I Made It Second, Homemade Toy Update

I've had several homemade toys/gifts on my pinterest boards for a while, and while hibernating from the wind and chills outside I finally got some finished.  Here are some photos and links for directions for my latest projects:

When we drew our nephew's name for a Christmas exchange, I knew I wanted to include some roads for him to play with.  I've saved jean fabric for years, and these were simple to make by cutting into intersections and curves, sealing with fray check, and then painting yellow lines on.  I first found this idea at Lil Mop Top, here.

I finally got to give away another spinny speller, as Maci turned four.  I still love this one I made Theo last year.  I think at four most kids already know their letters, and are pretty fascinated by their own names, so it can serve as a nice decoration with their name displayed.  And as they get older they can start playing with it more as they are sounding out words.  In case anyone has a Maci in their life, the letter combinations I decided on are:
First cube:  M, P, R, T
Second cube:  A, I, O, U
Third cube:  C, L, N, S
Fourth cube:  E, I, K, T
I found at least 65 common words from these letters (and several uncommon words as well).

For another niece's first birthday, I finally got to use the bottles I've been saving for years to make her some fun discovery bottles (milk bottles from Wendy's work great for this).  I loved these I found at the Imagination Tree here, and was able to make them easily using materials already in my craft room.

Finally, Theo saw this on my pinterest board around Christmas and has been asking me for it ever since.  Last year he helped his dad construct a tool box, and a couple months ago I noticed him sticking all his tools inside the waist band of his pants and knew it was time to make this.  Another great link I found from one of my favorite blogs, Make It and Love It, here.  He's getting it for a birthday gift, and at five he still very much plans to be a builder when he grows up.  He got an early sneak peek of it so I could see if it worked on him.  He thought it would be bigger, but that it was awesome.