Food for thought Fridays - Make your own toys

Confession time! I'm not a perfectionist. Not in any way, shape or form. If I want something to look good, I'll get hubby to do it. I've already told him he's in charge of decorating L's birthday cakes each year and he's agreed - as long as I bake the cakes. Fair deal!

Not being a perfectionist has its advantages. It means I'm willing to give things a go and don't fret too much if the result is less than spectacular. Which is why I've managed to make three toys for L out of scraps and am proud of the results.

This is the first toy I made - a colourful cloth book that has some crinkly pages and one jingly bell page. My friend Hannah provided the beautiful fabric, most of which came from a fabric samples book she bought at an Op shop. Thanks Hannah! Cloth books are great because they're machine washable and can't be ripped by baby.

Taggy

My friend Gina gave me the idea for this taggy, which has plastic inside so it rustles when L plays with it and also has little ribbon tags for her to grab. 

Here's a photo of L with it the first time I gave it to her. I laugh every time I see her intense expression:

And here's one taken this week:

Touch and feel cereal box book

This week's project was a 'touch and feel' board book for L. Two weeks back I wrote about repurposing rubbish and a couple of you commented that you give your empty cereal boxes to Kindergartens. That got me thinking - what do Kindergartens do with these boxes that I could be doing with them at home? L loves this particular Baby Touch board book...

...so I wondered if I could make my own version out of cereal boxes and things from my card-making kit. Here's what I came up with:

I'm not sure if you can tell from this shot, but the black and white flowery print has clear plastic bubble wrap over top.

And here's L playing with it:

You can see her scratching one of the textured cloth circles with her left hand. She loves feeling different textures in baby touch books.

How messy did my lounge get while I was making it? Very...

What toys have you made lately? I'd love to hear!