Hello there, everyone. This is my first post at Pixar Planet, but I’ve been lurking here for a while. In February, my wife and I have discovered that we’re going to have our first child! Our boy, Jack Always, is to be born on September 23rd. We almost immediately started brainstorming his nursery. After toying with both an “Adventure Time” themed room and one based on “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” one night at work, I somewhat impulsively started eBaying several toys featured in the “Toy Story” flicks. I already owned Woody and Buzz, but within a few hours I had ordered a Hamm piggy-bank, Rex, and a bucket of Little Green Army Men. When I went home to my wife that morning, it was decided: Jack Always would have a Toy Story room.
The first part of this build consisted of me buying up all the main toys in the flicks. At first I wanted to limit myself to Andy’s toys that survived part 3…but more and more, I’m tempted to pick up Bonnie’s dolls and Lotso’s gang.
As for the room itself, I decided that it would be based primarily on Andy’s room in “Toy Story 2,” but in the end, bits and pieces of all three flicks would end up a part of Jack’s room. I searched through Pixar Planet for inspiration for every detail, and I found a lot of the artwork that is now hanging from Jack’s walls here too!
On Jack’s door is a replica of a sign that Andy has posted on HIS door in part one. I found a jpeg of the original sign and using Crayola markers and crayons, I traced over it, replacing Andy’s name with Jack’s and Molly’s name with “Mommy.”
After repainting the walls a nice blue, I set about sourcing star-shaped wall decals (Andy’s room in part one has clouds, parts two and three have stars). I tracked down a seller on etsy that sold star decals that were perfect matches for the ones onscreen and custom-printed the sizes and quantity I needed.
A trip to Ikea netted me the most cost-effective replica of Andy’s chest of drawers. I decided early on that I would settle for furniture that almost but not entirely resembled the stuff Andy had in HIS room, hoping that with a few modifications, I would be satisfied. The pulls on this chest still have to be replaced or at the very least, they have to be painted white.
A red swing-arm lamp is featured prominently on Andy’s desk. In real-life, it was nigh IMPOSSIBLE to find one that matched the film’s version. I ended up buying a black swing-arm lamp at Target, taking it apart, repainting it red and rewiring it with a white cord.
I bought a bulletin board that matches the one Andy uses to display his art. Here at Pixar Planet is where I found Toodles’ fullsize replicas of Andy’s crayon drawings and printed them out. I also put up a couple pics of my now 15 year-old nephew…he was the former owner of this room and a big “Toy Story” fan himself when he was younger.
Andy has a mid-century peg-legged desk in his room. Seeing as mid-century peg-legged desks can cost upwards of $500 (and the fact that my kid won’t need a desk at all for at LEAST five years) I elected to hold off on that purchase. I DID, however, pick up a vintage student chair that matches the one Andy has. For now, I’m calling it a “reading chair.”
Finding a decent replica of Andy’s bookcase was pretty difficult. In the end, I settled for this one. It’s finish doesn’t match the film, but it’s structure does.
Uhhh…they must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.
In the flicks, Andy has three blue wall-mounted shelves above his bookcase (where the the broken toys are exiled to). A set of unfinished pine shelves were bought at Michaels, sanded smooth and covered with a coat of blue Krylon. After buying a stuffed Wheezy at Disney’s California Adventure to sit on the shelf, I decided to sculpt a size-accurate Wheezy out of Sculpey instead.
Someone here made a replica of Andy’s teepee-covered trashcan by drawing out a pattern on Photoshop, printing it out and wrapping the print around a can of Lincoln Logs. I used his pattern and printed out the teepees on waterslide decal paper and slid them onto a trashcan I’d painted with Krylon Bauhaus Gold.
In part one, Andy shares a room with his baby sister, Molly. Once again, Ikea provided me with the closest (cheapest) replica of Molly’s crib.
A non-accurate hidden detail that always makes me smile.
A little seen background prop in the parts one and two is Andy’s Mickey Mouse wristwatch wall clock. I actually HAD this same clock when I was a kid, but in the movies, the clock is solid blue. I eBayed the same gold and black version I had when I was a kid and repainted the face. I bought some blue vinyl and the wife and I fashioned new straps for the watch. I completely fabricated the buckle of the watch with MDF, Bondo and some wood dowel.
Another awesome find from the boards. No work here…just a trip to Kinko’s and $25.
Finding a bedside table similar to Andy’s was ALSO a bit difficult. A carpenter on eBay made this one for me. All I did was stain the pine to match the bookcase and replace the hardware with a pull closer to what Andy had.
Like the red swing-arm lamp, a red, round table lamp was ALSO very difficult to source. I ended up buying a green glass lamp base at Target and after repainting it, I topped it with a shade I found at Walmart.
A British company was offering an exact replica of Andy’s very distinctive bed…for WAY MORE than I was willing to spend. I decided to modify a headboard that was a pretty close match. Since I had little experience woodworking, I was a bit scared…but I gooned my way through it. I jigsawed out the middle portion of the headboard and the moon cut-out. Afterwards, I ordered a couple 4" wooden balls and mounted them on the existing posts. A couple layers of stain later and I’m EXTREMELY happy with the end result.
Bedding was bought at Target…but I might replace the space-themed pillow sham with a cowboy-themed one as per part two.
Jonason, creator of the Live-Action Toy Story project sent me the file he used to make his “ABC Round-Up” poster. I had my buddy re-draw it on Photoshop and took another trip to Kinko’s. You’d be surprised how tricky it was to get the poster to hang correct with the bottom left corner flipping up like that!
This last bit of business isn’t “Toy Story” related at all, but I wanted to include a shot of Jack’s closet. It currently holds his mother’s clothes…
…or does it? That’s right…I made a secret Nerf Arsenal compartment for my still-gestating son. The idea is to present it to him upon his 5th birthday…but if the little scamp finds it BEFORE he turns 5, he still ain’t gettin’ it.
Also, here’s pic of what’s getting finished in my workshop. I’ve never painted in such a way before, so it’s taking a while. Thankfully, I won’t need it right away…but my plan is that I’m going to lock up ALL of the toys except Woody and present the key to the toy chest to my boy after we watch all three Toy Stories together at the same time. Hopefully it’ll blow his mind (in a good way).
There’s still a few more details that I have to tweak, but for now, I’m calling this room complete. I’ve just ordered a Pixar ball from Slink and once it arrives, it’ll be the topping on the cake. Thanks for looking and thanks to everyone here at Pixar Planet for helping me make this room a reality.
-Jonaas (and Jack Always!)
