Battle Board

Battle Board

Well my son has been having wars with his halo figures so me being the creative dad I am I decided to make him a battle board that is the same size as the desk in his room. I had a scrap piece of 1/4" plywood and a couple styrofoam sheets so away I went. The ground, buildings, and the two barricades are cut out of the sheets of styrofoam. The hills and rocks are made out of a old styrofoam cooler. The river I just took a blowtorch and burned a valley into the foam then painted it different shades of blue. Then i used PVA glue and glued some gravel and sand to the banks. After the glue dried I filled the river with clear silicone and made some running water effects in it. Then I used sawdust and mixed it with green acrylic paint to make the grass. I glued the grass down with PVA and then sealed it with watered down PVA. Then I glued the buildings down and used popsicle sticks and wooden dowels for the ladders and I was all done. Considering its made of styrofoam I wouldn't make this for a little kid, but for an older kid it holds up nicely. 

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Hobbit House

Hobbit House

So my oldest son watched the hobbit movies and loved them. So i figured I would make him a hobbit house to put on his shelf in his room. I started by getting a wood base and putting an old bowl on it where the main part of the house would be. Then I sprayed expanding foam on it to get the basic shape I wanted. Then i went with the natural shape of it cutting away some of the foam. I sealed it with PVA glue and painted it green. I wanted to make my own grass so i mixed fine sawdust with green acrylic paint and left it overnight to dry then applied it with more PVA glue. The windows are just 3/4" PVC and tooth picks. For the front of the house i cut out a flat spot to put the door and windows. I put plaster of paris on the front to give it some texture and painted it. For the wood overhand above the door and windows I boiled popsicle sticks and then bent them to curve over the door and windows. The door is made of popsicle sticks and pieces of an old necklace. The big rock attached to the house is just some of the foam for the house that i painted to look like a rock. The stepping stones are just rocks I found in the yard and glued down and the fence is just wooden dowels. Then finally I just a short piece of PVC and painted it gold to look like a ring and glued it to the front. I thought it turned out really good. I have never build anything like this before so I'm sure there are better ways to do it. Overall I think it looks really cool and I had fun making it so i guess that's what counts.

Western themed birthday

I made this western town for my daughters 1st birthday. Everything is made of cardboard with some scrap wood behind to brace it up. Took a while to build ( I do go over the top when it comes to making things ) but all the kids seemed to like it.