kit-based artisanry
Friday there was practically a hurricane, so we were limited to indoor activities. That wasn't a problem—we always have plenty do, especially now that we've added the option of Pokemon TCG Online—but a stormy day seemed like the perfect opportunity to open a craft box we've been saving since Christmastime.
he is interested
For Christmas my brother and his family gave our boys a subscription from Tingomo, a company that makes kits highlighting traditional arts and crafts from around the world. As I understand it we're getting four kits; the first one—the winter edition—highlighted wooden Dala horses (Dalahäst!) from Sweden.
The only problem is that the kits are made for two kids, and the gift was for Harvey and Zion. That won't fly in our household. Good thing we own a jigsaw and plenty of scraps of pine board! I defy you to tell my horse from the two which were industrially mass-produced to simulate traditional Dalecarlian artisanry.
see? three!
Then we painted them. The kit came with not-totally-washable acrylic paint—great for turning out an attractive finished project, less-great for a three-year-old's painting style (that's why the kits are officially six and up). And then there were some tears when we didn't let Lijah use his usual technique of dipping his brush in each of the colors in succession. There were instructions for painting a horse in the traditional style, including some brush mixing techniques; we followed them to the extant of starting with a solid-color base layer, but from there creativity ran (relatively) wild.
accomplishment
All told, it was a fun craft with high-quality materials attractively presented in beautiful packaging. With our budget I'd never be able to justify buying a kit myself, but it was a fun gift to enjoy on a rainy day. Thanks, Tom!