Wooden Birthday Ring

This is a nice tradition that has a German/Euro background that’s been  adopted by the Waldorf world. I am not very Waldorf-y, though, I do think a lot of the methodology is very sweet- and decided to adapt this tradition for us this year.

Traditionally, birthday rings seem to be decorated with little gnomes and forest animals- which are absolutely lovely, but, not something my particular almost 6yo boy would get very excited about- and candles, which we will have in abundance on his cake. So, this is what I came up with.

I cut the ring out of two little plank ends of cherry. I used a 5/8″ forstner bit to drill out the holes with my drill press (which makes it really easy to keep them all the same depth)- to match a 5/8″ poplar dowel. That ended up being a REALLY snug fit, so, I upped the holes to 11/16″ with another bit- just right.

I cut the decorations out with the scroll saw from 1/4″ poplar. I chopped little bits of the 5/8″ dowel off with the scrollsaw- which was not particularly easy, but, felt safer than using the band saw. I mounted the shapes with wire or snipped toothpicks.

The four little envelopes hold coupons that can be redeemed for an extra hour at bedtime, his choice of dinner, his choice of breakfast, and his choice of weekend activity.

I made simple photo holders by chopping down dowels and adding a slot in one end with the band saw. I did the same thing to hold the envelopes that hold the coupons. I cut the larger ones in the middle out of a 1″ cherry dowel,and made the slots slanted, so they hold photos at a nice viewing angle. The 6 is cut form walnut.

I made a chocolate iced doughnut and a slice of pepperoni pizza (he slightly prefers just cheese, but, the extra toppping made it look more pizza-ish, IMO). The sandcastle is covered in sand via layers of modpodge, with a little felt flag on top. A little golden pig for my 2007 baby, even if he’s really a fire pig- we feel very lucky to have him. 🙂

A bowling pin and a bowling ball for the little guy that’s had love for the pins since he was tiny. A Mario Super Star for his love of the mustachioed plumber games (proof of my non-Waldorf-iness). And a party hat and a balloon for some festivity. 🙂

6 years ago, from the time I hit publish- we were on our way to the hospital. We met our beautiful, brilliant boy the next day. These past 6 years have been amazing. 🙂

 

 

 

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