Arts of the Heart

Arts of the "Hearts"

2012-02-07T16:30:00.007-05:00

I love these giant conversation hearts. I made them 2 years ago as table decorations for a Primary Teacher's Brunch we did in early February. They are cut from 1 1/2" pine then painted in bright pastels. I wrote the words in with my rotary tool then hand painted the red lettering.

The evolution of my cupcakes...

2012-02-04T08:34:00.007-05:00

Last summer I wanted to make some cupcakes. This was my first attempt:
The frosting wasn't quite right, and I thought they looked more like ice cream cups. So, I let my kids paint them, and I even made a little cone.

I deepened the angle on the frosting a little more, made the "cup" part wavy, and voila! My cupcakes were born!!

I painted them in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. With sprinkles. Don't they look delicious?

Popsicles!!

2012-02-04T08:29:00.004-05:00

Click on the shop on the left for more info...

Love these...

Ice cream!!

2011-08-11T11:23:00.007-04:00

Music Note Necklace

2011-07-06T20:28:00.005-04:00

I was asked to teach music at a Day Camp for 8-11 yr old girls at our church a few weeks ago. I made them a simple little music note necklace for them and gave them out on the last day. They all really liked them. There were 45 girls there, so here are the 45 necklaces all bundled up and ready to give out to them.

Battleship bath toy -all natural, no glue

2011-06-13T15:11:00.003-04:00

This Battleship was made for playing with in the bath or, at our house, the pool. It's made out of solid pine which holds up well in water. There are no glues or finishes used anywhere on this toy. Everything is held together with tight fitting dowels. The guns rotate, which is a must for my boys. :)

Yummy looking donuts

2011-06-06T07:34:00.006-04:00

This is another item inspired by a customer. She asked me if I could make donuts with frosting on them that sticks out like it does on my sugar cookies. So, this is what I came up with.

6 Delicious donuts with bright frosting that "sticks out" like a thickly frosted donut.. Yum. Chocolate, vanilla strawberry with coordinating sprinkles.

Everything I make starts with a plain wooden board that I cut and carve, then sand and paint into a treasure for you. This is very time consuming, and every donut takes me 20-30 minutes per each one.

All my paints and sealers are AP certified non-toxic, so that they are safe for little ones.

Chunky Castle Blocks

2011-04-30T08:51:00.005-04:00

10 Large, chunky castle peices cut from solid wood for safe and imaginative play. This castle block set is all natural with no lacquers, paints or sealers. Each peice has been sanded smooth. The prominant grain gives it a beautiful look that I just love.
All the peices fit together like a puzzle for easy storage.

As soon as I finished making this I got out my little figurines and trees and let my kids play.
*The figurines and trees are sold separately. *

All items in my shop ship within 3-5 days of purchase.

Alphabet Soup

2011-04-12T07:18:00.005-04:00

One order of colorful alphabet soup coming up! Chunky solid wood letters painted in bright non toxic colors. Lot's of fun for little hands and creative minds. 10 wooden letters will fit in the bowl.

You can request 10 custom letters if you like, otherwise this bowl of soup will have the letters A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J.

Everything here is completely non toxic and safe for little ones. If your child still likes to put things in his/her mouth, this item is not recommended.

Spring Easter shape sorting puzzle

2011-04-01T10:08:00.006-04:00

Perfect for the easter basket, this puzzle teaches eye hand coordination and "baby" math. This is another favorite of my 3 year old son. He likes to pretend the peices are sugar cookies and passes them out to everyone in our family to "eat". Like all my items, this fun little easter puzzle is completely hand made. I take one solid piece of 3/4 wood, and cut it to an 8 1/2" x11" board. I then take my pencil and draw the shapes on the peice of board. Then I drill holes for each of the shapes. Then, threading a blade through each hole, I cut each shape out with my scroll saw. I use a planer to make the puzzle board shorter than the puzzle peices so that they stick out for little hands to grasp. Then I sand each shape by hand and paint each one with non toxic acrylics. The puzzle is sprayed with a light finish that is non toxic once it is dry. The finish helps the puzzle be more durable and more resistant to dirt, dents and scratches. Enjoy

Car, Trucks, Train shape sorting puzzle

2011-03-21T21:04:00.004-04:00

My 3 year old couldn't wait to get his hands on this puzzle when he saw me making this. The puzzle pieces and the the puzzle board is all the same wood, so the grain can be seen throughout the peices and into the wood around the peices. The back of the puzzle is made of baltic birch ply wood.
All non toxic paint and sprayed with a light finish. The shapes in this puzzle fit exactly, so it's a little tough for hands younger than 3.

mini cupcakes

2011-03-17T09:50:00.004-04:00

These mini cupcakes are the same size as the mini cupcakes you would bake in your oven. They are made from solid wood and they have removable tops that can be switched around. So much fun. The can be made in any combination of colors.

Mini cupcakes

2011-03-15T18:32:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday!

2011-02-21T14:28:00.005-05:00

I've been wanting to make a birthday cake for a while. I carved in the frosting on the outside edge and painted the middle layer of frosting on the inside. The removable candles are one solid dowel that I carved the flame into at the top. As with all my items everything is non toxic.

Sugar Cookies!!

2011-02-16T17:31:00.005-05:00

These look good enough to eat. They are light weight with carved in details so that frosting "sticks out" and actually looks like it's been frosted onto the wooden cookies. I love these!

Fairy Tale Figurines

2011-02-10T18:19:00.003-05:00

I had so much fun making my cake toppers last weekend that I decided to make some more little wooden figures for play!! Meet the Prince and Princess. The first in my line of fairy tale figurines. Hand carved from solid wood and painted and sealed with non-toxic paints and sealers.

Introducing Hand carved Cake Toppers!!

2011-02-06T08:27:00.005-05:00

"Two hearts one love"
Cut from one solid peice of wood with hand carved details. Painted with acrylics. The bride is wearing a Vanessa Robert veil. You can find her shop here:Vanessa Robert Veils

Vanessa Robert is my sister-in-law and is actually the inspiration for these cake toppers. I was looking for something I could make that would coordinate with her wedding shop. I thought of these last night and I just love the way they turned out!!

BLT

2011-01-25T18:31:00.003-05:00

Another fun sandwhich you can make with my play food is a BLT. Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato made out of baltic birch pine with details burned in. The bread is solid pine. As with all my products the paint is AP certified non-toxic and the finish is an AP certified non-toxic sealant.

I'm back!

2011-01-20T13:27:00.003-05:00

Slowly I'm recovering from all the Christmas season sales, and I'm restocking my items. I'm making things and listing them one at a time as I get them made. I've been trying to make enough of each item so that I can stay a month ahead, because I about killed my self this last season and had to close my store super early in December, and even though I did, I was so backed up that I was still working until 3 days before Christmas. Anyway, I'm happy to get back to work, and I have a lot of ideas for new things. More ideas than I have time to make them, but maybe some day... For now I'm listing a few new items each week as I try to keep ahead of my sales.

Store closing for the season on December 3rd

2010-11-30T15:59:00.002-05:00

Spread the word. If you know anyone who would like to make an order for Christmas, now is the time to make it. All orders paid for by the 3rd will be shipped on or before the 10th.
It's been a great year, and I'm exhausted. My husband has left again on a work trip, and my 4 young children need their mom's 100% attention. Thanks for all your support. I will re-open again in January.
Merry Christmas!!

Gobble Gobble!!

2010-11-15T15:31:00.004-05:00

Even though I'm going crazy currently filling Christmas orders both on and off of etsy, I took the time on Saturday night to make a turkey. I've really been wanting to make play food for Thanksgiving, and though this first one is made from scrap wood, I think it turned out pretty good. It has removable legs and wings. It's not really ready to sell, but maybe I can eek out some time this week to make it better and have it up before Thanksgiving.

Sports shape sorting puzzle

2010-09-18T10:14:00.004-04:00

I made these up really quickly yesterday and this morning because I had a customer requesting a baby shape puzzle with a more "boyish" look. The only baby shape puzzle I had before was the pastel butterfly. We'll see if she likes these. I like them.

Cupcake and Candle

2010-09-09T10:52:00.005-04:00

Happy Birthday!! I took cupcakes to my daughter's class yesterday for her 6th birthday, and so I was in the cupcake mood.
I had read about coloring wood with food coloring, and I thought this would be a good time to try it out. It turned out beautifully!
The cupcake top comes off and fits snuggly in it's place with a dowel. The candle is also a dowel. The flame is carved out of the top of the dowel, so the candle is all one peice.

**The candle is small, so this cupcake is not recommended for children who still like to put toys in their mouths.**

Lunch stuff

2010-08-02T13:17:00.008-04:00

Loaf of bread
Cheese sandwhich with lettuce and tomato. Potato chips on the side.

I was making multiple pieces of "toast" a few weeks ago for a breakfast order when I got the idea to make a loaf of bread. I stacked all the "toast" peices together to make the loaf. Then, when I was taking pictures of it, I took some of the stuff from my hamburger and made a cheese sandwhich with it just to show what you could do with the bread. I decided to list both the bread loaf and the cheese sandwhich for sale. They were a huge success! Both have been selling since the day I started listing them. The bread loaf sold within 2 hours of being listed. Wow. I didn't expect that.

Then last week, I decided to experiment with some really thick wood I have and see if I could make some potato chips. I just cut some rings out of the thick wood, cut them in half then rounded the edges. It was that easy! And I love the way the way they turned out.

So... here's all my latest "lunch stuff". So cute and so fun to play with!

Baby Butterfly Shape Puzzle

2010-07-25T14:22:00.002-04:00

I went to a baby shower yesterday. I always try to make something nice for baby shower gifts. I usually make towels, or teething rings, but I wanted to do something different this time. The baby's room is decorated with butterflys as part of the theme, so I made this little puzzle. I forgot to take pictures before I shrink wrapped it. It's made of 3/4" pine with 1" pine shapes that stick out for little hands to grasp. It's painted with non toxic acrylics and finished with food safe mineral oil and beeswax.

Play Castle

2010-07-15T09:52:00.004-04:00

I went to a children's resale shop a few weeks ago. I can't even remember why, but I found a Princess castle while there for $20, normally $150. I looked closely at it and found that I could easily replicate it.

So, I bought it and tried my hand at making one like it. By the time I had been cutting for 3 hours, I realized that I didn't want to make it as detailed as the one from the store. I still can, but it would take me practically a whole day to make it right with painting and details, and would have to sell it for at least $150. In today's economy, I don't think it would be a big seller. Maybe I'll make one or two for Christmas sales.

Anyway, this is made from 1/4" thick MDF board because I wanted an inexpensive material to practice on. If I really do make it for sale, it will be from plywood. I'm still thinking about it. Anyway, my girls are happy with the princess castle from the second hand store, and my boys are happy with the silver castle I made. My son already houses a stockpile of mini starwars weapons in it.

Little wooden soldiers

2010-06-17T08:33:00.005-04:00

I'm still deciding how exactly to paint these litte guys. I want them to be wearing the uniform that army soldiers wear today. My husband who is a "real life" army soldier coached me in what hand should be saluting, and how the beret should sit on the soldier's head. I also made some soldiers with combat helmets on. I will most likely change the way their uniform is painted to make them more realistic before I'm done with them.

I think these are alot of fun. My official toy testers-my 4 children-immediately began playing with them as soon as they saw them. Because they're chunky, they stand really well.

Burger and Fries

2010-06-07T16:23:00.003-04:00

My kids love to play restauraunt. We have plastic play food, but wood food is so much more fun! My oldest son has actually built a food fort out of this set. I created it this morning, and it promptly was put to use. It even went to the dentist office with us. It's made of pine and ply wood, sanded extra smooth and given details by hand with my wood burner. It's stained with a light acrylic wash then treated with mineral oil. All non-toxic, it's almost good enough to eat!

Breakfast anyone?

2010-06-04T11:29:00.004-04:00

This morning my kids were playing with their plastic food,
and I thought,
"I bet it wouldn't take me any time at all to make some play food".
So I took some scrap wood and cut it up to look like one of my favorite breakfasts!
In the time it makes me to make this meal to eat, I cut it with my scroll saw. Then I painted it and sanded it. It maybe took me a half an hour to make it all from start to finish. Even my almost 11 year-old got off his game at the computer to come and admire the play food. I think I'll make some more and let them paint it this afternoon.

Mother's Bracelets

2010-05-05T13:43:00.004-04:00

I got this idea from the "Sky Mall" magazine when I was flying to California for my cousin's wedding. There were these silver rings with the names of your children engraved in them. I thought, why not wood bangels with the children's names on them? I don't know if anyone else would like them, but it was worth a try to make them. These are made out of maple, and because of my substandard sanding skills, they have kind of a hand-carved look. The names are burned into it with a wood burner.

Easter Resurrection Scene Puzzle

2010-03-13T07:02:00.003-05:00

This is a puzzle that I've been trying to design for years. I've wanted to make a Resurrection scene puzzle that is similar to my Nativity scene puzzle, and I finally finished it last week. I posted it up for sale on etsy last week and it hasn't gotten too many views. I hope that others find it as a way to teach the true meaning of Easter to their children.

Geometric Flower Puzzle

2010-02-25T11:56:00.011-05:00

24 peice Geometric flower puzzle. Lot's of math fun with this one. It can be put together in endless arrangements. This puzzle is stained with acrylics and water rather than just painted. It is sanded smooth and no lacquer has been applied.

Chunky Hearts

2010-01-30T07:42:00.003-05:00

Last week while sleeping and dreaming, I was thinking of Valentine's Day and the idea of making giant conversation hearts came to me. These are so fun and my kids love to stack them. Made of 1 1/2" thick solid pine. I make them either all natural wood, or painted and written on to look like the candy hearts their inspired by.

Animal Cars!

2009-12-09T12:16:00.003-05:00

Super chunky, super fun!! This sheep or lamb car is made from nearly 2" thick pine. Great for little hands. Another favorite of my 2 yr old. I have to tweak it a bit to make it available to the public, but I had so much fun making it this morning. Coming soon: 15 other animal cars.

Hand Carved Nativity Ornament

2009-11-18T14:23:00.003-05:00

An ornament for your tree, or to go on a Christmas present. Hand carved from soft pine. Natural and untreated.

Wooden Peg Board and Hammer

2009-10-25T17:45:00.003-04:00

Big chunky pegs for little hands. The pegs are 1 1/4" thick , and the hammer is too. My two year old loves this!

Mini Nativities!!

2009-10-08T09:39:00.003-04:00

I just love these mini puzzles. There's so cute. An exact replica of the normal size puzzle only teeny tiny. I'm thinking of making them into an ornament. I'm not sure if others will like them, but I think they're adorable!

Hand Carved Christmas

2009-09-08T18:16:00.004-04:00

The newest twist on my most popular puzzle. Handcarved in natural pine, or painted. The painted one takes me 8 hours to do. But I absolutely love the way it looks. Painted front and back, and sanded to give it that rustic look. This puzzle makes my heart happy.

Sword and Sheild

2009-09-08T18:13:00.003-04:00

Not a puzzle, but so much fun!! Perfect for your little Knight. Inspired by my daughter's "Castle" birthday party.

Made from soft pine.

*The sword is over 3 1/2 feet long.

*The sheild has fabric straps stapled to the back to make it easier to hold.

This is for decorative/costume purposes and light play. The wood will dent if bashed against something hard.

Visit my etsy store. www.artsoftheheart.etsy.com

Welcome to my workshop!!

2008-10-20T10:05:00.002-04:00

I've been selling nativity puzzles on ebay for 4 years now, and I thought it was about time to expand!! I'm expanding my puzzle business as well as adding some "non-puzzle" items that I enjoy making. Please pardon my progress as I update this blog.
Thanks,
Jennifer

Handmade Wooden Nativity Set & Puzzle

2008-06-11T12:52:00.013-04:00

This charming Nativity set is completely hanmade. Each puzzle is hand cut from soft pine. Each peice is a chunky 3/4" thick which makes it easy for little hands to play with.

From start to finish I draw the design on the wood, cut it out, sand and paint each peice individually, and then spray a light finish on it.
It's a wonderful way to teach the true meaning of Christmas to your children or grandchildren.