Design*Sponge just posted a photo-journal of our house in their “Sneak Peek” series. Head over to check it out if you’d like!
Design*Sponge just posted a photo-journal of our house in their “Sneak Peek” series. Head over to check it out if you’d like!
My book is now available. I’m really excited! “Made to Play” has 35 craft and toy projects, using wood, fabric, and paper, that promote imaginative and creative play. Here are just a few links for ordering. It’s available world-wide, so if your country is not listed below, you may search the ISBN# 159030912X, or ask your […]
I loved felt boards when I was a kid, and when looking at some felt the other day, I thought it would be fun to make a simple felt board designed for babies. Infants, with their developing eyes, love to focus on high contrast shapes, so I used black and light cream for my felt […]
After only three weeks, the Made by Joel Facebook Page is off to a booming start. It’s rapidly turning into a fantastic resource for all kinds of art, crafts, and kids activities. Here are a few of the photos that people have shared (used here with permission). A ring toss toy with multiple targets! Great […]
I’ve been painting this week for an art show I have next month. Here’s one I just finished this morning. Stripes were inspired by my Paul Smith socks. Update: Some people have asked about prints for this painting, so I’ve just added it to the Zazzle store. You can buy prints in different sizes, with […]
Here is a simple ring toss game that I made with buttons, pipe cleaners, and thick paper. It takes only a few minutes to put together, and it works surprisingly well. The buttons add weight to the rings, so they fly through the air nicely. If you want to make your own, just get out […]
My daughter loves flowers. And around the same time I thought of the branch tree idea, I came up with this flower building toy. I used some scrap wood and cut out shapes, then painted them. Then I drilled holes into a bunch of thick dowel pieces to make stacking beads for the stems. The […]
I’ve been busy with a lot of art commissions lately. If you’d like a look, here are some images of a wire sculpture I’ve been working on this week. I designed a logo for a restaurant here in Portland, and am also making them this 5 foot long metal wire sculpture to hang from their […]
Today I made a memory game using images from some of my paintings. My kids were watching over my shoulder as I was working with the images on my computer, and they kept saying, “there’s a match!” every few seconds. Once it was all printed and cut out, they had a great time playing it, […]
I’ve created a brand new Made by Joel Facebook Page. The idea is for it to be a community space where we can all share art, crafts, design, toys, and projects for kids. I love seeing all of the photos and links to many of your crafts, or Made by Joel crafts. Now, if you’d […]
We were getting out the Valentine’s Day decorations with the kids yesterday, and my wife was wishing we had a garland. She asked me if I wanted to make one for her present this year. I’ve never made a garland before, but I had to try! It was quite fun to make, although I have […]
I’ve wanted to try making a thaumatrope spinner for awhile, and when I recently saw these on the Made in Me blog, I had to give it a try. I just finished a bird painting for a commission, so I used it for the design. When spinning, it almost looks like the bird is flapping […]
We’ve been having some more windy days with small sticks falling into our yard. So I took a piece of scrap board and drilled some holes into it and made a little forest building toy. It was fun sticking the branches in to build the forest, but it was even more exciting when my son […]
Just for fun, my friend Lisa shot this footage of some of my art that they own. I edited it and made some music for it.
Last week I made this wooden catapult toy. I was originally going to have it toss paper balls but thought it would be cool to sew some instead. (Similar to the yo-yo balls I made awhile back.) It worked really well. The kids both had a real kick trying to make a basket. I made […]
I’m very excited to show you the cover of my book that will be published by Shambhala Publications / Trumpeter Books next fall (2011). I’ll let you all know when it’s available for pre-order. I’ve seen some of the layout for inside the book, too. The design team at Trumpeter Books did an amazing job! “Made […]
Tiffany from Simply Modern Mom asked me to join her “Wrap it Up” party. I chose to do some more magazine wrap. I love digging through old magazines and finding fun pages to use. (Here are a couple more I posted awhile back.) You’ll find some great inspiration for more gift wrapping ideas at Simply […]
Here’s another dollhouse! Duck Duck Green asked me to create a craft for their packaging. The box looked so much like a house already, I couldn’t resist. My daughter has been playing with it a lot, making up hilarious scenes and dialogs. If you’d like, Duck Duck Green has nicely laid out instructions and photos here. You […]
LMNOP Magazine just released their new 2010 Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide issue. For my column this time, I made some little photo albums to display the kid’s favorite activity. I think the books will be a nice keepsake and they also gave the kids a nice sense of pride. If you’d like to make one […]
And the winner according to random.org is comment number 398! So it looks like the dolls will be going to Denmark. Congratulations! This was really fun! I also made another quick coloring sheet from one of my paintings so everyone can get a little something. Hope you are all enjoying the Holidays! Coloring sheet is […]