Cute Toy Truck

On topic of making toys, I made this for my son over the Christmas holidays. It's not from the toy book I just posted, I just "winged it".

It was very fun (and super easy) to make. I just used scrap wood, some dowel, and some store-bought wooden wheels (got the wheels at Michael's Craft). The tools I used were a drill press (to make the holes for the axle, and the hole for the exhaust pipe), a vice, a coping saw, and some sandpaper.

I used professional wood glue to glue the cab piece on to the body, and I used 2 sizes of dowel- one for the axles themselves, and one for the exhaust pipe. The most fun was the paint job. I just used acrylic paint (didn't bother priming the wood, just went for it), and used a hair dryer to speed up drying so I could get multiple coats done.

When it was all finished I used two coats of an acrylic gloss finish, to protect and give it that "new truck" shine. My son's been playing with it for about a week now, and if it can stand up to a week of his bashing and crashing, I consider it a success.

It was really fun giving it to him at the breakfast table that morning- I love the feeling of making him happy with something I made myself. That being said, I also enjoy playing car racing games with him on the PS3!

Book On Making Old Fashioned Toys

I have a little shop out in my garage, as well as a small work room in the basement. I enjoy working away on projects, sometimes for myself, and sometimes for my son. I recently came across this book:

It's got a lot of fun projects, that really are simple, and charming. If you've ever wondered how to make a Balancing Man, a Skyhook, or a Floating Ball, then this is the book for you. It's laid out very nicely too, with a nice mix of historical illustrations of the toys and games, as well as more modern but tasteful illustrations of how to make the stuff. Well, I'm off to make a Bullroarer, wish me luck. If you are in Canada, you can buy it here.

Ben Whitehouse- Stop Motion Artist

I've just discovered the work (and blog) of UK stop motion junkie, Ben Whitehouse.

You can see his great work here.

He does extremely charming and appealing work, with lots of "how to" stuff to boot.

Enjoy!

NEW Mad Monster Party Book

I'm back, after taking an extended break from the land of bloggin'.

Facebook, through its ability to post info and links so quickly, has been the place I've been posting stuff lately. But a blog allows for a more in-depth look into topics, and I've started to miss that a bit.

And, when I look back at all my entries- gosh darn it, I've got quite a bit of information here, including interviews and profiles of all kinds of things, so I want to continue to nurture that.

And what better way is there to come back to this blog then by showcasing a brand new book that is sure to appeal to ANY fan of puppets, monsters, and generally cool stuff:

MAD MONSTER PARTY, by Rick Goldschmidt. It's a great tribute to the memorable Rankin-Bass stop motion feature from 1967. Rick has filled the book with lots of great photos and press images, the script from the film, music and lyrics from the songs, and all kinds of neat stuff that I'd never seen before. It's a must for fans.


You can order the book directly from Rick Goldschmidt here.

Proud Teacher Moments

When I started formally teaching about 5 years ago, I couldn't have known that part of the satisfaction of that job would be seeing the success former students go on to achieve.

So here's another "proud teacher moment."

Annecy is a huge festival, VERY hard to get into, and a student I worked very closely with has made it in. I'm so proud!

Read all about Carla Veldman's accomplishment here.