Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas: Wooden Toys

Christmas is coming soon. There are lots Christmas ideas you can do for cheap and still outshine everybody. Whatever your financial situation, you shouldn't have to blow a wad at Christmas. There are many cheap yet unique Christmas gift ideas which will not affect your pocketbook very much at all.

After all, St. Nicholas didn't exactly head down to Macy's to pick up his Christmas gifts for the youngsters, did he? No, he made them himself. Homemade gifts are the key to doing Christmas on the cheap and still keeping everyone happy. Today we're going to go back through time and explore the methods the original Santa Claus used to produce his special toys.

Since you're probably not an expert carver, the important thing is to keep your projects fairly simple. Primitive wooden animal toys are easy Christmas gifts to make and create a huge hit with the kids. Always take safety precautions, such as wearing protective glasses and gloves, and working on a proper table.

First find pieces of old, weathered lumber or logs to make the animals' bodies and platforms. Use dowels for legs. Create wooden wheels by cutting out circular sections from a thick board or plank. Try to scrounge whatever you can. Check your wood pile for scraps that will do the trick, or ask your neighbors if they've got any large chunks of wood they would like to get rid of.

For all of these projects, use a band or saber saw to cut simple animal shapes from the larger pieces of wood. Drill holes in the body in which the leg dowels will later be inserted.

Shape the animal with a coarse rasp or wood file. Use a finer file for smoothing. Don't file or sand it completely, but leave the finish a little bit rough.

Decorate the animals with non-toxic craft paint and an old sponge, wiping away any excess. The wood grain should show through in spots. Brush on details and add scrap cloth for trim.

Homemade Christmas Gift Idea: Toy Tiger

Paint a white undercoat on the body, and allow to dry completely. Then sponge on orange and yellow. When this paint has dried, brush on the eyes, nose and mouth. Carefully paint on the stripes in black.

Homemade Christmas Gift Idea: Toy Horse

Cut and trim pieces of faux leather, such as scraps from an old vinyl chair. Use these as the mane and tail. Cut out small wooden pieces to use as ears. Drill holes in the wood, and glue down the ears and tail. Use hot glue to attach the mane. Create a saddle from the vinyl, and make or find a blanket to go on top. Hot glue these on top of the horse's back.

To create platforms for the animals, use old boards or planks. Make sure all nails have been removed before you start. Drill holes where the legs will go, and make spaces for the wheels.

Drill a hole into the center of each wheel. Insert a dowel inside the hole. Then drill a hole in the dowel's end. Place a wooden toothpick inside this hole. Glue the other end of the dowel to the the platform.

Homemade Christmas Gift Idea: Toy Goat

Carve out the body of the toy goat. Decorate him with grey paint, and allow it to dry. You can sponge on a little blue color over the top of the grey if you like. Use similar methods mentioned for the toy horse project to attach him to a platform. Place wheels on the project.

Homemade Christmas Gift Idea: Toy Cow

The toy cow is probably one of the simplest pieces to create. Whittle the cow out of a medium sized block of wood. Apply a cream color for the main body. When this has dried, paint on some brown spots all over her body.

Homemade Christmas Gift Idea: Toy Sheep

The sheep is a somewhat more elaborate Christmas toy project. Try creating some extra dimension to the project by whittling the body a little. After you carve out the main body, etch some curlicues to indicate the wool. Use dowels for legs as in the horse project, and attach to a platform with wheels.

Refer to the pictures which accompany this article for a guide on how to carve these Christmas gift projects.