Friday, March 9, 2012

Baby Blocks

For Molly's baby shower, I wanted to have a craft. We gals at work are a creative group, so I knew that most of those attending would enjoy something crafty. I came up with the idea of painting blocks. Bought plain solid wood blocks at Hobby Lobby, painted them all white, sanded their edges for a rustic look. Then for the shower I set out the blocks, paints, brushes, rounded-corner squares of scrapbook paper, and old Golden Books about the alphabet and words (for inspiration and ideas). I also had a small bowl of paper squares, each with a letter of the alphabet, so that the girls could take one and we wouldn't duplicate letters.

I painted all of the blocks below except the ones where noted. The shower group painted a little less than half the blocks, which left me with a bunch to finish, a "chore" that I gladly took on (and, honestly, was sad when the painting ended!).

I had a few blocks leftover, so one got a gator on it who wrapped around all sides.
 G is for glove and grapes.



Another non-alphabet block with butterfly and a flowery vine.
Q is for queen and quilt.


Another un-alphabet block got a beach ball, overalls with a chicken and a turtle.
I is for iron. U is for umbrella (thanks to Laura). F is for frog.

C is for cotton bolls, cow and clown. Un-alphabet block with a dice face. 
P is for peacock (another Laura original; her blocks are the loveliest jewel shades!)
Another part of the U is for umbrella block, this including adorable yellow rain boots (artist, Laura).
F is for fire, fish and fork.


A block with an H (for Hargather, the baby's last name) 
and a baby face (thanks to Molly's sister, Robin Anne).
I is for ice cream.
E is for elephant (another Laura gem!).
The two blocks on the right were done by Jenn. Each is like a little water color canvas.
B is for bear and bee. R is for rabbit.


O is for octopus (Laura's masterpiece).
J is for jar of jam and jellyfish.
N is for nest.


M is for monkey, mouse and moon.
An un-alphabet block got a spiderweb and spider.
On the right top, another side to Laura's peacock block.
An un-alphabet block gets a house and a pear.
A cat on the C block.


Three more pieces of artwork by Jenn. B is for boat. R is for rooster. S is for sheep and spider.


W is for watermelon. K is for knife and key. Y is for yolk.


X is for x-ray. Another side to Y — yarn. V is for vase and violin.


I'll be spraying them this weekend with a clear matt finish. And then they'll be gifted to Baby H, keepsakes to be handed down for years to come!

7 comments:

Allison said...

These are amazing, Dawn! You really did an incredible job!

Ashley said...

Seriously amazing!!! Each one is a mini masterpiece! Was mine salvageable? haha

Anonymous said...

I can't believe how gorgeous these blocks are. You all could do this for a living. I would never let a child touch them because they are so special.

You always have the best ideas.

Gretchen

Carolina said...

I absolutely love this and want to do the same at my friends baby shower. I'm looking for paint and varnish options. Looking for non-toxic, kid safe products that are also easy to use and dry quickly. I was thinking about a non toxic white primer as the base and then sharpie paint markers for the details because they are easy to use and dry quickly. Any thoughts? What did you use? Thanks so much for sharing.

Carolina said...

I absolutely love this and want to do the same at my friends baby shower. I'm looking for paint and varnish options. Looking for non-toxic, kid safe products that are also easy to use and dry quickly. I was thinking about a non toxic white primer as the base and then sharpie paint markers for the details because they are easy to use and dry quickly. Any thoughts? What did you use? Thanks so much for sharing.

Dawn Gahan said...

Carolina, your profile didn't contain an email, so I had no way of contacting you. Hopefully, you'll check back here and find this response!

I use Apple Barrel, FolkArt and Plaid acrylic paints; they are all non-toxic. Then I use a clear coat spray by Valspar that, too, is non-toxic.

I also communicated to the mom that these blocks are probably better used by non-teething children (and up until then can be displayed).

Good luck! Not sure if you saw the painted canvases I did for another shower:

http://gahangirls.blogspot.com/2012/09/jewel-tone-moroccan-inspired-shower-for.html

http://gahangirls.blogspot.com/2013/01/painted-canvases-for-baby-shower.html

Unknown said...

I found blocks at https://www.etsy.com/listing/228143035/40-baby-blocks-wood-blocks-craft-blocks
Smooth and the edges were sanded so no worries!

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