How to Make a Miniature Pull Toy

The child in your home, doll house or room box scene will delight in playing with this darling pull toy. It's a lot easier to make than it looks.

You Will Need:

Four Seed Beads
Two Bugle Beads
One Animal shaped bead
String or Thread in a color of your choice
One small round bead
Scissors
Glue (I prefer Tacky Glue as it drips and moves less while drying)

How To Make Them:

1. Take your animal bead and glue the bugle beads to the bottom of it. This will be your toy's axle for the wheels. Center them as much as you can with the shape of the animal's base. Set aside and let them dry into place. You will want to check on the drying as the bugle beads have a tendency to slip a bit as they dry.

2. Take your thread or string and cut a length of it. Most pull toys in real life have a two to three foot pull string on them. Adjust this length dependent on what looks good to you, and what scale you are working in. Tie a knot close to one end of the string. Slip your small round bead over the other end and push it against the knotted end. Glue the remaining end to the front edge of the animal bead. Let this sit to dry. Supervise once again while it dries. The thread sometimes comes loose from the drop of glue as it dries.

3. Take your four seed beads and gently glue them to the edges of the bugle beads. These will act as your pull toy's 'wheels.' These are a bit difficult to work with due to their small size. If you need, put them in place with a pair of tweezers. You might find you will have to adjust these beads a few times before they are in place and glued properly. Let dry.

4. That's it! You are finished. Now place your new toy where your home's or room box's people can enjoy it.

Hints, Tips and Ideas

If you are unable to locate animal beads, you can try your hand at making your own out of modeling, Fimo or Sculpey clays.

Choose your threads and bead colors to add interest to your toy. You can complement other colors in your room, or you can use classic metal tones. I chose the metal tones and the muted beads to create an antique toy appearance.

Choose the material your animal bead is made of to give your toy the right appearance. Older antique toys would be painted in fading and pastel colors and would be sculpted of wood. The closest you would probably be able to locate is a glass or porcelain bead (which is what mine are made of.) Plastic beads or beads made of modeling clays would give the appearance of a more modern, colorful child's toy.

Whatever the colors and materials of your pull toy, may you and your miniature family enjoy the beauty it will add to your scene.