(If you happen to be looking for instructions on how to make the pink tower or broad/brown stair, go to Make Your Own Sensorial Materials, Part One and Part Two.
I gave all the blocks a coat of latex primer, then did multiple layers of "cherry blossom pink" acrylic paint. Finally, I gave them all three coats of acrylic varnish. Here's the results:
You can see more detail when I do the pink tower shell-shape:
From a distance, they don't look too bad. But if you take a closer look, you can tell that they weren't professionally made:
On the 10cm x 10cm x 10cm block, you can see the "dip" in the wood. If I had sanded much more, it would not longer have been 10cm x 10cm x 10cm, so I cut my losses and voila!
Here's another view of the 10cm x 10cm x 10cm block. You can tell here that one of the corners isn't really a corner. That was another fault in the log. Also (but not shown) is a large knot in the wood that, despite substantial wood fill and sanding, still has enough of an indentation to make it noticeable.
Just for comparison, I put the teeny-tiny 1cm x 1cm x 1cm block atop the 10cm x 10cm x 10cm block. Theoretically, it would take 1000 of the former to make the latter, and when you look at it this way, you can really see that.
Ella can do the pink stair with little-to-no difficulty, although sometimes it's hard to tell, as she often has a "friend" (be it little monster, Mayas the rabbit, Lambie, or some imaginary person) who just can't figure it out on his/her own, so mistakes are made which Ella has to correct! It's not always clear to me if she's making the mistakes deliberately in order to get to "correct" her friend, or if it happened by accident and she's just using her imaginary friend/stuffed animal as a scapegoat for her mistakes. In some cases, I can tell one way or the other, but sometimes... Well, let's just say I know her better than anyone, but there's plenty of times when I have no clue what's going through that little mind of hers!
The blocks look great. I agree with your Dad on this point. Don't be so picky.
ReplyDeleteBut, you know what they are going to be used for (I don't really) so if EXACT corners and lines are needed...but somehow I doubt that from this particular set.
Those knobby cylinders, though. Those would have been a nightmare to make.
You're right! I thought a lot about possible ways to make them, even going so far as to measure each of my knobless cylinders in imperial, so that I could tell Dad what sizes of drill bits we would need in order to make the blocks. It was that, more than anything that made him realise that nope, we couldn't make them!
ReplyDeleteI am SOOOOOOO impressed with y'all!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great job. I am hoping to make my own brown stairs. I used nesting buckets in the place of the pink tower. I also want to make my own tables and shelves. Its cheaper to make them for sure. I have never made anything like it beofre. would you have any advice?
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