A Christmas Gift Proposal

Well, as is my wont, I'm already planning for Christmas (I hate shopping for gifts in December!). And right now I'm talking with my brother-in-law about the very neat playstands he made for his daughters a few Christmases ago.

If you're not familiar with a Waldorf playstand, a playstand is a simple movable wooden shelf that children can use to create houses, have a little store, do a puppet show, or any other kind of imaginative play. Because most children use them to make houses or shelters of some kind, it's become popular to make simple canopy frame that fit over the tops so that older children can play in them as well. Two playstands plus a sheet makes a playhouse: and unlike the traditional playhouse, this one can morph easily into a castle, store, or cave with the addition of a little child imagination!

Now that we have a playroom, I'm hoping to have a set of playstands made for our family for Christmas. My brother-in-law Mike Schmiedicke (his little on-the-side company is Strong Oaks Company) makes them out of antique southern yellow pine reclaimed from an 1800's carriage house/horse barn. I think they're so much more interesting than the pale birch ones you usually find for sale. He made a deal with me: if I can help him sell five playstand sets this Christmas, he'll make me one for free.

Magic Cabin sells their playstand set for $279 + 29.99 shipping. and Nova Natural sells a pair of theirs for $318, plus oversize shipping. Mike will make a set of playstands for just $250 plus shipping (and if you live local to us, you can pick up and save yourself shipping!).

If you have toddlers and don't need or want the canopy frame, you can get just the playstands for $180 ($90 apiece).

Mike's playstands have two shelves and a thick top bar for extra sturdiness. They are finished with an all natural non-toxic honey beeswax and citrus oil finish. Mike says he's open to using a lacquer finish for an additional $40. If you would like to have the stands unfinished, he would take $20 off the price.
So if you're interested, please email me at regina@reginadoman.com for further details! Thanks!
And wish me luck in my quest for Christmas presents!



UPDATE: Mike has a store at Etsy where you can see and order the playstands! Also the approximate dimensions of the playstands are: 42"Wx40"Hx11"D.

Comments

Leila said…
Very nice! I wish I had a little one or weren't recovering from my own 7-child financial deficit to buy one! (Not that it isn't lucrative to have lots of children -- in the long run :)
I love your blog and the feeling you have made here. Very comforting!
12:36 PM
M. Alexander said…
Hi Leila (waving),

I was sitting here with my 3 year old Becca and she started saying, " I wanna get that". (and she's not usually the I wanna type though she is the youngest of 8).

If only we had room for it!
Mary
5:36 PM
Elenatintil said…
Our greatgrandfather made two of these for us as children and we LOVED them! They were marevelous for forts, school benches, anything we wanted them to be. And your brother-in-laws look even nicer!

(Too bad I don't have children yet!)
1:21 PM
regina doman said…
Thanks Elena! And thanks for ordering, Sarah and Anna! Woo hoo! I'm almost halfway to my goal~!
9:55 AM
Honeyman Heck said…
Where is the picture Healing Sunlight?!! I saw it yesterday and was going to show it to someone and now I can't find it.

Thanks,

S Autry
7:24 PM
regina doman said…
Hi Sue!
That is TOO funny. I just took it down late last night because I figured no one was interested in it... you can find it here though:

http://houseartjournal.blogspot.com/2008/01/healing-sunlight.html
10:59 PM
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