Build Your Own Wooden Toy Box

I found free plans to build this cool wooden toy box at Lee's Wood Projects.  This would be a great box to keep your blocks in.  Click the Project link to find detailed plans for all kinds of DIY wood building projects.  I'm really glad that I found this site.  My seven year old got a set of tools for Chirstmas, and he really wants to put them to work again.  A few weeks ago, we spent a Saturday builing grow boxes for the garden.  He is great with a saw.

Carved Wooden Walking Sticks

I love walking, and I love walking sticks.  One of my favorite things to do is hike in the desert and in the mountains.  It's no wonder that I got stuck on this site for a while.  You've gotta check out Carved Wooden Walking Sticks.  They have some beautiful walking sticks, and they have really spent some time on the descriptions and history of each design.

More than anything else, I've got to admit that the Soren Kierkegaard quote on their main page is what really sold me on the site:

Above all, do not lose your desire to walk.  Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness.  I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. – Soren Kierkegaard

So, after last week's post, my Mom and Dad emailed me to fill in a few gaps.  They gave me the old block set because it was mine in the first place!  I received the blocks as a present on my second birthday.  To prove my ownership, they sent this picture of me on my second birthday unwrapping the toy wooden blocks.  It's cool to see the blocks still in the original package.

You really can't blame me for forgetting, I mean really, how many presents do you have from your second birthday?  I certainly don't have that outfit anymore.  Thanks Mom and Dad for investing in a great toy that can last for generations.

Of Beginnings, Blocks and Brothers

I have wonderful memories of my childhood.  My dad was in the Air Force, so we moved around a lot.  But because I had four brothers, I always had friends and playmates.  We had toy guns and bow and arrows.  We had hoppity horses and Big Wheels.  We had GI Joes when they were big like Barbie dolls.  But, one of our favorite toys was a large simple set of wooden building blocks.  It seems like they became a part of every game.  They were the fort, the castle, the pile of gold, the campfire, and the marble machine.  They were always out and always played with.  The picture is me, and my little brother Jared (he's 34 now).

A few years ago, my parents were cleaning out their garage, getting ready to move again.  With all their boys grown, they didn't want to move the blocks.  I don't know why they decided to give them to me, but I'm glad they did.  Maybe it was because they knew how much I loved them, or maybe it was because they knew that my six kids would love them as much as I did.  Whatever the reason, I got them.

After watching my own kids fall in love with my old wooden blocks over the last few years, Heather and I decided that we wanted to share.  We used my 40 year old set as inspiration to create a simple toy that will unleash your child's imagination.  These new blocks feel like home.  We brought a new set into our house, and my kids can't keep their hands off them.  I think the same thing will happen in your home.