Design team member of Alpha Stamps, lover of ephemera and junk.

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Sunday, January 19, 2014

Scary Toys for Girls and Boys

My husband has been doing a woodworking project, and he's been kind enough to save all the little leftover scraps of wood for me. I've been having the best time the last few days, making "windup toys" from the tiny blocks, none of which are bigger than 2" on any given side. A few years ago, I bought a bunch of old wooden blocks and other toy parts, and I dug through them to find bits and pieces to help construct the toys. Some rusty bottle caps and some creepy eye charms to add to the fun.

I started out just fiddling around, and came up with this. Once it was done, though, I thought of all the things it could have been, and started making more.
 

I like the first one, but as toys go, it doesn't look like too much fun. Since they all have windup keys, I thought they should look like they do something, so I decided to make the rest more mobile, and add wheels.

For the circus wagon below, the block at the top was conveniently already broken in half. I added some painted accents and some wheels made out of spools. The hand is a vintage charm with some sequins at the cuff.

Here's the third one I made. I really love the look of one wheel in the middle, but of course that won't balance on its own, so I added some doll hands to help keep it upright. I used Apoxie Sculpt to make the sleeves and attach the hands to the sides of the block.
Its windup key is in the back.

This metal propeller was also in that box of old toys, as were the red metal wheels. I added a kickstand on the back of this vehicle to keep it upright.
  

Here's how it sits with its windup key:

Here's the final toy in the set (although I can't promise I won't make more!). I think it looks like a little weird animal.

All together now! 


4 comments:

  1. These are amazing! I love them on their own but how fun are they all in a group. So imaginative and quirky. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  2. très amusant, j'aime beaucoup

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  3. Wow, I totally love these! So imaginative and just the right amount of quirky. :)

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