Jump to Tutorial Grab Your Starter ToyMaker! You feel a small, sad tug on your sleeve. Looking down, you see a quivering lower lip and lowered shoulders. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” you ask. That sweet little lower lip steadies just long enough to squeak out: “I’m having a bad day.” Ahhh. “Remember what we said about …
Jump to Tutorial Grab Your Starter ToyMaker! Taking cute milestone pictures of a sweet and rapidly growing baby is fun! And even better when the adorable props are also educational toys that will help that little one develop fundamental motor skills. It is simple to make ‘Milestone Blocks.’ We created white Love Letters with Pastel …
Jump to Tutorial You turn the speaker on, sync your phone, and press play on the song. The lyrics begin: “I want to break free, I want to break free…” Your littles start to jump up and down: “It’s our song! It’s our song!” “Let’s dance!” you tell them. In an instant, everyone is grabbing …
Jump to Tutorial “Chips?!” you shout. “Check!” yelps back a tiny voice. “Sandwiches?” you ask. “Chhhheck!”, squeals another little one, excitedly. “Toy kits?” you ask with a smile, knowing the response it’ll bring. “CHECK! CHECK! CHECK!” a chorus of small voices yell out excitedly, punctuating each exclamation with a gleeful jump in the air. They …
Jump to Tutorial What do you get for the hippy family in your life? That’s the question you’ve been asking yourself all week. Your friends invited you to their baby’s first birthday party and the day of the party has quickly arrived. They’ve been very clear that they don’t want to fill their home with …
Jump to Tutorial You knock on the bedroom door and step in, carrying with you a mug of cocoa and some chicken noodle soup. “How’s my little trooper doing?” you ask. A small whimper squeaks out from under the pile of blankets and pillows. You place the tray down on the bedside table and sit …
Jump to Tutorial You knock on the front door of the sweet little cottage and then pull your coat a little bit tighter to your chest. It’s a cool Fall day and the first chill wind seems to have arrived at the neighborhood at the same time as you. The door opens and you’re enveloped …
Jump to Tutorial You look down at the sweet little face resting against your chest. Cradling the back of the neck with the crook of your elbow, you reach for that tiny little hand with your own. You place a finger on their tiny palm and their little fingers instinctively curl around yours. You let …
Jump to Tutorial You have the perfect birthday gift to match the funfetti birthday cake. You wait till everyone is done singing and the baby’s mom has blown out the candles for them. Then, pulling out the carefully wrapped box, you pass it along just as everyone is getting their slices of cake passed to …
Although the Toymaker Kit is an adult craft, the BridgeWood team has noticed that many families want to share the experience of making toys. Helping children make toys can be beautiful, messy, wild, and FUN. But hang tight! There is only one thing that we can promise when you make toys with small children, and …
https://youtu.be/ICsczAYine4 Aaron sat, tapping his toes as he held the phone, his fingers clutching his Green Beret. Whatever secretive work he was up to, it was the kind of world-changing business he would never be able to tell his wife. But, with the world on his shoulders, his face was still …
https://youtu.be/h7ykSEEngFY Those blank blocks aren’t wooden ‘blocks’. They are your future toys! So, get ready Toymaker. You are about to start making beautiful toys! BridgeWood blocks are handmade and hand-sanded. They should be ready to go but checking the surface to ensure it is perfectly smooth never hurts. A smooth surface will make it much …
https://youtu.be/YDVb2f-xo68 Before you begin making your toys, it is helpful to identify the end grain of your blocks. The two dark, ‘arched’ sides on your blocks have a unique beauty. If you love their natural look, then leave them be! But if you want a consistent look for your Love Letters, we recommend color-blocking all …
https://youtu.be/S-KNp_-0ffU When making toys, getting a colorful side with a crisp edge on your block is easy but looks professionally done. It is one of the simple things you can do to give your toys a colorful ‘pop’ and elicit a ‘WOW’ factor from family and friends. You can use the same technique with either …
https://youtu.be/DrX6zonujhI Getting a second perfect coat on your homemade blocks uses the same techniques as the first coat. But we want to share some new tips and tricks to help you achieve stellar results as you make your toys. Remember! Use just a little paint, and whether using the perfect brush or a foam applicator, …
https://youtu.be/bMlrHLMmIBU Getting a perfect edge on your homemade toys is easy, but the result will still look very impressive to your family and friends. When you painted the sides, you held your brush straight up and down to get a clean edge. Now you can perfect it even more with just a few seconds with …
We highly recommend putting the classic BridgeWood stars on the end grain sides of each wooden block. Why is this so important? We have tested making toys with many of our friends and family members. Over and over, we noticed that the most challenging part of making toys was keeping track of which side was …
https://youtu.be/eUO-n8wCzyk Here it is! The simple, easy technique to makingyour homemade toys! All you need to do is: Stick. Scrape. Reveal. And Seal. It only takes moments to get a professional result. But we have even more pointers to make the process easier for you. Supply List White Squeegee BridgeWood Toy-Safe Paint BridgeWood Stencil …
https://youtu.be/_xhsZKO2qW0 We highly recommend sealing the star sides of your wooden blocks before moving on to the last four sides. Why? If you seal the star sides right now, you can set them on an unpainted side to dry. And once they are dry, you will always know which sides of your toys are sealed …
https://youtu.be/vJcXkMkEDQU Applying the letters to your homemade toys uses the same technique as the stars. But we have one or two additional useful tricks to help you make sure everything is aligned. Supply List White Squeegee BridgeWood Toy-Safe Paint Distilled Water Painted Blocks Bridgewood Stencil 1 Cut Out The Letters Cut out the stencil and …
https://youtu.be/I6RkcuStnYU Creating adorable animal characters on your Made-With-Love toys puts a personal touch that is sure to bring a smile to your loved ones face. Did you notice? Most of the character designs have snuggling, loving animals pairs on them to symbolize the love you have for your child on your toys. These designs are …
Step Ten: Creating Adorable Creatures on Your Toys Read More »
Supply List White Squeegee BridgeWood Toy-Safe Paint Distilled Water Painted Blocks Bridgewood Stencil 1 Applying The Pattern When you are ready to apply the pattern, carefully square the pattern over one of the last unpainted sides of the block. Some BridgeWood stencils do not have a side ‘up’ or ‘down,’ such as the wheat pattern …
Supply List Detail Brush Painted Blocks Distilled Water 1 Inspect Each Side Before you seal your Made-With-Love toys, do a quick check to make sure they are just right. Take each dry Love Letter toy and gently twist it, inspecting each side. If you notice something that needs a touch up, use a little bit …
https://youtu.be/SaiCob3Jqwg Your Love Letters Toys are almost done; the last step is to seal them, preserving them for future generations of your loved ones to enjoy! If you have already sealed the star sides of your toys, you only have the last four sides to seal. Supply List Foam Applicator or Perfect Brush Painted Blocks …
“Hallo!” I waved cheerfully at my German neighbors. Germans, I quickly learned during our military tour, are remarkably polite people with a most unfortunate inability to disguise their true emotions through polite facial expressions. I smiled, noticing their almost-grimace through their tight smiles and quick nods as they used little trekking poles to click-clack swiftly …
Want to impress your friends and family? Easily learn how to create these elegant and beautiful Prism toys!
Whether it’s your toddler learning letter recognition, a first grader learning how to spell, or a party host spelling out cheery messages to welcome their loved ones on a fireplace mantel, Alphabet Love Letters serve a useful purpose at any age. Doubling as beautiful décor, these classic toys check all the right boxes! As one …
