Vintage Buttons!
My wife’s grandma just gave me her Tiffany Cigar box full of buttons during our visit last weekend. She said she was never going to use them, so I gratefully accepted the gift. The kids already love...
View ArticleVintage Fabric Dolls
I just discovered a fantastic vintage fabric and craft supply store here in Portland, and made these simple pillow dolls with some of the fabric I found. I embroidered the faces with my regular sewing...
View ArticleMarionette
A couple of days ago we took another short trip out to the countryside to visit my wife’s grandparents. The kids love visiting their great-grandparents, and so do I, because they always seem to have...
View ArticlePop-Up Puppets
The kids and I just made some pop-up puppets this morning. We had a great time picking out the fabrics and drilling holes for the dowel sticks. When we were done, the kids were pretty surprised at...
View ArticleVintage Wood Figures
I was digging around in my box of vintage wood scraps, and decided to make some little figures with a few of the small colorful pieces. We used paint pens to draw on them, so it was an easy way to...
View ArticleWooden Marble Maze
The idea for this came into my head a couple of weeks ago. I’m probably not the first one to do it, but it’s quite fun to play with. Similar to a marble labyrinth, only much easier, which makes it...
View ArticleSmall Elephant Puzzle Giveaway
I recently received a great gift of some beautiful vintage birch plywood from my wife’s grandfather. So to test the wood, I cut a smaller version of my elephant puzzle just for fun. It turned out...
View ArticleWooden Dolls Giveaway
My last giveaway was so fun I thought I’d do one more for the holidays. The prize this time is two of my wooden dolls, complete with vintage fabric doll clothes that I just sewed yesterday. The dolls...
View ArticleFavorite Toys | Vintage Fabric Doll
A lot of people ask me what toys and craft projects end up being favorites in our house. One of the hits has been these vintage fabric dolls that I made a year and a half ago. My daughter really...
View ArticleGuest Post | Let’s Get Crafty Like it’s 1978!
Greetings readers of Made By Joel. I hope everything is tickety-boo with you. I am over the moon to be writing this guest post for this most wonderful blog. My name is Harry (I’m a girl). I work for...
View ArticleCedar Box Dollhouse and Art Books
I actually got to enjoy an afternoon alone this week. I decided to go look at art books and magazines. One of the shops had some empty cedar cigar boxes for a couple of dollars, so I got one to try out...
View ArticleBaby Play Mat with Vintage Neil Bradburn Fabric
We got to spend all of last week at my mom’s house. Among the exciting fun with grandchildren, I got to spend some time with my mom too. We made this play mat for little E. I was lucky enough to...
View ArticleChildhood Vintage Pull Toy
Here is one of my favorite toys from when I was a kid. My mom just found it in the attic. I can’t see any markings on it, but I just learned from my Facebook friends that it’s from Brio in Sweden. Such...
View ArticleEmbroidered Vintage Fabric Doll
When the twins were younger, I made these vintage fabric dolls. They still sleep with them almost four years later. Yesterday I decided little E and I better make one for her to sleep with too. It was...
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