Make: Easy house building blocks

The boys and I are down with bad colds and we've been stuck home. Which probably explains why my brain is going into overdrive with regards to making stuff, because cabin fever tends to make my fingers itchy! Anyway, I'm sharing another easy DIY post today, instead of our usual "Grateful Gatherings" post. I am finding hard to write while my brain is foggy from the bug, so craft posts are more exciting to share for the moment!

So back to these wooden blocks. The boys have all sorts of plain wooden building blocks and they do play with them. But the sentimental side of me has been missing the vintage blocks that I used to play with, that have colorful architectural details, and even little pillars and arches. My parents probably gave ours away a long time back, and these days, vintage blocks are hard to find and can be costly. So I thought I'd try my hand at doing some, and it was fun, and pretty easy!

All you need are plain wooden blocks, which we bought from Daiso (since I can't bear to draw on their regular blocks), as well as a set of Sharpies or other permanent markers. I gave the blocks a quick rinse (to wash off any sawdust or dirt), wiped them and air-dried them, then started drawing various building features on them, from windows, to doors, to roofs and chimneys. The possibilities are endless: you can have hobbit hole doors and windows, doors of any colour, windows with curtains… Since you have 6 sides to work with, it means you can draw and build all sorts of crazy buildings!

We had these rectangular blocks from Daiso too, which were half the size of the cubes. These I drew various vehicles, fences and brick wall patterns. I'm still working on them, but the boys are all excited about them, and have been requesting construction vehicles in strange colors, and Lil J has been pestering me to draw him into some of the vehicles!

If you're working with Sharpies, I think the fine point ones are better, since the ink tends to spread out when you draw on the wood. Ours were purchased off Amazon, but no longer ship for free to SG. However, I'm thinking of getting this set with ultra-fine tips, since its now on offer and qualifies for free global shipping! As with working with all permanent markers, please use them in a well-ventilated area, and keep them away from kids unless you want a stripy sofa and graffitied walls!

PS: You can also check out this alternative version using acrylic paints from Mer Mag. I love their simple lines and soothing colors!