You walk in my front door,
you walk into my craft room.
Life-sized trees stretch up the wall, across the ceiling. Green walls, flower lamps. Above you, a sculpture of clouds and starlings. Made from burnt-out lightbulbs and candy wrappers.
​
Oh darling, welcome to my craft room.
Come Play
This photograph is of my son. His hands are covered with all the leftover paint from the Wonderland signpost project.
Wonderland
sign post
I made
no plans
for this wonderland signpost.
I walked into my front yard and saw a log. Five years ago, I saved that log from my sister-in-law's fallen birch tree. I moved that thing from Utah to Washington. It was the right time to use it.
​​​​​​Look closely at
the "This way" sign.
That was my first time carving words with a Dremel. My baby looked at me in utter confusion when I turned the noisy thing on. I giggled and celebrated
my wobbly first try.
My husband watched in bemusement
as I stabbed a plank of wood through a yogurt cup and into the log and spooned in concrete mix.
Time ran short.
I called a friend.
She whirled in with stories of her trip and her wonderful long life.
"Now I'm no artist like you," she said.
"It wouldn't be a Wonderland sign
if it were perfect," I replied.
​​"Don't waste any paint,"
my logic begs.
​
I acknowledge that one rule,
and then let my whimsy loose in the mixing of yet-unknown colors.
Mistake: the green is too dark.
"Don't you waste!"
Logic commands.
"Just watch,"
Whimsy answers.
I'll mix a bit more blue. Yes. Ooh, I'll make a mint sign. That will use the green. Yes, lighter colors. I swipe the lighter paint over the dark. What a lovely texture! Yes, I'll dry brush all the edges!​​
We set off on an adventure of dots and dashes.
​
My son joined us, adding his tulips.
My logical mother-in-law
filled the carved letters in black.
​In the last moments of assembly,
I ordered the hodgepodge, unplanned signs
to be nailed to their final place.
I stepped back and laughed in amazement.
​
By absolute accident,
I had created
perfect rainbow order!
My logical self shook her head in the same bemused way as my husband.
​
So the Wonderland signpost in my garden came to be. It will stand out front,
a monument to whimsical play.
What Am I making in the craft room today?
Oh all sorts of things.
Most recently, a
fairytale
wood shop.
Come visit me on social media for the
latest updates of whimsy.