It all starts with the easy tasks. for the first few days I make wheels for the toy cars and trucks. Then, after a while, those are done and it is on to the gluing together of the pieces of wood for the vehicles themselves.
I find it amazing that inside each on of these boards, blocks, sheets and chunks of wood there exists a shape or an idea that will light up a persons face. Perhaps a child lights up and thinks, "Oh gee! For me! And it looks just like a truck!!"
Wood Truck 10"x5" Natural (you can eat it, but don't) Finish $25
The adult unimpressed at first thinks, "Oooh, I bet that is going hurt when I step on it in the kids room!" But then, noticing the rounded corners is relieved and then begins to drift off in thought, pondering the pleasant hours of distraction the little wood truck will provide their tot.
It gives me pause to wonder why people of all situations don't stare at trees and lumber, just standing there, drooling at the unlimited happiness and distraction inducing possibilities that lie within.
First, little car shapes are cut out, my precise and nimble little fingers cutting out the shapes that only a child’s imagination can dream up. Parents, all too often, look scowling, at our work and think (or worse say), "that's not what a car looks like." Poor folk, somewhere in their fragile Freudian unconscious they are wanting one for their own inner child. So sad. They should just give in!
Wood Cars 8"x6" Natural (you can eat it, but don't) Finish $25
Finally finished with the bodies and wheels I finish the assembly with short yet strong axles. One final detail -the window. I carefully drill out and round the corners to just the right size (read: big enough not to trap a child’s finger). This gives the conductor of this vehicle a seat and a sense of place and responsibility in the actions that the car makes. Did you know more children are injured with windowless wooden toys than one's with? It's true, you can even fact check it.
The other elves have started to mock me. They say that I go too slow and I craft too carefully. They say I'm the reason that children in Third World Nations don't get presents. Of course they are just being cruel, those fools, who do they think I am making these toys for?
With that done, I make a number of yard games for some Swedish families,
Kubb $80
and few for some soon to be very confused American one's (what's Kubb???), and I'm done! Now to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Seeing the games and toys be used!!
SEASONS GREETINGS
&
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
