Piggy Banks

I got some time this winter to make some nice Christmas gifts for our three children. Initially I wanted to make octagonal ones, but it cut down a lot on complexity to make hexagons.

They're made of 1/4" thick oak. A rabbet is cut out around the hexagonal front and back to support the edges. A slot is cut in the top and a 1 1/4" hole cut in the bottom with a rubber plug.

My wife and I painted the edges with milk paint in colors selected by the children (except Everett who's just a baby). It's the first time I've used milk paint and it was pretty fun! While it's a bit more work, it's nice to know milk paint is natural and mixing the powder with water was neat. It dries fast and we sanded between each coat.

The extra work with milk paint was well worth it! I coated the whole thing in several coats of oil-based spar urethane from a spray can.

As with most of my projects for others, I hope it lasts decades and, most of all, it's useful.