Toys

Even when I was a child, I loved vintage toys.  I always preferred a vintage rag doll, a porcelain beauty, or a hand-carved pull-toy to most of the newest and most popular toys on the market.  I loved paper dolls, puppets with strings, and everything with simple to complex mechanical moving parts.  And if there was a way to make my own, even better!  I had my favorites. I was over the moon with Steiff originals, and I still am.

When our Affair With Art group challenged us to create something with movable parts, I was all over it in a flash!  I thought of all the wind-up toys I had, and fondly remembered my clockwork Organ Grinder and his Monkey.  Combining my love of paper dolls and the movement of the arms and legs of the fabulous Steiff animals, I used StampFrancisco's "Cymbal Monkey" stamp from Bartholomew's Ink to craft the trio pictured above.  

The assembly, in case you want to make one:  For each monkey made, three stamps must be printed.  The orignal stamp shows only a fraction of one leg, so it must be "built" from a scrap of the fully pictured leg, then glued into place.  This leaves only a partial torso from the leg which was cut.  Another of the same leg must be cut and hinged with a brad to a torso with the upper part of that leg still intact, thus the need for three prints.  Then it's just cut and glue, color, and assemble.

Some resources:  If you're interested in making toys that move, I've listed a few of my favorites.  I've seen them all and own a couple of them.  It always amazes me how easy it can be to make things that seem so complex once you have a good set of directions.  And after making a few things, you inevitably start to use that knowledge to design things of your own.  

Karakuri: How to Make Mechanical Paper Models That Move is a great book for making whimsical moving toys with paper and card stock.

Paper Puppet Palooza: Techniques for Making Moveable Art Figures and Paper Dolls is in my library, and I've used it as a resource for more than one project.

Making Shadow Puppets (Kids Can Do It) isn't just for kids.  There's a lot of basic information in this book that will translate into tons of your own original projects.

If you'd like to try your hand a making vintage toys out of wood, Turning Vintage Toys by Chris Reid is a great book with beautiful pictures and step-by-step instructions.  Even if you're not into wood, the photos in this book make it a great addition to any home or studio library.

Comments

[Rita Ackerman]

How wonderful is that. I love your monkeys

[joanne Thieme Huffman]

Your monkeys are delightful. I can hear the cymbels clanging.

[Rosie]

I had a Steiff teddy bear bought for me by my Mum, when I was 6! Unfortunately I left him in Luneburg when we left Germany, but he had a good home there...
Love your post!