About

I have been woodworking on and off since I was able to hold a saw.

In 2008 I started making wood toys for my then 3 year old son.

At around the same time a lot of toys from overseas, covered in lead paint flooded the market and left young parents like us worrying about the safety of our children. Being an engineer by trade and a maker by heart I decided to make toys myself. The response from my son as well as friends and family to these toys encouraged my wife and me to start making toys for customers as well. In 2009 we founded 'Story Builder Toys', offering wood toys from my shop and plushies from my wife's.

However, we were not the only ones concerned with lead paint. The Consumer Protection Agency rightfully put testing requirements in place for all new toys. As is so often the case with new regulation, it is not well balanced and puts some businesses at a disadvantage. Small businesses were especially hit hard with the new requirements.

Being a "business-on-the-side" (my wife and I both had other obligations), Story Builder Toys suffered greatly under the new regulations and eventually had to close.

Now, almost a decade and a half later and armed with new skills and experiences in many of the fields required to run a successful business I am returning to my passion of making toys.

As with Story Builder Toys back then, my toys today are meant to be props for your children's imagination, to build new stories every day and eventually be handed down to the next generation of story builders.

May your children have as much fun playing with the toys as I have making them!

All products offered by Simply Hardwood are made in my local shop in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

-Lukas Mueller, Owner Simply Hardwood Toys