I wanted to make some toys for the young people in my life and I wanted a woodwork project that I could complete with hand tools in the kitchen. I found this and I made three of them. None of them work very well - that’s down to me, not the excellent blog post - but they were great fun to make and have brightened up bath time for the kids.

Inspiration

• Noi’s dad’s repainted fishing boat from the The Storm Whale books
• Adventure In A Box

Construction

All three are made out of offcuts of ash I got on eBay. Ash has a beautiful grain pattern and pale creamy colour and it’s easy to work. I wanted to use toy-safe paints, which are surprisingly hard to find information about. I landed on these acrylics from Outlines, which meet EN 71 - the European standards for toys.

The finish is a homemade mix of beeswax and jojoba oil, made according to this recipe. It keeps for ages and makes your hands smell amazing after you’ve used it.