Last week, I saw a super cute idea over on Alisa Burke's blog. She painted some wood blocks to look like nutcrackers! (See her post here.) I showed it to my daughter and we decided we definitely needed to make some ourselves. Of course, ours took on a personality of their own, turning more into soldiers from toyland than nutcrackers. My husband wasn't around to cut wood for us, so I just went to the craft store and bought a package of whittling blocks. (Be sure to get a lot of blocks if you are going to do this project-it's addictive!) We used Apple Barrel Craft Paint to paint the soldiers, and a gold leaf pen added a touch of sparkle. To top it all off poms poms and feathers were added to the soldier's hats.
Creating toy soldiers seems to be a new holiday tradition at our house. Remember our clothespin project last year?
These are so cute! I have a wonderful collection of Nutcrackers. These would be a great addition. Thanks for sharing, Laura.
Someone sent an email asking me what I used for the clothespin soldiers (and aliens) bases. You can buy the bases at most craft stores, right where you buy the clothespins. They are great for projects like this and to make clothespin dolls, etc.
Really lovely!