Program Idea: Custom Designer Toy Workshop

As we are heading into the holiday season, I thought I would post a workshop idea that is very dear to my heart, designer vinyl toy workshops. Designer vinyl toys , are art toys designed by artists and collected by adults and teens. Art toy companies such as Toy2R , Medicom and Kidrobot , enlist artists to create unique variants of their famous characters such as the Qee , Bearbrick and Dunny .  These designs are then boxed into "blind boxes" so that the collector does not know what variant they are purchasing.

Most larger art toy manufacturers have also come out with "blank" versions of their art toys, so that fans can create their own unique characters using paint and markers. As you can see from above, I have made my own designer toy using ToyQube's Kaniza blank toys. "Mr. Sweetie Toof" was created using Sharpie Poster Paint Markers (these are the best for painting custom toys) and took me about two hours to complete. If you would like to host your own custom toy workshop, all you need are blank toys and Sharpie Poster Paint Markers (medium and fine point). For best results have your teens sketch out the character they would like to make before they begin painting as the paint is hard to remove once it dries.  I have posted some links below for further instructions.

KidRobot's Guide to painting DIY vinyl toys featuring "munny"
Buy Kidrobot custom DIY "Munny" toys here
For limited budgets try the DIY Qee keychains 
I used ToyQube's Kaniza toys for my workshop, (discounts for large orders)
Sharpie Poster Paint Markers can be found online at Dick Blick Art Supplies