Tuesday 12 February 2013

Valentine Play - Little Love Armada


I have been wanting to make walnut boats for Goblin since I saw them on various Waldorf inspired blogs, but I haven't been able to find walnuts in shells anywhere. Then last week I stumbled on them at my local fruits stall. Just in time for Valentines day. 
I bought a big bag because I realised that it was going to be hard to split them accurately and I might have quite a few that failed. To split them I shoved a knife into the cross at the base of the walnut. Then tapped it deep into the nut and twisted. About 50% split straight down the middle. 
I have had a bag of cherry scented tea lights sitting in a craft draw since before Goblin was born. So I liberated a few from their metal holders and stuck them in a saucepan to melt. They melt really quickly. I fished out the wicks and poured the melted wax into a jug.
I stuck cocktail sticks into the bottom of the walnut shells using blue tac, and poured the wax in while still runny. At this point they looked more like Halloween crafts than Valentine!
I cut heart shaped sails out of paper (you could use craft foam if your little one is likely to sink the boats) and attached them to the cocktail sticks.
I don't have a beautiful bowl so I made do with a pyrex roasting dish! I filled it with water and added purple water beads and flat marbles for colour. Then I gently placed the boats on their new lake.
Goblin loved lying next to the bowl and blowing the boats gently so they floated around.

I'm sharing this at
In Lieu of Preschoolhttp://salttree.net/One Artsy MamaLadybird Ln






13 comments:

  1. They turned out so well! I've had these on our to-do list for ages too, and got as far as buying the whole nuts, but hubby keeps eating the nuts and not breaking the shell nicely! I will pass on your instructions :-) Your valentine's twist on this is pretty!

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  2. Pretty and calming. Your photography is getting really good.

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  3. walnut shells have been a familly favorite since I was a little girl. My brother makes many things out of them but never a boat... great idea! his trick to opening them with out breaking them is to tap the side seam several times with a spoon or butter knife handle before trying to pry them open? it must break the membrain inside and help crack the shell along the path that they naturaly fallow. Will have to try this one!

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  4. So cool. I like the Halloween portion of the craft where they look like bloody hearts with stakes through them. I think Bobo is rubbing off on me!

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  5. Beautiful! I hope I can find some walnuts in time for Valentines...if so this will be perfect for our play date. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. What a darling project! The last two pictures create such a cozy scene. Thanks for visiting my blog today, too!

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  7. These are so sweet! I am sure Bunny would love to make these little boats! Thanks for sharing your post with us at Eco-Kids Tuesday. Hope to see you back today! http://likemamalikedaughter.blogspot.com/2013/02/melt-my-heart-eco-kids-tuesday.html

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  8. Great idea!

    Thank you for posting on Waldorf Wednesday. Hope to see you back this week!
    http://ourseasonsofjoy.com/waldorf-wednesday-link-up/waldorf-wednesday-23-on-a-thursday/

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