A Carved Toy Horse for a Baby Girl

My friends just had a baby girl named Freya! On her birthday I got right to work on her first toy horse.

To honor Freya's mom and her vegan lifestyle, I finished this horse in a few light coats of Danish oil, let it dry thoroughly, then buffed it with a cotton cloth. I decided to forgo the usual coating of shellac, since shellac is an animal product. Still, a little elbow grease gave the horse a nicely buffed finish and a natural look.

Finally, I burned a simple Nordic rune onto the hip area, representing Freya's name.

Hand carved Dala horses in basswood

Though I'm American and not Swedish, I have a great respect for Swedish craft, especially the Dalahast. Known to English-speakers as the Dala horse, with its classic, sturdy, yet beautiful design, it's always a pleasure to carve.

These horses are my version of the traditional Dalahast, left unpainted. I carved lines to highlight the horses' manes and tails, but the rest is up to the imagination. 

Red Dala horse with champagne bubbles

I really like the traditional Dala horse. This one shows it's "whittle marks," the cuts left by a good sharp blade. The color is red acrylic with blue and white champagne bubbles.

A Dala horse, carved in the traditional style

I love the Swedish Dala horse. It's timeless style and durable design make it one of the great toys of the world.

My horses, though inspired by the Dala horse, are usually carved a slightly different way, with softer lines and different proportions. The traitional ones have straight legs, raised ears,and are normally painted in bright, solid colors, with the mane, tail, and saddle painted on.

The flowing mane of a carved toy horse

I've been working on carving more detailed hair recently, and while it's time consuming, I really like the added texture it can bring to a toy. On these toy horses, it makes them look more lively and just plain pretty.

Whittlin' a stable of horses

Just a quick photo update to show some of the horses I'm carving. This new batch will be like Nora's horse, with much more detail in the hair of the manes and tails.

A carved toy horse for Nora

I really like carving these toy horses, especially so when they're going to a friend's newborn baby. Like many others, this horse is carved from basswood using one of my Swedish Mora knives. There's more attention paid to the detail of the mane and tail than in previous horses, and I'm happy with how it came out. I took great care to soften all the edges, and gave it a good sanding. Salad bowl finish, acrylic paint, and spray shellac give the horse it's color, while also sealing it and protecting it. The small letter "n" woodburned onto the right hip stands for Nora.

Round-nosed Toy Horse

I'll do my best to catch up on blog posts here, since I haven't updated in quite a while. Here's a new style of toy horse that i made. The nose is rounded, and oriented out away from the neck. This style is still "play tough," with usual attention paid to durability and safety.

My real Swedish Dala Horses

When I was a little guy, back in the early 1980's, my great aunt Virginia went on a trip to Sweden. On her return, she brought me these two genuine Dalahasts. I remember she gave me a story book too, about a little boy who's toy Dala horse came to life and led him on adventures.

These horses are suprisingly rough. Made for the tourist trade, they look to be rough sawn and quickly carved. The heavy base coat of paint looks dipped, while the saddle, tack, and harness are nicely painted in the two-colors fan brush style.

A sticker on the belly of the red horse reads: "Akta Dalahemslojd Tillv. G.A. Olsson Nunsa, Mora, Sweden"

Blogger she-nanna-gins

For whatever reason, Blogger is not letting me respond to reader comments. So, thanks for reading, thanks for the kind words, and to Brad: the horses I carve are made from basswood, and sometimes butternut. Both are great woods for carving. They are relatively soft woods (though still hardwoods,) with straight, dense, grain. It's almost as easy to cut across the grain as it to cut with it. Hopefully Blogger will fix these issues with the comments.

Carving the Toy Horse's Mane

By reader request, here's a look at how I carve the mane for my toy horses. I start by outlining the border with a pencil, then go over it with a black Sharpie marker.

Next, I make a stop cut all along the border. In doing this I use only the tip and lead portion of the blade. On pocket knives this is mostly a natural grip, on larger fixed blade knives such as the Mora, this requires a higher grip that pinches the flat of the blade.



Now I shave up to the stop cut. The depth is subtle, no more than about 1/16", and results in the mane area being lower than the neck and body of the horse. At this point I usually go through and clean up any "fuzzies" and try to make sure the lines are straight and even.



Stop cut/shave towards cut is a good way to remove material in a controlled manner, especially if you're only using a knife. Specialty tools can be used, of course. In fact I'll often go through during the clean up phase and run a v-tool or gouge along a cut. Then again I think pure whittling is done with a knife, so your experience may vary depending on personal preference.



On a side note, I'd like to suggest you check out the Belfast Bushcraft Blog. Great photos, updates, and wilderness observations from an Irish outdoorsman.

(sorry for the delay, Abo!)

My latest hand carved toy horse

I'm really enjoying the current pace of my progress in whittlin'. I've made plaques, toys, and a whole bunch of Christmas ornaments. With a couple of shows on the way for motivation, things are moving right along.





This latest toy horse shows a slightly different style of mane. I'm trying a sort of "S" shaped mane with a forward slant. I feel this gives the design a look of forward movement, and a crisp but smooth line.

As you can see I've left the mane and tail unpainted on this one in order to show off the wood. As always with the toys I carve, everything is play-safe and built to last.

Hand carved Christmas tree plaque

Continuing my carved wooden plaque series, here's a classic Christmas tree complete with ornaments and presents. I liked it before the painting, but it really pops now that it's all finished. Hey, I even put one of my toy horses in there!

Hand carved Dala Horse plaque

I picked up some wooden plaques at a second hand shop for about 25 cents each, a great bargain. You can see the first plaque here, which I carved with my take on the Swedish dala horse.

A light coat of linseed oil gives the wood a nice warm glow, and seals the wood in preparation for the acrylic paint. Two coats of shellac protects the finished carving.

A Brand New Horse

I carved this horse for my friend's niece, Audrey. While similar to previous efforts, this horse has a slightly curved face and a flatter tail than others I've made. The wood is basswood finished with salad bowl finish and acrylic paint. The monogram is applied with a woodburner. The dark spot on the horse's left flank is a naturally occurring flaw in the wood.

Raised Leg Horse

Here's one I'm really happy with. I've been sketching variations on my wooden horse design, looking for a way to give them the appearance of movement. One raised leg seems to accomplish this well.



I made the other three legs wider to make up for the raised one, and shaved off a little more material from the left side than the right in order to balance it away from the weak side. It sits very well and is actual self-righting when tipped.




The funny thing is, under all the shellac and blue paint is three coats of salad bowl finish! It looked fine as a brown horse, but I changed my mind and felt like giving this one a little more pizazz. I think it looks great.

And We're Back!

I really like carving these little soldiers and horses. As you can see in the in-hand shots, these ones are small with a wide, conical, base. This shape helps them sit very well. All edges are rounded, and everything is close in to the body to avoid breakage. Experience shows that kids love to beat up these toys, so they had better be durable!



As usual these were carved with no power tools, only a hand saw to get started and a knife for the bulk of the work. After sanding and painting each soldier is given a few coats of shellac, while the horses are finished with salad bowl finish and acrylic accents.









Thanks to everyone who patiently waited for an update. It has been far too long. I've made a bunch of whittlins, so more updates are on the way!