Free Christmas Ornaments Plans from ToymakingPlans.com

One of my favourite websites for wooden toy plans has released a fantastic free plan for wooden Christmas ornaments. It is available for a limited time only so go and check it out and get in quick! You will see the information on how to get the pattern near the top of the home page.

I was very sad to hear that Toymaker Press had it's website's domain name hijacked last week so they have now changed their name to ToymakingPlans.com. They are still exactly the same except for the name and they have created loads of gorgeous new plans since I posted about them so long ago. They are definitely worth following and their emails are regularly full of fantastic new plans and specials.

Make Your Own Wooden Toys for Boys with Toymaker Press!

2/11/12 UPDATE: Toymaker Press has changed to Toymaking Plans. They are exactly the same...just their name and url have changed. You can see their website here and check out my latest post for more info. I will also add that since I did this post, I have learnt that they change what plan they offer for free and sometimes don't have one so it's worth signing up to their newsletter and grabbing those free plans when you can!


If you're in to wooden toys and making things for your boys, then you might like this website. 

www.toymakerpress.com

It's on my dream list at the moment...as is my own scroll saw. :-) When I was a teenager, I made gifts for friends using my dad's scroll saw to cut out the wood. Then I'd put the pieces together and paint them up. I love cutting and preparing the wood but the construction and decoration is probably not my favourite crafty activity. It's worth it though when you give your gift and see the receiver's reaction. :-) I'll have to dig out my old photos, scan them in (we're talking film days here!) and post a few pics of the things I made.

Anyway, this website has some amazing books full of patterns and instructions for a whole range of wooden toys that would be just perfect for boys of any age. Individual PDF patterns can be bought for specific toys so you don't have to buy a whole book. You can buy the books in hard cover print format or PDF so if you don't live in the US, you don't have to spend a small fortune on postage. I looked into postage to Australia and it was ridiculous compared to the price of the actual book so as much as I'd love to have the real book, I'll probably buy the PDF when I get my scroll saw.

However, to get you started, they offer free PDF patterns that are easily downloadable from their website!!! Seeing this has given me great confidence in buying their other books. You get to try before you buy!! They seem to change what they offer from time to time so keep checking back for new patterns. Below are a couple of pics of patterns they have offered.

Astronauts Acrobats

The types of toys you can make from the books include:

• wooden boats
• planes
• cars and trucks
• trains
• fire engine play set
• cranes
• dragons, knights & fair maidens
• dinosaurs and cave men
• houses including furniture, people and scenery
• animals
• Noah's ark
• baby and toddler toys including pull along animals
• space rocket set
• dude ranch set
• ice hockey game
• zoo set
• and even a full size rocking horse!

It really is best to check out the website because they offer so much!! Have fun!

Wooden Toys for Boys

I wanted to share a fantastic Australian website that sells wooden toys. Check out www.mywoodentoys.com.au. I stumbled across this site when I was hunting for ideas for wooden toys that my dad could make for my boys for Christmas. It is a family business based in Perth, Western Australia.

They have wooden toys including blocks, puzzles, stilts, spinning tops, boats, cars & trucks, car garage, cash register, vehicle to robot transformers, bead or roller coaster toy, trains, skittles, pirates & a pirate ship, various play sets, posable figurines, food & tea sets, musical instruments, castle, boardgames & other games, nativity scene, hammer and peg toys, puppets, lacing/threading sets, fishing games, letters and numbers, and a toolbox among other things.

We have bought some pirates, an alphabet puzzle with capital letters, and a threading toy. The quality is just beautiful and I have been quite impressed with a lot of the prices! There is a set price for shipping per order and there is even a great selection of toys that have free shipping!!! I have found that great for birthday gifts for friend's kids. We even got the pirate set gift wrapped with a gift tag and I was VERY impressed with the presentation. We are planning to get the pirate ship to go with Max's pirates for Christmas...I hope it doesn't sell out before we get to buy it. :-)

Max opening his gift wrapped present.

The pirates!!! They are so cute! (and so is Max!)

They also have a great range of wooden toys for girls, infant or baby toys and some toys that are not wooden but I particularly wanted to point this site out as I have found some beautiful things for boys here.

I highly recommend this website! We have been very happy with our purchases. :-)