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Free Paper Toys

Great last-minute toys.  We’re all cutting back, right?  So here are some links to free paper toy downloads.   I suppose that it’s more environmentally friendly to print paper toys at home rather than buy some plastic junk from China.

I will admit that there will be a Hannah Montana microphone under our tree this year.  We’re not totally sure how our four-year-old discovered Hannah Montana, but she did and she loves her.  I guess it could be worse.  I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to make my kids happy without making myself vomit. When I told my older daughter that we were going shopping for a birthday present for her sister she asked if they had plastic toys at the store (they did not).  My kids will probably grow up to have some strange plastic toy fetish.

elves

Elves from Macula.

Vintage Lacing Cards from Bella Dia.

Paper Animals from The Toymaker.

jules_pink

Pink by Jules from Ready Mech.

italian-villa

Italian Villa from Print-n-Play Toys.

Paper Toys has a strange assortment of stuff including Wrigley Field, Bill Gates’ house and the Taj Mahal.

Plus this great vintage set from Agence Eureka on Flickr.

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Etsy Finds Friday

12-19

Fork Pleat Dress, $98 from betsy b design.

Minty Snow Duo, $8 from wainbowmudd.

Elegant Eggplant Deer Plush from Follow the White Rabbit.

Little Houses Hemp Note Cards, set of 4 for $12 from Yobittles.

Antique Chair, limited edition linocut print, $25 from Rainy Prints.

Woolen Trees No. 4, $38 from little love blue.

Peppermint Hand Spun Wool Yarn, 71 yards for $22 from Yarn is Me!.

Cubist Silver Earrings, $18.50 from S Stargell Designs.

Birds Limited Edition Fabric, $15 for 1/3 yard, Tamptation Designs.

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Winter Village

Here are the houses all finished. It’s difficult to see the glitter in these photos, but the rooftops are quite sparkly under the lights.  This project takes several days as you’ll need to wait 24 hours between each coat of paper and glue.  A great project to work on with kids!

I bought the bottle brush trees and plan to make some little snowmen and snowflakes to add to the scene. The houses are about 12″ -15″ tall.  I used leftover packing boxes and found that corrugated cardboard worked best for the bases of the houses.  I really liked the small, square boxes, but wanted them to be different shapes.  Cereal boxes or chipboard will work for the roofs.

Junk mail and glue give the boxes a sturdy feel, but I wanted them to have a better papier-mâché texture, so I added tissue paper as the final layer.  I have tried papier-mâché with flour and water and definitely prefer the glue method as it is much stronger and will not mold.

Supplies:

  • Small cardboard boxes
  • Cereal boxes or thin cardboard
  • Masking tape
  • Scrap paper
  • Tissue paper
  • White school glue
  • Acrylic or tempera paint
  • Paintbrush
  • Glitter

Instructions (see yesterday’s post for more photos):

1.  Measure the top of the box and cut the thin cardboard to the correct width.  The length can be as long as you’d like (longer will make a steep roof and shorter will make a squatty roof).

2.  Score the cardboard in the center and fold over to form the roof.  With masking tape, attach the roof to the two sides of your box.

3.  Trace the shape of your roof side onto another thin piece of cardboard.  Cut out two of these triangles and attach to the sides with masking tape.

4.  Mix one part white glue to four parts water.  Rip scrap paper into shreds, dip into mixture and apply to the house.  Allow to dry for 24 hours and repeat.

5.  Repeat the process with tissue paper.  Allow to dry completely.

6.  Water down paint and apply a thin coat to the boxes.  Apply a second coat if desired.

7.  Brush glue onto the roofs of the houses and sprinkle with glitter.

Done!  If you make these, I’d love to see a photo in the Make it Monday Flickr pool.

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Handmade Toy of the Week

Tic Tac Toe Dolls, $28 from Ten Thousand Villages.  Handmade in India.

A quick word about some new legislation that may affect handmade toy production.  The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, designed to protect American consumers from harmful toys, seems to have a major oversight in its wording, leaving out the guidelines for handmade toys.  The Act requires stricter testing of imported toys and those made in the United States.  I’m no lawyer, but I would suspect that the CPSC would not have the time, money or inclination to go after small toy makers for violation of safety standards.  Nevertheless, it would be nice to have the language clarified.  Here’s a link from Cool Mom Picks about how you can help.