Inventive Ways to Make Use of your Dragons Wooden Toy Box

Dragons Wonderful World of Wooden Toy Boxes

Here at Dragons of Walton Street, one of our most popular pieces with parents and little ones alike are our beautifully proportioned wooden toy boxes. Crafted in three sizes and styles (Cambridge Toy Box, Dragons Large Toy Box and Dragons Small Toy Box), these miniature storage chests are useful and versatile works of art, hand-painted with love by our Dragons artisans. A custom toy box is a treasure forever and as such, these boxes are often passed down the generations as cherished keepsakes. Many are lovingly adorned with carefully selected custom trim colours and gracious font styles spelling out names. With the coming of a new arrival, parents, and grandparents in the know will regularly pop their box into Dragons for a fresh lick of paint and a brand-new custom motif of delightful characters. The box then looks as good as new! For inspiration, here are just a few of some of our favourite wooden toy boxes for our baby Dragons from over the past few years:

The ‘Tween Toy Box

Not to be outdone, older Dragons fans have quite a lot to say about creating their very own custom toy boxes! Football kit and dressage ribbons are prime choices for themes but boxes are just as likely to feature Star Trek-inspired characters, caricatures of trending pop stars or even candy bar wrappers. Here is an example of a recently painted wooden toy box with a football theme for one of our footie mad ‘tweens:

The Toy Box Time Capsule

In line with the keepsake theme, many parents find that their little Dragons chest becomes the storage option of choice for their child’s very best treasures – not to mention un-partable-with comforters and blankies. In time, a Dragons toy box becomes a kind of organically occurring memory capsule, and it is not uncommon for our original Dragons – now parents themselves – to get in touch to say that in some obscure corner of their parent’s home they have not only come across their old Dragons wooden toy box but also a veritable treasure trove of forgotten toys.

Imagine their delight at having their most precious childhood memories preserved in such a meaningful and unexpected way! For the more quirky among us, why not go the extra mile and make your Dragons wooden toy box an actual time capsule? Be sure to place it in a water-tight material first before you bury and to keep a good garden map for a good giggle in 10 years or so! Here is a good read about some forward-planning children burying a time capsule in their school grounds. What fun!

From Wellies to Waterlilies

Of course, many times our wooden toy boxes start out life as toy boxes but take charming décor detours due to their beauty and storage practicality. We love to hear stories of how our wooden toy boxes are being re-imagined. Wellington boots seem to live in them quite happily. One little Dragon uses her special box for her ballet tutu and slippers. We know of one little boy who has filled his wooden toy box with garden pebbles and has his very own lidded quarry, serviced by the pre-requisite miniature diggers and tractors.

Not to be outdone, grownups also find their own special uses for Dragons toy boxes – special curtains, sewing machines, knitting wool and myriad crafting paraphernalia and even house plant collections often find themselves beautifully ensconced in our wooden toy boxes, before they are re-imagined all over again, of course.

Earth Matters

With Dragons’ recent launch of Earth Matters on the website, some savvy and sustainably minded Dragons aficionados have also been re-selling their own used wooden toy boxes in order that these robust and well-made storage pieces might find a loving new home. This has proven a popular choice. In our shared quest to preserve the planet for future generations, we would like to encourage you to check out our Earth Matters trading market if you have a Dragons wooden toy box or other Dragons piece in need of a new lease of life, or if you would like to buy a piece of Dragons heritage at a discounted price. Do bear in mind that you can easily make anything you purchase your very own as our artists are on hand to re-paint and re-decorate pre-loved pieces to your exact specifications.

Get Crafty!

Love our ideas but would prefer to get a little more hands-on? How about some DIY? Just as sustainable as re-selling your wooden toy storage is the idea of upcycling it and making it into something brand new. Best of all, if you have a STEM child on your hands, you might find that pulling out the trusty toolbox to alter your wooden toy box might just be the perfect way to get your child involved in the concept of learning by doing.

Here is a great summary of some at-home STEM home crafts you can undertake for inspiration. We like the idea of adding some wheels to your wooden toy box as well as a rope handle and making your very own mobile library or teddy wagon.

This is just one fun, easy to DIY idea. Why not challenge your child to come up with some of their own ideas in order to challenge their burgeoning engineering skills? Please let us know what you and your child come up with as we would love to share your inventiveness with the world via our social media pages.