[Crafty Monday] Spoon Friends

May 10, 2010 · Filed under crafts & things to make, design, family fun, kids · Tagged Alexander Girard, easy kid crafts, House Industries, Kid Made Modern, mid century modern, Todd Oldham

These Alexander Girard-inspired wooden spoon puppets are another kid friendly craft from Todd Oldham’s excellent Kid Made Modern. (See the Marimekko-inspired scarves we made which were also a project from this book).

Supplies

Wooden spoons (I got mine at Target – 3 for $1.99)

• Paint
• Paint brushes
• Masking tape
• Plate or palette for paint
• Sharpies

Todd Oldham suggests sketching out what you want your design to look like before you begin – an excellent suggestion…that I did not follow. I just took a look at the examples in the book and jumped right in. This is a simple craft: starting at the top, you tape off sections for horizontal stripes or vertical stripes or however you want to design it, and paint away.

Be sure to let each section dry before removing the tape.

When you’re all done painting, and the paint is dry, you can use paint to make the spoon faces, or do like I did and use Sharpies. I don’t trust myself to use a paintbrush to paint tiny eyes and mouths.

You can also add ribbons for decorations, or maybe yarn for hair and hats too, if you’re feeling ambitious. I used glow in the dark paint on the green Martian guy, so he’s fun for playing with at night under the covers.

Also, I have to give credit to the Small Object – I knew I wanted to draw a man with a mustache on one of the spoons, but I needed something to look at, so I turned to these Peg People stamps (which I own) for help. Elena has already determined that he and the woman with the pink and white polka dotted ribbon are married – she performed the ceremony.

When the girls and I were in Santa Fe last month (visiting my mom), we were bummed that the extensive Alexander Girard exhibit at the Museum of International Folk Art was closed for renovations. Next time, I guess.

Many of Alexander Girard designs have been reintroduced on an array of products – from bikes, to pillows, to rug collections at Flor – by máXimo, the official agent to his estate. As I sat with Elena and showed her who Alexander Girard was (in my ongoing effort to indoctrinate her with good design) she and I agreed that we loved the Alexander Girard collection at House Industries.

Do you have a favorite Alexander Girard design?

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