Guest Post from THE Handy Andy

I think I've mentioned that we're doing handmade gifts this year, right... Okay fine, I know I've mentioned it more than once... And while that mostly means that I am making the gifts, Handy Andy did pull his weight. He made a really awesome gift for our oldest nephew and our youngest niece, and so I'm going to let him tell you about it...

I decided to make a simple wooden toy for our niece and nephew. So I found a picture on Google of a simple wooden camera toy that looked easy enough. I had a bunch of scrap lumber that I got from a job that I've used in the past for projects (like the birdhouses), so I used that since it was free.

First thing I did was draw the outline of what I wanted the camera to look like on the board. 

After that I used my jigsaw to roughly cut out the pattern. At this point I wasn't worried about making it perfect or rounding any corners, I just wanted to get the rough frame cut out.

For the lens, I cut out a simple circle with my jigsaw.

Next I used my palm sander to sand off the stain that was previously on the wood from before. Also, I sanded the rough edges and rounded the corners on both pieces.

To make the eye hole, I used the 1 3/8" paddle bit with my drill. I made sure to only drill halfway through from each side to avoid splintering the wood off the back.

I used wood glue and clamps to attach the wooden lens to the front of the camera.

I made two wooden cameras. They are different sizes, and I made the lens on one of them bigger by using two circles of wood and gluing them together. Here are the finished toys:

Aren't those so fun?! I love how old-school they are, and I think the kids will love them. They would also make pretty cool photo props or decorations. Did I mention that my husband is super handy, and awesome? Oh, good. :)

 Thanks for stopping by! Have a Merry Christmas!