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Drum roll please……
Ta-da:
Introducing Double-Sided Dominoes, the 4th Christmas gift made entirely out of stuff we already had laying around.
We turned this (focus on the board, not the messy garage)
into these
And it was easy! Plus it gets better, just be patient.
I asked hubby to do me a favor and cut the board into 28 pieces for me because I learned from this website how many pieces are in your run of the mill dominoes set (which I learned is called a Double Six set) and what each piece should look like. We happened to have a 1×3 board and we decided that cutting it into 1.5 inch pieces would work, you can do whatever size you want.
That’s Eddie. Isn’t he awesome to be doing this for me at 9pm? Check out the muscles in his arms. He’s so yummy.
Ok, enough of that.
I sanded each piece until it was as smooth as I could possibly get it. Don’t want any splinters in little fingers.
Then I just painted each piece to look like the ones I found on Domino-Games.com. I chose a pale yellow background and blue writing because those were colors I already had.
I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to do a classic dominoes game that the kids could grow into or a picture set that would be more age-appropriate for my toddlers. So I did both!
One side looks like this
The colors I was using reminded me of the beach, plus I had the Ocean City trip we are taking next week on the brain, so this is a picture matching game with sailboats, star fish, seashells, etc. I wanted a simple game that the kids could play by themselves, independently.
I’m making a drawstring linen bag with a blue crab applique to store them in, but that’s not finished yet. I will try to remember to post a picture when it’s done.
I am in love with the idea of making your own wooden blocks, like my friend Satoko did for her boys. Wooden toys are so expensive and you can make them yourself so cheaply! Plus when you make things yourself you get exactly what you want, like a double-sided set.
These are the blocks that my friend Satoko made:
Aren’t they adorable? And her photography skills are amazing.
If your children are still young enough to be putting blocks in their mouths, you should use a non-toxic paint, like the ones you can find through my affiliate link here: Acrylic Paint Set of 12 Colors for use on Paper, Wood, Glass & Canvas.
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Mary Joy says
Stephanie,
That’s amazing!!!! I love it! I am working on making gifts for our family this year too. Its a challenge but so much fun. I am soooo excited for you! Congratulations on Fox 4 featuring you! You deserve it!!! 😀
Blessings!!
Mary Joy
P.S. I am thinking I may need to try the wood blocks next year as I am asking for a saw for Christmas this year! LOL