The Toy Car Project

Well, here is how this all got started. A friend of mine from work, Gabe Landes, who is into working with wood in his spare time, told me about a project he had worked on where he built his son some toy cars. He told me how much his son loved the cars he had made for him, and I thought it would be a good way for me to do something for the kids that they could look back on and say, "my Daddy built this for me!"

I want them to have fond memories of their lives as young children, and this was something I couldn't resist. I had the grand idea of building them all a toy car.

My Dad is a carpenter and I grew up around stuff like this, but chose to enter a different field of work when I became of age, but it seemed like so much fun to have a garage full of wood-working tools and the ability to fix things around the house, and build stuff for the home.

So I went out to Home Depot and Lowe's and bought myself some new tools, let's just say I didn't have any to start with, except a drill and some screw drivers, oh, and a toolbox with some rusted nails!

So far, I love it! It is so much fun doing little projects for the kids and the house. Right now I am building the kids a playhouse for the backyard, but for now I'll share some pictures from my first wood-working project since wood-shop in 7th grade! Thanks to Gabe for the wood and the lady bug design, and the idea!

I started off by buying tracing paper, and sitting down with the kids asking them what kind of car they wanted. Here, Jaden(3) and I talk about the Blue Truck he wants!


Next, I take the drawn truck and re-trace it onto 1 1/4 thick poplar wood.


After the cars are cut out and sanded down, it's time for a little primer and then some paint.


All done! A blue truck, an orange race car, a lady bug, and a roadster coupe! The kids enjoy them, especially Jaden and his blue truck!