
A few people have emailed or asked me questions about making wooden toys or the wood crafts that we do. I thought I’d give a few answers and links to places that you can get your stuff.
First, when we actually were living in our house (and not travelling), I used a scroll saw to cut all the toys like the ones pictured above. You can buy a new one, but I found mine on craigslist so I would check into a used one first if you are interested.
I sand everything I’ve cut several times. I do a rough sand, then a finer sand. After I paint, I do another sand. I love those sanding sponges although its hard for me to get some of the curves with those.
I use a woodburning tool to burn the dark lines of decoration into the wood.
I use watercolors (ap-certified non-toxic) which you can find at your local craft store or online.
After I use the watercolors, I sand again get rid of any rough spots from applying the watercolor and then finish with an oil and beeswax finish. To make your own finish here is a link to Tonya’s beeswax tutorial. If you rather just buy it you can purchase some beeswax polish here.
If you are interested in creating with wood and paint, but don’t want to purchase a scroll saw, the local craft store (like Michael’s) has lots of wooden things that you can try your hand at. Rhythm of the Home has a post for creating a travel playset. For Easter, Camille and I made these Story Eggs, I recently created peg people, we’ve painted frames and last week I posted the wood bead bracelets. All was purchased with the wood already cut and it has been so much fun to just create with Camille using these.
If you have created with wood, please share or link your tips, I’d love to hear them.








Mel
May 9, 2011 -
We actually tried one of your ideas, painting picture frames with watercolors, and then we put watercolor paintings inside the frames and hung them in our hallway. I love them! Thank you for all of this inspiration. I’m definitely going to be sharing with my readers on my personal blog, realheartprints.com. I’m loving the idea of the travel toys; I’m trying to come up with things to keep my 3 year old occupied while on a trip this summer, and that would be perfect. Thank you for all of these awesome links and ideas.:)
Tonya
May 9, 2011 -
These are so sweet – something I have been wanting to do.
Thankyou for the inspiration.
Warm wishes,
Tonya
Rebecca Smith
May 10, 2011 -
i so admire your work, friend!
Carrie @ Oh Baby O
May 10, 2011 -
Lovely! Thanks for the links
Ag Ambroult
May 12, 2011 -
thanks for sharing your secrets with us, Erin! You make it all sound so easy, but I have a feeling you have a knack for it…
dani
May 13, 2011 -
I want to give this a go over the summer. I think they would make great baby gifts, too.
Kimberly
May 14, 2011 -
There is a piece of me that falls in love with each and every tiny wooden creation I come across. I think it would be so fun to give this a try and have always admired your creations, but the thought of doing it myself seems too overwhelming. Thank you for breaking this down into smaller chunks for us.
Nicola @ Which Name?
May 15, 2011 -
Oh my goodness. I am just catching up here and I recently posted how I colored and polished the wooden rainbow I made. This is a fantastic post and I wish I had thought to ask and read this months ago! Mike has done woodworking for years, but only in recent times (kids!) have we looked for more natural finishes and polishes.
Great post, probably most especially because I love your wooden figures. You constantly amaze and inspire (and humble?!) me with your talent and creativity.
Warmly, Nicola