in Northern Essex County. We're only ten miles from the New Hampshire Border along the Atlantic Coast, but the air is dry and cold this week. Zero degrees overnight, four above in the morning hours, and still in the teens in the early afternoon. It will drop again, but we might have some above freezing temperatures over the weekend.  Might~  that is the key word.

The barn has been very cold these past few weeks, and the snow has been frequent, requiring time from Rick for clearing the driveway, steps and sidewalk out front. His time for working on his scroll saw in the shop has been limited by these climate factors. But he has been gathering patterns and will be ready for some steady work hours when the freeze relents once again.

Here is how our inventory looks now ~ The rocking motorcycles are all sold (one is on layaway but will no doubt be picked up by summer.) The doll cradles, beds, pedestal tables, school desk/chair, and small lap desk have also sold out.

 ~ There are a few pieces of the 18" doll furniture left. We still have three Grandfather Clocks, one each of the Single and Double A-Frame Porch Swings, two Side Chairs, two Chests of Drawers, two China Hutches, two Armoires , and the two toddler-sized Push-Me-Pull-Me sleds. When these last large pieces are gone, they will not be replaced, so purchase or layaway now to hold these items for Valentine's Day, Easter, Birthdays and other gift occasions. Email us at woodentoyandgift@comcast.net for sale prices and layaway details, or stop in to see us.You can also call us at 978-352-2676 to leave a message and we'll return your call.

Rick will continue making various wooden trucks and vehicles as they are not cumbersome and take up less space in the shop. He'll replace the turtle puzzle and other small items that have sold this season. And he will focus more time on the scroll saw plaques and ornaments as they are easier to ship and store.

In the other room, the Quilters' Quarters is beginning to grow with new wooden/Plexiglas fabric cabinets, more bolts of fabrics, interfacings and battings large and small. The thread drawers are full to capacity with many bright colors and all three brands (Coats/Clarks, Mettler and Gutermann.) The Quilters' Lending Library has an assortment of comprehensive books and magazines for borrowing, and there are other new books for sale as well.  Terry has begun scheduling individual coaching lessons to help quilters and non-quilters choose or design patterns and select fabrics, color schemes, sizes and threads.

The shop hours are now established and predictable: Wednesday through Saturday, 11 am - 7 pm. Other hours can be arranged to fit your schedule; call the shop at 978 352 2676 or 6758 to let us know when you could come by. Individual lessons can be flexible as well.

Remember: the "No Parking" signs out front  are for school hours only (Mon - Friday, 8 am - 4 pm.) Parking is not restricted on the other side of the street (and parents picking up children are often parked there from 2:30 to 3:00 pm, but otherwise it is quite clear.) Evening and weekends you can park on both sides of the street. Our driveway will also accommodate three or four vehicles as well, all of the time.

Rick and I always look forward to seeing friends and family, neighbors and visitors.  Come by and see the changes. We're always open to suggestions!

Be well, and be warm.
~Terry and Rick

Fall Clearance Sale!

The beautiful weather has seen Rick and Terry out front this weekend. With a multi-family yard sale next door benefitting a young girl's college fund, Wooden Toy and Gift has again set up the canopies and is offering a great price on the larger wooden toys that Rick makes.

Rick is going to begin focusing on the smaller, more detailed scroll saw work, creating  plaques for many special occasions. Weddings, births, retirements, homecomings ... college, military and public service affiliations ... disability awareness butterflies and angels, large and pocket size ... along with the smaller-sized trucks and puzzles that intrigue and inspire creativity and imagination in young children ... these are the items he will continue making. "Beautiful things that make people happy" is still his goal; toys that allow kids to think and enjoy playing with for years ... things that will last from generation to generation ... these are the things that are worth the time and care he puts into his work.

And so, from now until the larger items are sold out, Rick is offering them at a 1/3 discount. This may be the last chance for shoppers to acquire the large rocking motor cycle and the 18" doll furniture pieces:  his  pedestal dining table and arm chairs, the armoire, china hutch, grandfather clock, bureau and picket fence bed will all become collectors' items of
limited numbers. You really don't want to miss this pre-holiday clearance sale!

In place of the larger items, space in the shop will be refurbished to accommodate a woodworker's and a quilter's dreams ... for several years now, Georgetown has been without its Five and Ten Cent hardware/general store in town. When Cressy's closed downtown, a piece of Georgetown's history was lost. The place where local shoppers could stop in and find almost anything they were looking for had met the needs of local quilters for many decades. While Wooden Toy and Gift can't physically accommodate all of those varied shoppers, there is a small group whose needs have not been met by the other retail stores in town: stitchers have had to go out of town to find those essential little notions to begin or finish their quilts and fabric needs.

The second half of Wooden Toy and Gift known as Terry's Thoughts and Threads will expand to fill the open space. Fabrics, threads, needles and pins, batting, trims, patterns and books will begin to appear in the first floor shop, and sewing lessons will be offered in the space.  In time, the second floor will become a quilters' studio where lessons for beginners and small groups of quilting friends can gather to share ideas and skills with an end-goal of producing small quilts that will be donated to those in need. As the disability plaques honor those who face and meet challenges, the charitable quilts will warm those in need of a bit of comfort and love.

A little bit of the town's history will be reborn ... memories of the centuries past will be reawakened as Terry shares her knowledge and care of treadle machines ... . Rick will continue to honor the accomplishments and courageous battles of those who face illness and those who face challenges in protecting our way of life. And together, they will continue to use all that they have to fulfill their retirement dreams of hosting local shoppers in the little shop "just two doors north of Perley School" in Georgetown, Massachusetts.

Watch for the clearance sales, and listen for news of the quilt shop's opening. There will be updates here at the WTandGNews.blogspot.com, at www.WoodenToyandGift.net, at www.TerryCrawfordPalardy.com. and on our Facebook pages for Wooden Toy and Gift and Terry's Thoughts and Threads.

And watch for a new book that will surely follow all of these events ... the Happily Ever After years of Rick and Terry's retirement are coming true~

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. 

Sidewalk Sale Events!

Come and visit us, please? We will be out front displaying many of the beautiful things Rick makes with wood, and some of Terry's books and quilts.

This weekend, August 3rd and 4th, Rick is giving away 'swag' at our tables: we've found a supplier of small round tin buttons to pin on hats and T-shirts.

Terry is also autographing her books for shoppers: her newest title, Multiple Sclerosis, Melanoma and More (the sequel to her memoir, Multiple Sclerosis, an Enigma) is here!  Terry's books are priced at $12 each, but for the Sidewalk Sale you can buy 3 books for $33.

Two important reminders: Wooden Toy and Gift and Terry's Thoughts and Threads are both able now to accept Discover, Visa and MasterCard payments, as well as local checks and cash.  And, On-Street-Parking is legal on late afternoons, evenings and weekends. The town's No Parking signs out front specify that parking is restricted on weekdays during school hours only. So feel free to pull over and join us out front!

Here are a few pictures of what we're displaying on the tables out front ... and we're offering a 10% discount on all wooden items: trucks, doll houses, doll furniture, work bench (with plastic toddler tools by Black and Decker,) puzzles, the locomotive and more.

Buying Local, Buying American

   I remember being a child and hearing and singing this jingle on radio and television commercials:

 "Brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh!"

Later, a television infomercial would feature Joe the Grocer, a healthy, hearty man who would appear on Sunday mornings and talk about local gardens and the produce that could be bought there.  I remember him advising us that fresh produce was grown locally and handled by the farmer and the customer, period.

Why am I reminiscing about these two sound bites from the past? Because their messages rang true to me then, and still do today. The message "Support Small Businesses, Local Businesses" today has a different ring to it,  but the truth is still the same. Buying local is the responsible thing to do.

People voice their displeasure at the number of jobs that have been lost in the past two decades. Manufacturing sent overseas for cheaper labor expenditures means lower prices for consumers and higher profits for the owners of those industries, all do to the lower cost of living and level of quality of life for those overseas workers.  But if people here would listen to themselves, they would hear an honest call to shop local.  

Manufacturers of similar goods produced here in the United States, created and developed by workers living here in the  States  ~  where the cost of living and the quality of life is recognizably higher ~  have high labor costs and so must set higher prices.  It is the same for small local businesses. We pride ourselves on our 'first world' lifestyle. We buy, when we can afford to, American-made products. And when times are tough, some of us turn to cheaper imports. But that never helps things here in the USA. We need to spend our money here.

Our economy right now is still sluggish, following the recession that, like a bad storm that didn't earn a name , whirled through the States leaving behind destruction, broken factories and different expectations. But our dreams and beliefs remain the same: we are The United States of America. We have skills, and raw materials, and creative thinkers, and yes, dreamers. But our dreamers are not without plans to achieve those dreams. We set achievable goals. And we strive to meet them.

Our goal, Rick and I,  is to see our dream come true. We've long believed that, post retirement, we would have time to create the toys and gifts that we believe can bring people to the realization of their own dreams and creative strengths. There is another song lyric that I remember: 

I believe the children are our future, Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride to make it easier. Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be. Whitney Houston, The Greatest Love

We know that many people of the world make toys and gifts. But what I want you to know is why Rick makes his toys and gifts the way he makes them.  When our first child was young, she would often bring a new toy to her Daddy, saying "Please fix this, Daddy." And Rick would do his best not to let her down.  Sometimes it just needed a battery, but more often the plastic had cracked, or something had fallen off, or a joint had failed, and it "didn't do what it was supposed to do."

Rick decided then, so many years ago, that children were best served when they were given toys that encouraged them to think, to create, to imagine and pretend. Toys that would allow children to return to them again and again and always have a new experience in their play. And so he decided to make his own, for his own, and for all children.

Rick believes in his products. He believes that our children and grandchildren need toys that have value. Rick believes that toys that run on batteries and only "do what they are supposed to do" (and never do anything different) require little originality and imagination from children. He believes that toys need to encourage the next generations to be original and imaginative. Rick makes toys that are biodegradable in time, but valuable in their durability. He makes toys of renewable resources (wood) and doesn't treat them with false finishes (brightly colored and potentially toxic paints and stains.) Instead, he lovingly sands and rubs them smooth to bring the wood's natural beauty to the eye of the beholder. 

I remember more lyrics from that song:

Everybody searching for a hero, People need someone to look up to ...  I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow If I fail, if I succeed At least I’ll live as I believe  ...

I am so proud to work with Rick in our shop, making my quilts, writing my books, and enjoying Rick's tenacity in fulfilling his dream of providing toys with quality and integrity to children. Rick does make beautiful things of beautiful wood, and that does make people happy. I'll be writing more about the why and the how of Rick's Wooden Toy and Gift shop at this blog, and I hope you'll visit us today and sign up to follow us by email. 

See the 'submit email' button in the right side bar. If you are not local, you can visit his online store at  www.woodentoyandgift.net. Don't miss out on any special offers advertised here on the blog.

I'm asking you to do this because I believe that you share Rick's values, our values ~Toys that are:

·         MADE IN USA. Everything we sell is made by Rick or Terry, right here in Georgetown, Massachusetts.

·         NON-TOXIC.  A little non-toxic acrylic paint is used on some gift items; otherwise, wood is left natural.

·         RENEWABLE RESOURCES. Wood comes from American Trees, which grow abundantly here in New England.

·         BIODEGRADABLE.  Plastics will still be in landfills hundreds of years from now. Wood will decompose.

·         DURABLE, HEIRLOOM QUALITY IN A CHILD'S WORLD.  'Nuff said!

·         ENCOURAGING IMAGINATION, INSPIRATION AND ORIGINAL THOUGHT. Because kids can think!

      *Though our wooden toys are not indestructible, they have the potential to last for years and become treasured hand-me-downs for the next generation. If one has an unfortunate accident, Rick will always answer the call: "Please fix this, Daddy..."

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!