Magic Sponsor Giveaway :: Armadillo Dreams

I'm super excited to share one of my Magic Sponsors with you today...


The truth be told, I have poured over this gorgeous shop for hours. Their handmade wooden toys are simply beautiful. Simply BEAUTIFUL! Have a look for yourself...

These are gorgeous heirloom toys, aren't they! And, I'm even more excited to tell you that Armadillo Dreams is offering one lucky reader of this article a $50 spending spree in their shop... $50 to spend on whatever your little ones desire! Yay! Giveaway details are at the end of this post.

To learn a little more about the family behind this amazing toy shop, I've asked the dad, Dustin, to tell us a little about themselves...

:::

About Us:

Hi Magic Onion readers! My name is Dustin. I own/run Armadillo Dreams with my wife Amanda. I have lived in Central Oregon most of my life. I met Amanda during sophomore year in high school. After graduation we moved to Portland, Oregon for about 3 years and then moved back. We got married in 2004, had our daughter Lucy in 2007 and had our son Lincoln in 2010.

 

We love Central Oregon for the warm and sunny summers and because we get to experience each season here. We enjoy being outdoors as much as possible. Central Oregon is known for having an abundance of outdoor recreation opportunities. You can do just about any outdoor sport/activity imaginable within about an hour drive from home. We have mountains, forest, desert, lakes and rivers all very close by. And the beach is only a 3-4 hour drive away! Central Oregon is an awesome place to raise a family.

About Armadillo Dreams:

Armadillo Dreams makes high quality handmade wooden toys. We make animals, figures, baby toys, pull toys, fantasy themed toys and other fun things! Some toys are painted, while others remain natural. Everything we sell is made from natural materials, is friendly for little hands and is handmade with love! We believe it's important for children to have high quality, natural, simple toys that they can dream, imagine and play with.

 

Our story:

Armadillo Dreams started in late 2010. We started the shop after I discovered a passion for woodworking. I completed a backyard chicken coop/run (we have 18 chickens currently) in the summer and was looking for new woodworking projects. We always wanted more wooden toys for our children, but didn’t have a lot of money. Amanda had already been selling on Etsy for about 5 years with her shop (Wild Plums: http://wildplums.etsy.com). We combined Amanda’s artistic skills and knowledge of Etsy with my passion for woodworking and Armadillo Dreams was born.

The shop started small selling only toys that were already made. I think we had 30-40 natural wooden toys in the shop maximum at any given time for about the first 6 months. We didn’t start making painted toys for about 4 or 5 months because we wanted to perfect our painting skills/methods. We wanted the paint to still show the wood grain underneath so that people could still appreciate the wood. We also wanted to create a painting process that would make it extremely difficult for the paint to wear off under play from children of all ages. Once we had painting down and started releasing painted toys, things really started taking off. It was also around that same time that we switched to having everything in the shop “made to order” (orders are usually made & shipped within 5-7 days), versus trying to keep a large inventory around. This allowed us to really concentrate efforts on expanding our catalog. Currently we are up to about 175 toys/sets.

No matter how big Armadillo Dreams gets we plan to keep operations small and home based. My woodshop is in our backyard (a large converted shed). We also have a two car garage that was remodeled into a family room that serves as an indoor work area. A lot of work also takes place on our dining room table. We like it that way.

Our future plans:

We are currently in the process of setting up http://armadillodreams.com with our own full shop and blog, plus some other fun things we are going to do on the website. We will be spending most of the summer and fall promoting it before the holiday season hits. We are also going to be working on getting our catalog up to about 225-250 items by the holidays. Our primary goal for 2012 is to make Armadillo Dreams capable of supporting our family financially on its own.

Giveaway:

We are giving away a $50 shopping spree in our shop to one lucky reader.

Links:

Website / Blog (coming soon): http://armadillodreams.com

Shop: http://armadillodreams.etsy.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/armadillodreams

Twitter: http://twitter.com/armadillodreams

Amanda’s other shops:

http://wildplums.etsy.com

http://littlevintageviolet.etsy.com

http://violetplays.etsy.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for daily specials, news, coupons and giveaways!

:::

Thank you, Dustin... it's so nice getting to know the people behind the scenes of our favorite online places and I'm honored to be able to share your creativity with my Magic Friends :-) I have made a personal commitment to support small businesses whenever I can and I know there are so many who join me in congratulating you and your family on your beautiful shop.

 :::

Now for the Giveaway... as Dustin said above, one lucky reader will win a $50 spending spree in Armadillo Dreams!!

This Giveaway has been won by the Mama over at 'Growing Like Weeds'. Congrats!!

To enter, simply let us know what you love about Armadillo Dreams toys in the comment section of this post. 

You can earn 5 extra entries by...

1. 'like' Armadillo Dreams on Facebook -  http://facebook.com/armadillodreams

2. 'Favorite' Armadillo Dreams on Etsy - http://armadillodreams.etsy.com

3. Blog about this Giveaway so that others can learn about it too.

4. Tweet about this Giveaway

5. Pin this Giveaway.

Be sure to come back and leave a comment for each additional entry.

This Giveaway is open to everyone, everywhere - except me :(

The Magic Winner will be announced on Sunday, May 20.

Good luck, my Friends, and remember to support Armadillo Dreams when you can. 

Blessings and magic, 

Donni

Make a Bark Boat

Oh the simple joys of making our own boats. We have been on a boat-making spree lately and what masterpieces we have made. You can see our other creations here and here.

Today, we made our best boat of all... a bark boat. I can't tell you the joy I feel when I watch my little boy's confidence in his own creativity grow. I love to see him realize that he is a 'maker'. I encourage and suggest, of course, and I help when I am asked, but I am also mindful to allow his own ideas to develop. Being a 'maker' myself, it's not always easy to sit back and let someone else's creative spirit control the creation, but I am happy to say that, with lots of practice, I am becoming a pro :-)

I suggested we find a nice piece of bark for our next boat and off into the neighborhood we went in search of the prefect piece.

With our gorgeous thick pine bark in hand, we found a stick for a mast and cut it to the right length.

Teddy decided where the mast should go.

And then drilled a hole for it in his bark.

He stuck the mast in some wood glue.

And glued it into the hole he had made.

I helped him choose a fabric for the sail and he cut out a large triangle which we stuck to the mast.

When it had dried we had our prettiest boat yet. But wait... it needed a motor and Teddy stuck the perfect pine cone in place.

We took it to the river to see if it would float.

Of course we needed a long stick to push it around.

And 'drive' it wherever we wanted it to go.

And the tiniest dragonfly landed on Teddy's leg let to see what we were up to.

Another day of fun with our own handmade toys. Another opportunity to play in the fresh air, with sticks and water and mud. Another beautiful day with my children.

Blessings and magic,
Donni

The Joy in a Simple Toy.

Yesterday, I wrote about how we are trying to live simply in our big city and about how it's not always the easiest thing to do. When you not only have a Target on every corner but also a Toys R Us, a TJ Maxx and a Ross, it's really hard not to buy the remote controlled speed boat for your little boy, especially since it's only $10.

But, if you have consciously chosen to simplify your child's life, NOT buying this racy toy is much more of a gift to him. 'WHY?' you might ask. For me, the answer lies in the possibility that by giving him this high tech toy to play with, you might be taking from him the joy he could be having in the more simple things around him.

We planned a trip to our local Nature Center which has a softly meandering river that snakes it's way around the trails. We often prepare for our walk by making a boat from nature bits we collect around the yard. Today, we made a simple raft from sticks and yarn.

Teddy cut the sticks to the right length.

And I helped him tie them together to make a simple raft.

We set off on our boating adventure and launched our raft.

We were delighted when we discovered that it floated. 

We found a long stick and spent a good while pushing it this way and that in the water.

We played for a long time in the fresh air and the water with our handmade boat.

THIS is the experience I'd rather Teddy have. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with playing with a remote controlled boat. What I am saying is that I'd rather my 4 year old find the joy in a more simple experience with a stick and a raft he has made with his own two hands. And I'm also not saying I'll never allow him to play with a remote controlled boat... but I will always actively encourage him in the more natural, authentic, experiences whenever I can.

Blessings and magic,
Donni

What Santa Brought.

Meet the new additions to our family... Snowflake and Black Mane.

 

Kitty and Snowflake

 Teddy and Black Mane

Santa brought them. Oh my goodness, my children can't believe how lucky they are... they are utterly in love. They have never seen such beautiful horses before! Nor have I! They can't even decide whose is prettier; Snowflake with her snow white mane or Black Mane with his voluptuous dapples and white blaze? 

They groom their horses endlessly, and kiss them. They plait their manes. They put flowers in their hair.

They gallop them and make jumps in the garden from forgotten planks and gumboots.

They play 'horse show'.

 Sometimes Black Mane gets frisky and bucks and Teddy nearly falls off.

 

Kitty and Teddy have discovered that their horses love the beach too.

 They love to gallop freely in the sand with the wind in their mane and they even don't mind getting their feet wet.

The funny thing is that although our kids are clearly loving their horses, Daddy doesn't know who is loving them more, them or me? It's true... my heart brims over with joy as I watch their equestrian antics. And I remember so many hours spent just the same way. My childhood was pony-mad. I played all these pony games and more... day in and day out. My horse was a broomstick and a stuffed sock for a head and, you know, I loved him just as if he were a champion Arabian like Snowflake and Black Mane. And it's true that it was me who built the first jumping course in our garden with Teddy and Kitty... and me who jumped the first round. And it was me who helped them make stables for them and gave them carrots to give as treats. And yes, it was also me who suggested they take them to the beach. But, although I admit to having a hand in this new horse love, their own imaginations are now driving their games. They have made rosettes and trophy's. They have clipped hay. They have had foals, won races and bandaged injured legs. All that was needed was a little flame to ignite this world of fun... I am glad that I can sometimes be that flame for them.

Oh, the happiness a horse can bring.

For those of you who are wondering where Santa found these beautiful horses, I'm almost sure it mush have been MJM Ranch. Thank you to the little elf who made such treasured gifts.

Blessings and magic,
Donni

The Fort Under The Table

Kitty and Teddy have been on winter break from school this week. On Monday, they built a gorgeous fort under the dining room table using all of my table cloths so that the whole table is closed in. It has remained like this since and they have played endlessly in 'The Fort Under The Table'. They have eaten their meals together in there, they have played games in there, they have read to each other in there and of course, they have examined their gifts in there... many times.

They have comfy eiderdowns on the floor, a set of Christmas lights up and an old telephone in case someone rings?

So much sibling love has happened in the 'Fort Under The Table' that A Good Man and I haven't minded eating our dinners on our laps at all :-)

Blessings and magic,
Donni

Learning Math with Gumnuts :: Second Grade

I love Waldorf education so! Kitty is in Second Grade. One day a week, her class has 'outside school'. The children and their wonderful teachers start the day with a 20 minute walk to a local park. The rest of their school day is spent having their lessons under the sky, amongst the trees, squirrels and fresh air. On 'outside school' days, when I'm going about my business, I can't help making a little detour past the park to get a glimpse of them. It warms my heart to see them playing freely as part of their Second Grade Curriculum.

Today, after 'outside school', Kitty and I had a little special time together at our local cafe. Over our hot chocolate, we talk about all kinds of lovely things. One of our threads of conversation went like this...

Me: I saw you playing under the big tree in the park today as I drove past.

Kitty: No Mom, we weren't playing.

Me: Oh. What were you doing under the big tree then?

Kitty: We were collecting Gumnuts for our Math Lesson.

If I had learned Math with Gumnuts that I had collected, perhaps I wouldn't be so scared of it today!

Blessings and magic,
Donni

Kitty's Tea Party.

Kitty loves to have tea parties with her fury friends. Lately, Mr T has joined in the fun and it is so sweet to see them working together, setting out a fantastic feast for their bears and other beloved Lovies. Recently, Kitty explained that her tea guests sometimes complain that they get tired of eating leaves and sticks and often long for real cakes and cookies. So, today's family craft was making 'real' treats for their tea parties.




We made our tea treats with playdough, baked it to make it hard and then painted it.

Here is our fantastic, hardly-ever-fail playdough recipe.


We filled our mini cupcake tin with playdough to get the cupcake form and then put the dough in mini cupcake liners.


With a candle, we made holes in our 'cupcakes' so that so that 'candles' would fit in them when they were baked (of course, don't bake them with the candles in still , lol).


We also made a few 'cookies' and a slice of cake. We put our playdough treats on a baking sheet and baked them for about an hour at 300F. Feel them to gauge when they are ready... they should be hard and no longer squishy.


We had such fun painting them all sorts of yummy colors. Hmmmmmm, chocolate!


Kitty collected a small stick from the garden to make rainbow sprinkles.

And, Voila!!! Our yummy cupcakes were ready for a tea party.


Mrs Bear was invited and wore her wonderful hat.


The table was set with a rainbow playsilk and all the yummy goodies set out on Kitty's finest china.


Candles were collected for the cupcakes.


Mr T had to try the chocolate cake and decided to leave it for the stuffed animals.


Kitty served them all acorn tea.


A magical tea party was had by all and the cakes and cookies have been stored away for the next grand occasion.

Blessings and magic,
Donni