Finishing Your Toy Train Table Plans
Today is December 26, the day after Christmas. If you didn’t have time to paint or finish the toy train table that you built using your toy train table plans, then this weekend is a good time to handle this project. In fact, since the kids are home from school, let them help you decorate the table.
If you have helpers then you can give them jobs that they are designed to handle. For example, since little kids have smaller hands they are better able to sand the small areas around the leg joints and the underside of the table. Next they can also handle priming the table. Just make sure that you are all working in a well ventilated area, that they are wearing a face mask and that the primer is as non-toxic as possible.
The next step is to paint the base coat. Again, this is something that the kids can help with. Select a color that they like and that will compliment the colors that are already in the playroom or their bedroom. Allow this base coat to dry over night before finishing the table with accent colors, decals and other decorative touches. You may want to handle this part of the paint job. However, your kids or grandkids may enjoy painting their toy train table or adding the decals and character stencils to the table.
The final step is to seal the table. This is a step that you need to do, as most sealants are moderately toxic. To seal the table you can use a clear polyurethane or another type of wood sealant.
Now that you have a couple of ideas for storage, I would like to talk about decorating your toy train table for the upcoming holidays. Decorating toy train tables can be a great way to introduce your kids to the history and traditions behind holidays that they may or may not be familiar with.
The next holiday on the calendar is United Nations Day. This is a little known holiday that can be celebrated with your kids. On this day decorate your child’s toy train table with flags from different countries. You can also add trains from different counties to your train collection, discuss the languages and cultures from various cultures and even learn simple songs about trains in a new language. If you have older kids you can even talk about the United Nations, what it is and what they do.
The last holiday for the month of October is Halloween. Now most kids know what Halloween is, but they may not know the history behind this holiday. As you decorate your train table for Halloween talk about the folklore tied to All Hallow’s Eve and recount your favorite stories of Halloween, like the Tale of the Headless Horseman. Have your kids create their own Halloween decorations for their toy trains. You can attach the Halloween decorations to existing toy trains using a little dollop of rubber cement or double sided tape.
If you are looking for information on toy trains or activities that you can do with toy trains, then visit the Model Train Depot blog. This blog is fun and informative.
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Last week we talked about packing away your summer toys and reducing the number of old toys cluttering your home. This week I’d like to talk about how you can use you can modify your toy train tables to make them a toy storage device as well as an activity table. For this project you will need baskets and/or boxes, and some decorative tools like construction paper, glue and markers.
This is a fun project for your kids to help you with. It will allow them to decorate small storage containers that can be stored under their toy train table. For the easiest containers to decorate you can buy or make cardboard storage boxes. These boxes can be bought at a local office supply store for a couple of dollars. They come in all shapes and sizes, and also are offered in a variety of colors and designs.
To start with you will want to measure the size of the space under your activity table. You want your storage boxes to fit easily under the table and still provide your kids with knee space. Use your measurements to find storage boxes at your local office supply store. When you get your boxes home assemble them. Then give your kids a box of character cutouts, glue, construction paper, crayons, markers and other items to decorate their boxes with. If you have more than one child, then add their names to the box so that each child will be able to find their box quickly, and there will be less fighting.
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October is one of those transitional months that really ushers in a new season. While fall officially began in September, in many places it doesn’t start to feel chilly and fall-like until October. October also marks the start of the holiday season with Halloween, which is scheduled for later in the month. To get prepared for the transition from Summer to Fall you need to start thinking about toy storage, both for summer toys that need to be put away and holiday toys that will be added to your family collection over the next several months.
As far as summer toy storage goes I like to separate toys into two categories, outside toys and inside toys. Outdoor toys needs generally carry more dirt and bugs than indoor toys, so I like to clean them off with a hose before the temperature gets too cold, dry them off and then store them in a large plastic tub that has a lid. This helps keep the bugs out and the moisture out. Since outdoor toys are designed for harsher conditions, I don’t feel bad about storing them outside on a carport or in a garage during the winter months.
While you are putting away summer toys, it is a good idea to plan ahead for the new toy storage challenges that you will be facing during the holiday season. Now is a good time to go through your child’s toys and seem what toys they want to keep and which ones they have outgrown or no longer play with. For the toys that your child has outgrown or no longer wants, either put up for sale on an auction website like eBay, pass on to friends and family with young kids or donate to a charity organization.
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There are a lot of themes your toy train table can have. One popular theme is a military theme. Military themed activity tables can focus on a specific branch of the armed forces, or it can focus on an era. For ideas on military train themes and graphics I recommend reading the blog posted on Model Train Central. They have a great blog on military model toy trains.
The first option that you have for designing a military train table is to focus on the paint job. You can paint a military camouflage design on your toy train table. Camouflage comes in a variety of color combinations. The colors that are used are designed to reflect the colors of a specific environment. For example, a desert camouflage is going to be based on shades of browns and tans, whereas jungle camouflage is going to be based on shades of greens and blacks.
The second option that you have for designing a military train table is to use military stickers, graphics and images to decorate the table. You can find these items in stores, especially hobby stores, as well as in military supply stores. To affix these graphics to your table you will want to rely on something stronger than just the adhesive found on the sticker. Decoupage glue or gel, one of my favorite materials, works to both adhere the graphic to the table and protect it from moisture and damage.
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Last week we talked about how you can save money on the materials you need to build a toy train table. This week I’d like to talk about how you can design a character rich activity table design. For this project all you will need is a base paint, a roll of character wrapping paper, decoupage, a foam brush and a pair of scissors.
To start with you will want to sand down your activity table, prime it and paint it with your base paint. Allow this to dry and apply a second coat. Again allow the table to dry over night.
While you are waiting for your table to dry, you will want to cut out the characters from the wrapping paper. These are going to be arranged on your table to create your design. Arrange the characters on a piece of butcher’s paper or construction paper to come up with your design. Once you have a design you like you cover the design with a piece of cling film. Place a book on top of the cling film until you are ready to transfer the characters to your table.
Start by applying a coat of the decoupage glue to the top of your activity table. Then flip your butcher paper over, keeping the book in place with your hand. Now remove the butcher’s paper or construction paper. The characters should be clinging to the plastic wrap just enough to allow you to flip it over onto your table. Gently press each character into place and peel back the plastic wrap. Adjust the characters as needed and then apply a top coat to the entire activity table top. This will adhere the characters to your table and seal them.
If you are looking for information about toys you can play with on top of your activity tables visit the Geotrax Blog. This is a fun blog that I’ve read many times.
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Last week we talked about kicking off the holiday season by searching for toy train table plans. This week let’s look at ways you can save money on building your toy train tables. This blog entry will focus on several strategies for saving money on buying toy train table plans, materials and finishing products.
The first expense that you have when you are building a toy train table is the cost of the plans. You can save money on these plans by looking for toy store coupons and discounts for these items. You can find these coupons online, in weekly flyers and at the store.
The second expense that you have when you are building a toy train table is the cost of the building materials. You will need lumber, screws, wood glue and a variety of other products. To save money on these items look for scrap sales at home improvement stores. You can also find scrap lumber at yard/garage sales and perhaps even in your garage.
The final expense that you will have when you are building a toy train table is the cost of the finishing products. The paint, sandpaper, primer, stains and design patter can really add to the final cost of your activity table. You can save money on these items by waiting for sales, using decoupage and wrapping paper as the primary design element for your table and you can keep things simple by just staining the activity table. Finally, you can use materials that you already have in your garage to finish your toy train table.
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We are now in the month of September and like it or not, the holiday season is just around the corner. This means that you have three months before you need to place presents under the tree or offer them to family members at special holiday events. This year, make your gift giving more special by making the little ones in your life toy train tables. These tables can be made from your own designs or you can make them using toy train table plans. Since you still have plenty of time before the holidays are here, take some time to browse through as many toy train plans a you can. This will provide you with ideas about what plans are available and what designs are the most popular this season. In addition to basic toy train plans, also look for paint design templates and patterns to pair with your home made DIY toy train table. To throw the kids off your track, start asking questions now about what cartoon characters that they are interested in and what activities they enjoy. You can use the answers to these questions to focus your search for the perfect pattern for toy train tables. For example, if your special little one is interested in Barbies then you can select a paint design pattern that features Barbies. On the other hand, if they are interested in Legos then you can find a pattern that will work for designing a Lego play table.
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We are now in the month of September and like it or not, the holiday season is just around the corner. This means that you have three months before you need to place presents under the tree or offer them to family members at special holiday events. This year, make your gift giving more special by making the little ones in your life toy train tables. These tables can be made from your own designs or you can make them using toy train table plans.
Since you still have plenty of time before the holidays are here, take some time to browse through as many toy train plans a you can. This will provide you with ideas about what plans are available and what designs are the most popular this season. In addition to basic toy train plans, also look for paint design templates and patterns to pair with your home made DIY toy train table.
To throw the kids off your track, start asking questions now about what cartoon characters that they are interested in and what activities they enjoy. You can use the answers to these questions to focus your search for the perfect pattern for toy train tables. For example, if your special little one is interested in Barbies then you can select a paint design pattern that features Barbies. On the other hand, if they are interested in Legos then you can find a pattern that will work for designing a Lego play table.
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Kids of all ages love toy trains, and toy train tables help keep these treasured toys safe and easy to play with. However, buying a premade toy train table can be an expensive undertaking, especially if it has a designer finish. Fortunately, you can make your own toy train table using train table plans, some lumber and a little elbow grease.
If you are not particularly crafty you do have the option to buy one of these tables premade. To save money you buy a table that has not been finished yet. This will both save you money and provide you with the option of painting the table any color that you want.
The best way to save money is to build your own toy train tables. You can save money on this project by looking for toy-wooden-train-table-plans, as well as waiting for building supplies to go on sale. If your budget is really tight then you can find the lumber you need for the project at garage sales, or by recycling boards from old buildings or scrap piles.
Wood is such a great building material. As long as it has a solid core you can sand down and refinish wood that has been damaged and abuse for decades. Just look at the hardwood floors that have been created using recycled 200 year old barn planks. The key to preserving the wood is to remove the old finish, sand it down smooth and then seal it with an oil based product to help lock in moisture and keep excessive outside moisture from being absorbed into the wood.
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For those of you who are new to the realm of wooden toys and wooden toy train tables, you may be wondering why there are so many people interested in wooden toys. The answer, as presented by the Best Model Is Me blog, is that wooden toys are more intriguing, entertaining and educational than their electronic counterparts. This is not to say that electronic toys don’t have their advantages and pros, but wooden toys require the children to use their imaginations in order to play with them.
The most obvious advantage of wooden toys is that they encourage creative play. Because there are no artificial sounds or lights associated with these toys, and because these toys require the child to manipulate them to create movement, kids have to come up with their own storylines and games to play. This not only develops their imaginations, but it also helps them to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Other advantage of wooden toys are that they help to develop both find and gross motor skills. Because the children have to manually manipulate the toys they are forced to utilize and refine their motor skills. This is why so many occupational and physical therapists utilize wooden toys in their practices.
The final advantage is that wooden toys are just plain fun! They are durable, versatile and they can be used with the child’s other toys. To keep these toys from being stepped on and to make play time easier, a wooden toy train table makes an excellent addition to a play room, classroom or waiting room.
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