Lockwasher has a fantastic set of images of toy vehicles he's made out of found objects, mostly old Electrolux vacuum cleaners and metal lunch boxes.


Photo by Lockwasher, shared via Flickr.

I love the look and class of these art objects (as well as the gorgeous robots and bugs featured in other sets and on his website) but am also inspired by the concept behind the camper-style trailers made of old lunch boxes to do something fast and cheap that my daughter would love just as much. (Kids are easier to please than you think - try making a paint sample vehicle sometime and you'll see what I mean.) You can pick up a new, white metal lunchbox in the right design for as little as $8 on Amazon, or scour garage sales for a while to find one for more or less, depending on how nice it looks and how old it is. But true "vintage" lunch boxes might contain lead, so going with a new one would be a safer route.

The far more common side-opening style, which you can get new for a cool $2.39, would work better for a homemade play mailbox.