All aboard the name train!!!

I am so excited that my husband got a new job at the railroad! It is going to be such a blessing for our family. I have been trying to nail down a theme for my sons first birthday party and when we heard the news that Daddy is a railroad conductor it pretty much decided the theme for us....TRAINS! So I have begun searching the internet for great ideas. There are a bunch out there. I found a name train that I really wanted to get for him. But it was about $35 and I really just wanted it for a centerpiece....a little expensive.  So me and my mom went to hobby lobby and put our brains together. I found all the items I needed for about $8 and then paint was another $2...so grand total...about $10!! And this train will perfectly match his birthday party!

Here is what I started with:

One wooden train premade from hobby lobby
2 wooden cutouts of each letter of Ethan's name.
Two packages of wheels
1 package of hub caps wooden
a package of small wooden dowels
paint colors needed

I painted up all of the parts. I even painted the insides of the wheels and hub caps. This took a little longer than expected so thank goodness Ethan took a longer nap :)

Then I measured up from the bottom of each letter 1/2" and drilled a hole that was slightly larger than my 1/8" dowel rods. 

I ran the dowel through both letters making little cars out of each letter set. Then I added the wheels and glued the hub caps onto the ends of the dowels. I am so happy with this cute little train! I think it is going to look great as a centerpiece at his birthday party!