Working with Wood: toys for the grandchildren

    On one of the recent snowy days, the grandchildren discovered Joe's electric saws and woodpiles. The girls rummaged through it and asked him to make them some doll beds, 20" long. Then he had to think of something to build for David, which the five year old could paint.

     We picked up the requested bed colors of light blue and purple by asking for wall paint samples at the hardware store. That way we got plenty of paint in the requested colors at a reasonable cost. The girls painted the first coat with sponge brushes; Joe put on a second coat. Tonight they start to decorate them with paint!
     

Hannah casually wondered about mattresses. I picked up 1" thick foam and cut it to size of 9"x 20" with the bandsaw. I stopped at Ben Franklin to get a yard of fabric for covers that went with both beds. Whereas I planned to cover the foam with a pillow case method, I found when fitting the fabric to the foam I could fold the edges as in wrapping a present. I fused and hand stitched the three edges and had enough left over for me to make a couple of pillows and more for the girls to do the same.

     Joe outdid himself on the truck. With no pattern, he cut and put pieces together. I will be curious if it will hold grandson's interest given how many trucks, trains and cars David already has. Well, grandchildren are a good excuse for adults to escape to get to play some more. Now it is back to the blocks for a Project Hope quilt (I've made 8 so far) and to write the recipe for those cute bracelets I am working on.