Crocodiles Rock!

August 19, 2021 - Two of my team members were having babies around the same time. I wanted to make something special and found a cute pattern for a wooden crocodile rattle (link below). I expanded the set by designing similar pony and sheep rattles. You might recognize the pony head and tail from the …

“Be a lamp, a lifeboat, or a ladder”, Rumi

July 8, 2021 - What is a stretching Ladder? I wondered the same. It is used to improve overall flexibility and is particularly popular with dancers and gymnasts for oversplits. I made this stretch ladder for a special dancing little. This stretch ladder is mainly maple for its strength with accents of walnut. I used …

Ocean Rescue Fun!

April 15, 2021 - You read about Penny and her Unicorns a couple months ago. Turns out, she has a friend that is into Ocean Rescue and has a pet otter named Baby Luna. Yeah, really! This expansion set includes Baby Luna otter, a blue sea horse, a green sea turtle, a dolphin, a baby …

Play Pal Puzzle Mash-up

February 18, 2021 - I welcomed another friend into the First Time Grandma’s club with this name puzzle! You know that I love me some Play Pal Cars! They are my 3rd most frequently made item. And I’ve made a few name puzzles, as well. What if there was a way to unite them? Yep, …

Play Pal Cars getting a Lift – Part 3

Dec 17, 2020 - ❤️ Dream Project Alert! ❤️ After finishing the previous set of Play Pal cars, I noticed an intriguing plan for a truck set on ToyMakingPlans.com that matches the Play Pal cars style. It just needs to be sized down to similar scale. The tow truck and dump truck were what really …

Penny’s Ponies

November 27, 2020 - ❤️ Dream Project Alert! ❤️ I have been looking forward to this Penny’s Ponies pattern from ToyMakingPlans.com. As I was preparing to make a set for Little’s birthday, I asked my friend if her niece liked horses. She replied, “If by horses, you mean unicorns, then yes. Yes, she does.” 😂 …

Happy COVID Birthday!

Nov 12, 2020 - It was the 10th birthday of a friend’s daughter last month. Turning double digits is a special milestone. Instead of an in-person party this year, she simply wished for some birthday mail. So reasonable and so sweet, right? I thought back to when Hubby and I were first married. This girl’s …

Name Puzzles for Littles

October 8, 2020 - Hello Teagan, Juniper, Lydia, and Cecily! It is Throwback Thursday, so time for another delayed post. I started making the 2019 Christmas gifts in the summer to avoid being rushed in November and December. It all started when a close friend announced she was to become a first time grandma! She …

Play Pal Cars – Part 2

August 22, 2019 - After finally posting in May about the Play Pal Cars I made at Christmas time, I was motivated to finish up the four pine sets that I had started and abandoned when I switched from pine to hardwood. I already had all four sets traced, the windows & axel holes drilled, …

Play Pal Cars for Kids

May 2, 2019 - ❤️ Dream project alert! ❤️ I've wanted to make these Play Pal Cars since I saw them on http://www.toymakingplans.com a few months ago. Since the shapes are simple and I plan to make multiple sets, plywood templates will save me a lot of time by tracing them directly onto the wood, …

Rocking the Boat – aka Noah’s Ark

March 21, 2019 - ❤️ Dream Project alert! ❤️ My heart has been set on making a Noah's Ark play set for over a year. I looked for patterns every now and then, but hadn't come across anything that struck a chord. I decided to stop poking around and begin the search in earnest. After …

A Thousand Words

Nov 8, 2018 - Little's mom enjoys photography and Little goes along on the shoots. She saw a wooden toy camera on Pinterest and sent me a link as an idea for a future gift for Little. I was fascinated and my mind started spinning on features or "surprises" that would make it extra special. …

Maple Name Puzzle

July 25, 2018 - It was time to make special gift for a Little. You've probably seen wooden name puzzles online. I added a little extra pizzazz by making the letters interlocking. I went back and forth on a theme for bookend figures. Starfish, flowers, etc. and finally landed on a butterfly for each end. …

Church Lobby Project #2 – Kids

August 15, 2017 - Our church lobby has a kiosk to check your kids in and get their name tag before they go to their class. Unfortunately, it's not clearly marked, so new families can't find it easily and, at the same time, people without kids often stop by to see if it something they …

Hittin’ the Books – Exercise 2

January 1, 2018 - Exercise 2 from: Scroll Saw Workbook by John A. Nelson Objective: To cut out a simple object, following lines to produce a smooth, continuous, flowing cut. Materials needed: (1) 3/4″ x 4 1/2″  - 5 1/2" long piece of wood #5 skip-tooth blade This stretching kitten is just so dang cute!  Rather than …