I have the sweetest 6 month old baby to ever exist! I know everyone says that, but I promise I really do! She has always been so happy and content! Right after she was born, she cried for like a second! She had always made some mad noises to let me know she needs something, but she rarely is sad! I feel so blessed to have an easy baby while I’m chasing my other kids around!
Since she is 6 months old, she is starting to get her little teeth! It is no fair that those little buggers seem to make her small gums so swollen so many times before the teeth actually come! She gets a little cranky and needs some extra snuggles! It just breaks my heart to see my sweet baby sad! So I decided that I would try to make a wood teething toy for her (like I have seen in expensive baby boutiques).
Before I tell you how I made them, know that I’m not an expert toy maker! If you try this at home, make sure that you watch your baby closely while they use it and check it for wear frequently!
I did a little research and found that to make a good teething toy, you need the right wood! You need a hard wood that won’t splinter! I noticed a lot of the wood baby teething toys I had seen were a maple wood, beech wood, and cherry wood. I didn’t find any maple or beech wood at the store, so I went with cherry wood.
Then I cut out some shapes in card stock with my Silhouette machine! I did a flower, star, button, and rocket ship. I decided to make the flower first and then get the rest when I saw how the first one went.
Luckily, I have a scroll saw! So I traced the flower shape on the wood and used the scroll saw to cut it out.
See all those rough edges? Obviously those aren’t good for a baby toy! So I did some sanding! It’s probably my least favorite thing to do, but it made it look so much better. I sanded it 3 times: once with 80 grit sandpaper, once with 150 grit sandpaper, and one last time with 220 grit sandpaper.
Then I washed the dust off of it and let it dry. Once it was dry, I needed to seal it. I chose to use olive oil to seal it. Since it was going to be a baby teething toy, it obviously needed to have a oil that is food safe on it. I know that other popular choices are coconut oil and bees wax, but I already had olive oil! After the oil set in, I gave it to the baby!
She loved it! It is just the perfect size for her hands to hold and I think she likes the wood texture!
I started making other shapes to because it was so easy and fun! The rocket ship didn’t end up working out because I cut it too small and so I couldn’t cut it very well. I’ll have to try it again next week! The rest I am really happy about though!
The holes on my button turned out weird because I didn’t do a good job when I drilled the holes. Luckily, the baby doesn’t know any better!
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