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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

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!

 

4 comments:

  1. Ok, I thought I missed it because I haven't been reading blogs at all but I didn't and this is fantastic! I'm going to have to show this to my hubby for sure! :)

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  2. Great job Handy Andy! I love homemade toys. Thanks for sharing at my Our Favorite Things Link Party.

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  3. so cute and they seem to be simple enough :) yay for Handy Hubbys- I have one of those too

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