Taggie Teething Toys & Natural Olive Oil and Beeswax Wood Polish

Wooden teething toys are a great, all natural way for little fellas to work those new chompers. One of my favorites (and Baby Brother's favorites, too!) is a taggie toy with a wooden teething ring. The wooden part is great for baby's gums and the fabric taggie adds textural interest and gives baby something to hold on to. They are perfect for baby shower gifts or stocking stuffers. And the best part is they are so easy to make! Today I'll show you how I make the taggie rings and also how to make an all natural beeswax & olive oil sealer. Let's get started!

What you need:

• wooden rings (I like these)
• two fabric scraps about 4" x 15" or so (I like to do one side flannel and one side quilting cotton. you have lots of wiggle room on the size too, just find what you like!)
• thread

Start by cutting your fabric squares in the kind of shape below. It goes to a point on the short ends and the long sides dip in a little. It doesn't have to be exact. Stack the squares with right sides together and stitch around the edge with a 1/2" seam allowance, leaving a couple inches open on one long side for turning. Clip around the curved portions.

Flip it right-side out and push out the corners. Tuck in the fabric at the opening and pin it closed. Press the whole thing to get the edges nice and crisp. Then topstitch all around the outside edge with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Then just loop it through your wooden ring.

If you're leaving the wood raw, you're done! If you want to seal the rings with an all natural wood polish, keep reading....

What you need:

• one part beeswax
• three parts olive oil
• glass jar

I used beeswax from a local honey farmer and our regular olive oil. You also need a glass jar to mix them in but make sure you pick something that you'll only be using for this from now on, it will be ruined for anything else! I just used an empty jar from our recycling. Also make sure whatever you stir with and any other equipment that touches the beeswax are disposable or unloved. Start by combining the olive oil and beeswax in the glass jar. I've read that grating or chopping up the beeswax makes it easier to work with, but it will likely ruin any grater or knife so pick up something cheap from the dollar store if you want to do that. I just threw the chunk in and stirred a lot. No problems.

Put the jar in a pot of water and bring it to a low boil. Stir with something disposable like a popsicle stick or wooden skewer until the beeswax is melted.

Remove it from the heat. I let it cool just a little so it wouldn't melt my plastic jar, then poured it into the jars before it set up. I stirred every couple minutes until it started to thicken up just to make sure the oil & beeswax didn't separate. Pretty easy right?

To use the wood polish use a cloth or paper towel to rub it into the wood. Let it sit a few minutes then wipe off any excess. Then tie the taggie on and you're done!

The wood polish gives the rings just a bit of different look - slightly darker with a more defined grain. In the pic below the ring on the left is raw and the ring on the right is polished. Really it's just a matter of personal preference! I find some people prefer the raw because they don't want anything extra in baby's mouth, while others prefer polished because it helps prevent staining on the wood. We've used both and I don't actually have strong feelings either way so far. Super helpful. I know.

And now it's time for the brother show! First up, Big Brother making pie crusts (you're welcome future daughter-in-law):

In these two Big Brother set up a shady spot for a breakfast picnic while I worked on the garden. He's always looking out for his baby brother.

I'd love to hear if you give these taggie toys a try! What is your favorite DIY baby toy?

P.S. Don't forget to check out our big boy room reveal and enter the Sherwin-Williams giveaway here!