Children's Gifts & Treasures

When one becomes a grandparent, the fruits of your children's children is a wondrous feeling. I have been making special items for my grandkids and fiends of others to gift something special that is just for them.

 

If any of the pictured gifts catch your eye or your heart I can make up a special personalized gift for your child or grandchild. Or bring your ideas and let's do something new.

 

The benches idea was given to me by another local woodworker and the result have been well received for the personal touch and the fact that the kids can remove the letters of their names and play with them.

 

It has additionally been pointed out to me that a child loves to sit on "their" stool when getting their shoes and jacket on for going outside—saving much rambunctiousness and mayhem for the parents!

 

Scroll down the page or jump to a custom project using these links:

 

Personalized Stools · Custom Banks · Hand Mirrors · Dragonfly Pull Toys

 

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Tonka Rebuild - Thanks Jane!

 

It would be remiss of me not to include my favourite person and the greatest Nanny in the world repainting the 40 year old Tonka truck and digger for the grandkids. The kids love the sandbox we built for them. Hours filling pails and trucks only to dump out and fill again. Thanks Jane, you're the best!

Tonka Rebuild - Thanks Jane!

Personalized Custom Stools

 

Children's Gifts & Treasures
Children's Gifts & Treasures
Children's Gifts & Treasures
Children's Gifts & Treasures
Children's Gifts & Treasures
Children's Gifts & Treasures

Custom Banks

 

A recent New Year brought a new grandson so I went to the drawing board to make up a little something for him. Several designs are available for different tastes. Banks built in the shape of a turtle, dog, cat, whale, truck and other styles are available. Gord also has plans for drivable trucks or spaceships for the older grandkids.

 

Children's Gifts & Treasures
Children's Gifts & Treasures
Children's Gifts & Treasures
Children's Gifts & Treasures
Bank
Bank
Bank
Children's Gifts & Treasures

Custom Hand Mirrors

 

The arrival of grand children is one of life's pleasures that does not come until the nest is empty. The arrival brings back a flood of memories of your own children that feels like just the other day. Needless to say, the new Grandpa wanted to make something for his granddaughters that they could use and hopefully cherish for a long time. When our boys were young they attended cubs and one of the projects they completed for their mother was a hand mirror. The design of these mirrors uses that hand mirror as a template. Everyone who has seen the completed mirror really likes the idea so several have been made using different woods, laminating techniques and laser engraving.

 

I would be pleased to work with you to design and build a unique gift for your child, grandchild or great-grandchild. If you have some special wood that has history in your family and it needs rejuvenation, it might work very well for a hand mirror or other project.

Hand Mirror
Hand Mirror
Hand Mirror
Hand Mirror

Dragonfly Pull Toy - Design by Bill Huntley

 

This project has a long history attached to it. Back in 1979 a new magazine called Fine Woodworking was fresh on the shelves and I found the design for this toy in Issue # 19 designed by Bill Huntley from New Hampshire. Its unique design caught my interest so I had the page of the magazine photocopied on a clear sheer of plastic and used an overhead projector to create the 1 : 1 scale for building. Best to start with the wings I thought so I drew them out on some very nice yellow cedar and started to create. All was going well until I drilled the pivot holes in the wing-ends. It wasn't a perfect drilling job and I was discouraged.

 

Fast forward 30 years and I am in my new shop; low and behold I found the plans I had drawn over 30 years ago. There's no reason not to do this now I thought so I decided to build the 1st two out of an old Fir bedpost. Being much more organized and a tad more patient I started the Dragonfly. This project is a combination between careful machining for wing installation and freehand rounding and sanding of edges so everything fits and forms nicely. All goes well until I start the rough assembly and I am not sure how far the legs need to be mounted on the body. This is the best part of the story as I thought who better to ask than the designer himself so off to the computer and I google Bill's name and there he was. The internet is so amazing.

 

So I manage to get in touch with Bill and he turns out to be a super great person, very helpful with my questions and has some other plans he said he would send off to me. This project was a bit of a déjà vu for both of us as Bill said I was the first person that has ever contacted him that built the dragonfly from his plans. I can only hope that every project that I start ends up being as much fun as this one. Thanks Bill for your input. I'll let you know how the other toys come together.

 

The stain I used to add some colour and definition is meant to be close to a local species of Dragonfly called the Common Green Darner. I used a picture from Terry Thormin's lovely collection of photos on his website. Thanks for the picture Terry and correcting the species name for me. It has been a pleasure meeting new folks while doing this project.

Dragonfly Pull Toy
Dragonfly Pull Toy
Dragonfly Pull Toy
Dragonfly Pull Toy
Dragonfly Pull Toy
Dragonfly Pull Toy
Dragonfly Pull Toy
Dragonfly Pull Toy