Originally posted by B's Knees~almom I wouldn't go so far as to say you are my FAVORITE.... I just tolerate ya :P
Hey lady, admit it, you love me!
Okay, dimensions of mine are 40" tall, 40" wide, 12" deep, shelf is 21" high ( I think we measured a kid table to get that height. I wanted it tall enough to stand under with the silk on top.
Ours isn't tippy, plenty sturdy without the bottom shelf, if you look closely you can see the brace under the top shelf. That is necessary if you don't do a bottom shelf. That keeps it from wobbling. both my kids sit on the shelf, so it has been wobble tested
Also, we made the bar on top stick out both sides so Ara could hang a "door" on it. I made a door with cording with elastic circles on both ends and two hanging curtains made from batik that can be slid open along the cording. The elastic loops just loop around the rod ends that stick out. Did that make any sense? I can take another pic of the whole thing together. We made it like that so she could make it totally enclosed, but also just take the 'door' and 'roof' off and move the playstands around.
Dh didn't make the benches, but they would be simple. We picked those up at Ikea 7 years ago.
__________________
Allison
mama to Ara, Simone, and Zarin
Originally posted by Janice
I'm going to ask some dumb "never been or been married to a woodworker" questions.
What type of wood is best? Do you use screws? Or nails?
What equipment is used? Circular saw? sandpaper?
For those who just have one "shelf," would you have preferred two or is one just fine?
Do they do basic woodwork cutting at a lumber/hardware store?
Sorry, I keep missing questions. Here is what we did. We bought long 12" wide pine boards. Dh cut those into 7 40" long boards. 1 of those I marked with a pencil where I wanted the shelf, then tapered in from the shelf up to where the rounded part is, leaving the rouned part wide enough for the closet rod. Dh then used a jigsaw to cut those straight lines, curving it a bit as he got to the top. He also used the jigsaw to cut the bottom arch. He then clamped that board to the other boards, one at a time, and used a router to cut all the others. Then he took a hole saw and put the four holes in the top, tight enough that we didn't need glue or anything to hold the top bars in, they don't move but we could pry them out if we ever wanted to take them apart for storage. He then routered the edges. Then he took one of the 40" pieces and cut it in half so it was 6" wide (those are the braces) and routered the bottom edges of those. He routered both edges of the shelves. We marked where we wanted the shelves and dh predrilled the holes - two for the shelves and one for the brace for each end. Then we sanded all the boards and beeswaxed them. Then we took them home and hid them for solstice After Ara went to bed we screwed it together and set it up with the scarves and door. We didn't use wood plugs for the same reason we didn't glue the rod in, we wanted to be able to take it apart.
I think that is it. LMK if you have any questions. Even if you don't have all the equipment yourself, I bet you could hire a woodworker to make them for you cheaper than you can buy them. They are really simple to make if you have the know how.
Originally posted by B's Knees~almom
The playclips from Sunstreams in Calgary are awesome and super cheap!
Does this company have online ordering? or are they a local store?
I've been saving some paypal to buy some playclips, and the cheapest I have found is $5US at BornNature. I haven't ordered yet because I can't afford any extra duty charges right now... so I would love to order from a Canadian company
Thanks
__________________
~ amy ~
Mommy to Samuel
You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
Mohandas Gandhi
Oh a lemonade stand sounds like it would be wonderful! There are so many shapes of things that could give kids a lot of pleasure. My project for later in the year was going to see if I could build a fold up puppet theatre (the floor kind)...I love those!
Amy, I pm'd ya. I'll check out with the people at the store about the clips.
Allison...great, detailed information. Thank you. If I can find someone to do it...that all is so clear. Did you just rub hard beeswax into the wood? It's a beautiful color and must smell lovely.
I don't quite understand what you're saying about the door. It's early for me, though, so I'll try to read it later to see if it makes sense.
Janice
Okay...just reread...it makes perfect sense! I think the "cording" confused me lol! Thanks Allison.
My Dh built some from modified plans off the waldorf resources site. They are really beautiful. We have one shelf, which is better than two, I think. We used wooden dowels and made them longer than the playstands themselves so as to hang things, etc from them. They are made out of pine planks, held together with wooden pegs, except the underside of the shelves, which have screwed in supports. We used a beeswax finish, which is so pretty! I would be happy to post the recipe for this if you would like it.
We also hand made our clips..if you can make the playstands, you can make the clips! Our first clips are modeled after clothespins. We use the rubberbands from organic broccoli heads!
If we could change anything, it would be to make them taller, so we will be adding a awning this year, as my two yr old ds can't stand under the playsilk anymore. And we are going to try to make clips just like the rounded ones most commonly sold.
It cost 40$ total for all the materials for these wonderful toys!
Bethany
Originally posted by Bethanydear
We used a beeswax finish, which is so pretty! I would be happy to post the recipe for this if you would like it.
Oh please do!! ~ does it have linseed(flax) oil in it? my father had made some about 20yrs ago... and wasn't sure of the exact recipe ~ I was hoping to finish ours with beeswax
TIA
1/2 cup beeswax
1/4 cup linseed oil
2 tbsp wheat germ oil
1 cup turpentine
Melt beeswax on low heat on stove. When melted add oils. Remove from heat, stir until cool. Add turpentine, stirring until well mixed. Use sponge/rag to coat, allow to sit 12-24 hours. Polish, buff well. Store in glass jar in cool area. 4-5 mos shelf life.
BTW, this finish can feel sticky for awhile, like a week or so, until completely dry. If needed, you can sand any coloring/nicks/marks right out over this finish.
Bethany
No they are not online BUT if you look up the Calgary yellow pages which I belive you can find at www.telusplanet.net and put in Sunstreams, you can just call them. They will take an ordr over the phone on CC and send them out. They may even take a personal check or MO if you sent it. they are really friendly
Originally posted by B's Knees~almom No they are not online BUT if you look up the Calgary yellow pages which I belive you can find at www.telusplanet.net and put in Sunstreams, you can just call them. They will take an ordr over the phone on CC and send them out. They may even take a personal check or MO if you sent it. they are really friendly
I dropped by SunStreams today...they're having some construction done but the store is still open. I asked about play clips and the woman *sort of* knew what I was talking about. They don't have any in, but might be able to order some. I left my number for her to check with someone and call me back (hopefully tomorrow). I'll let you know.
Linear Mode
