Happy Fourth of July!

Best wishes to this grand old nation from all our friends red, white, and blue ...

... and all our summer seaside celebrators, too!

New Thaumatrope Designs

The quaint paper thaumatrope of the 1800's seemed like magic to children who watched the two spinning pictures become a harmonious one. Like the bird-and-cage combination, our thaumatrope images draw on the tradition of two matching objects, but with a subject twist that modern kids (and kids at heart) will find appealing.

Our all-new Circus sheet depicts miniatures scenes from the Big Top, including a highwire act, trapeze artists, and a clown with a car. Our new Action sheet depicts a motorcyclist jumping barrels, King Kong atop a skyscraper, and a stunt skydiver doing tricks as a sopwith camel plane sails through the air.

Assembling thaumatropes is easy, with several online articles for making your own, including step-by-step articles with free designs HERE, as well as a traditional thaumatrope pattern and history HERE from Wikipedia.

The Ghost Cat Returns

Cordwood Cabin's favorite kitty returns ... only this time for all-year-round fun. The inquisitive white Ghost Cat reappears as a digitally-designed paper doll in our Etsy shop. His tailored costumes are included on the printed sheet, four items ranging from a sailor suit to a spooky costume.

Both doll and outfits are ready to be cut out and displayed, with directions for cutting the slots in the Cat's hats (use an x-acto knife for best results) and corresponding accessories (such as a sword and rubber ducky).

Visit the paper Ghost Cat HERE to see the original cutie kitty from our "Haunted Hollows" series.

Stars-and-Stripes Sam

Decked out for a summer picnic in a coat worthy of the barbershop quartet serenading the crowds, Uncle Sam is ready for the Fourth of July.

Red stars decorate the dark blue fabric; hand-drawn features peer from inside a frame of painted white whiskers. A bamboo skewer transforms him into a simple stick puppet ready for display in a Fourth of July centerpiece or propped in an old-fashioned crock or canister.

Sam is joining the summer crowd in our Etsy shop -- see them HERE in Cordwood Cabin's "Cabin Crafts" lineup.