come and play!

My darling 20 month old grandson, Evan, is coming (with his parents) to visit in just a few days!  Because he loves to sort and line things in a row, it motivated me to put together a toy that I had been intending to make for quite a while. The supplies are few and quite inexpensive - the wood products only totaled $5 and the others I had on hand.

The supplies are easily found at most craft stores: an unfinished wooden card box, eight 2.5" people, small print origami paper, craft paper, scissors, and Mod Podge (I used satin).....oops!  and a sponge brush.

First, I made a template for the "clothes", 1" x scant 3", and cut out the rectangles from the origami paper.  I put Mod Podge only on the backside of the paper which meant I had to be careful when I started wrapping because the paper couldn't "scoot" like it can when you put the adhesive on both the wood and the paper.  Origami paper is thin, so it wrapped quite easily and laid flat with no fuss.

Next I decorated the outside of the box by simply using Mod Podge to adhere the base paper and the decorative paper.  The "g, h, i" strip is simply cut from a scrapbooking alphabet paper sheet I had and Mod Podged to the base paper.

Inside I used thin craft paper and a little decorative whale cut from the same alphabet sheet that I used for the front.

Here are the little cuties nestled inside.  I am going to look for a non-toxic sealer to paint over the paper on the people since they just might end up in someone's mouth!  Now all I need to do is find a car that they'll fit in...since that is the toy of choice for a grandson who is all b-o-y!