Did you see the comment a while ago from Tami about making a stacking toy out of tree rings? Well I thought it was genius! So for the last week (give or take a day) I have been sawing away (BY HAND!) on thick limbs trying to make flat tree cookies that can be turned into a stacking toy. You know, like the rainbow, plastic, ring stacking toy from fischer price.
Of course the picture is fuzzy. But it turned out pretty cute. I was very excited for the girls to see it and play with it.
And Sam and Avery did enjoy it. The holes were a little tight for Avery to get the rings on but Sam did great. Then her need to play with it by herself and NOT share with her sister took over. In her effort to keep the toy away from Avery she pulled the center post right out. Awesome. Back to the drawing board to figure out how to make it more secure!
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The Nitty Gritty!
I just took one big branch and but sections at different areas on the limb. I only had one big limb so this was my only option. I think it would be really neat to have lots of different types of bark.
I drilled holes in the center but then had to use the power drill to kind of "carve" the holes out so they would be a bit bigger. We only had pretty small drill bits. The center rod is a dowl (dawl?) rod from the hardware store that I cut down to the right size. I drilled a hole part way through the base piece. I then filled the hole with wood glue and stuck the rod in. Once it dried it seemed pretty sturdy. I think I need to drill the whole almost all the way through and then maybe put a nail through the back end or something. Or maybe just give the glue longer to set up. I don't know.
I want to make another one with different types of wood, a bigger center rod which would require bigger tree cookies and maybe mix up the width of the pieces as well.
I have been having so much fun creating things and have more ideas that I have actually asked for a power saw for Christmas!
