Handmade Holidays, Part 4

Well, didn't mean to leave you hanging, but I've been searching and searching for something to make for my 4-yr-old boy! He loves robots, action figures, Iron Man, DSi games, and things of that nature. He's a funny guy and loves to joke around. He also loves to build. I knew that my skills in robotics and plastic were limited, so I concentrated on the building. Building sets are expensive! He wants a Transformer Lego set that costs $18 just for a single little character. Lincoln Logs, Legos, Tinkertoys, Erector Sets, and all the others are crazy expensive ranging from about $20 to 100s. A real simple idea is to cut pieces of wood into blocks and sand and paint them. Another is to cut dados into wood boards and make my own squared "Lincoln Logs." I didn't really want cheap cardboard blocks, as in this house they would become dog toys or crushed under the more weighty toys.

He also has a lot of toys, inherited from the previous four children and some new ones of his own. He plays with most of them and we have a toy box. However, the little action figures and plastic blocks that he does own get left in the bottom. When he gets in the mood to build, the playroom gets destroyed because he has to throw out all the other toys to reach the bottom. So we need an organizer.

Not having $50 to drop on a storage unit, I'm trying to find the best way to build our own. I'm once again leaning toward using wood and PVC pipe or dowels. The actual form of the shelves is simply three pieces of wood connected with dowels.  We also thought about using the inexpensive clear storage bins you can find at dollar stores.

I couldn't find anything similar to this, so I'll probably have to do a tutorial on that one as well. Sorry this one isn't chock full of ideas, but this is the toughest one yet! Ideas? Suggestions?