The Magnet Board and Basketball Hoop

We used the space under the window for another Children's Museum of Phoenix inspired play area.

Introducing!:

The Magnet Board

It has lots of pvc pipe tubes and elbows to use to make a ball run as well as just some fun magnets to play with.

Jake posed for this picture.

He is so funny sometimes.

And, in one corner we moved our basketball hoop (that was in our family room) up to the playroom.

We found the giant tubs at Bashas when we found the noodles for the noodle forest. It was a good night to stop at Bashas for some milk!

They were $4.50 and matched the colors so great.

One has balls and the other has vehicles.

Well, there you have it. Our playroom.

Let me know if you would like any different pictures or information on any specific project!

A Noodle Forest

Have you ever been to the Children's Museum of Phoenix?

Well, they have this awesome noodle forest and the first time I saw it I was already trying to figure out how to replicate it (in miniature).

Well, here you have it!

The whole family hanging our contraption.

I should probably mention now that this picture below is taken from the door. To the immediate right is The Tree and Mailbox. And to the left is a short wall with a mirror hanging on it, and then as you turn the corner, that is the closet.

In this picture you can see the whole top side of the "Noodle Wall" with the Super Simple Wall Hangings above and also a little bit of how we hung the thing.

And, in case you were wondering about the paint colors since they always seem to be changing - we have two walls that are green (the North and East) and two walls that are Orange (The South and West). It actually looks pretty cool, and was completely determined by what colors of "Ooops" paint we could get our hands on. :)

Want some details?:

We found pool noodles at Bashas for $.65 and that was by far the cheapest we saw including buying in bulk online. We have mostly those, but then had to break down and buy some Dollar Tree ones to finish the project. (Those are the shorter yellow ones.) There are a total of 34 noodles making this the most expensive playroom project by far.

We attached the noodles to some 2' by 4' peg board with some nylon rope that we strung through the noodles and the holes in the pegboard, tied in a knot and then burned the ends. We had to drill the holes in the pegboard a bit larger to accommodate the rope we used.

The peg board is attached to the roof with eyebolt screws. We were lucky to find some rafters in good positioning. There are also six eyebolt bolts in the pegboard. We started with the rope only on the ends, but then added the center support when we noticed a definite sag in the pegboard.

That's it. The hardest part was finding noodles!

Oh well. We are officially the coolest parents ever.

The Tree and Mailbox

I completely stole this idea from here. ...

And, I absolutely love it!

It looks like we need another apple... hmm.

The hubs built the ladder with much precision.

The apples have velcro on back and Jake already knows how to pick them and put them back.

And the mailbox? Genius!

(I can say that because it isn't gloating, it is complimenting this lady!)

Jake thinks that apples from the tree should go in the mailbox.

Who am I to correct him?

Wanna hear something else completely awesome!?

I had all the paint = free!

And the wood for the ladder? Cull lumber from Home Depot! = $2.00

Evolution of a Cape

This post is ridiculously overdue.

Months ago for a girls night activity, I was asked to figure out how to recreate this cape (below) from pottery barn.

At first, I took the literal approach. I traced the cape onto some butcher paper and made prototype number one. The only structural difference between this cape and the original is the fabric. This fabric is cotton because that is what I had on hand. This cape is made of three main pattern pieces and then a band at the collar as well as flaps for velcro. Having the three main pieces made the cape have a back and then two arm pieces that wrapped around the wearer's body. A little Dracula style.

Next, I tried a different fabric since the cotton really wasn't flying well.

This is still the same structure, but with one side in poly satin for shine and flight and the other side in cotton for color and whimsy.

It turned out to just be too much cape.

My next cape was just a little too far in the opposite direction. Too little cape.

Trying to find a middle ground, I ditched to two side arm pieces.

This cape was alright, but not fantastic. I put the velcro tabs too low, and that bothered me.

Then, it hit me. Simplify. Make the whole cape one piece!

I immediately pulled out my pattern paper (a large roll of butcher paper) and drew half an a-line shape with half of a U shape where the back of the neck would be.

I cut the pattern out on the bold of two colors of satin, sewed on some velcro. Sewed the two pieces right sides together, clipped my edges, flipped it right side out and topstitched.

It turned out great! And teaching others to make it went pretty good too!

Super Simple Wall Hangings

Seriously -

MDF

a little paint

Mod Podge

scrapbook paper

Done.

My hubs cut these squares from some scrap wood from Home Depot ($.51!)

They are 81/2 by 81/2 only because that was how it worked out with the size MDF we had.

After painting the edges of the wood, I cut the scrapbooking paper to 81/4 by 81/4 and mod podged it to the wood.

We hung ours with a brad nailer and an air compressor, but a simple hammer and small nails would do the trick.

A Dresser for the new Playroom

The playroom is almost done, but until I am ready to do the big reveal - I will show some smaller projects that we did along the way.

This dresser/bookcase/nightstand cost us $5 at a garage sale.

If you add the cost of the knobs, scrapbooking paper and Mod Podge to the total cost of this piece we might be set back a whole $10.

And Voila!

I painted this whole thing sitting on my kitchen floor and then I Mod Podged some scrapbooking paper from the arsenal to the fronts. The hubs installed some knobs and a handle and there you have it. A new look for cheap!

Small House Updates

I am gearing up to share some bigger projects we have been working on here, but for now I am going to catch up some older stuff.

First, I made a quick toile valance for our laundry room out of a remnant. I just hemmed the edges put in one pleat and pinned it up hiding the pins. It is kind of silly, but it really makes my laundry room feel more fancy, or cute, or workable, or just more of a part of the house and not the garage. I love it.

Another simple change we made was purchasing this mail sorter (from Hobby Lobby) that I had been eyeing. The bottom has six small drawers and we use them for common "junk drawer" items freeing up one very valuable kitchen drawer. YAY.

And, in our entry, where there once was a calendar is now a dry erase board/key rack. It is great to have a place to hang our keys when we are carrying a million things into the house. Okay, maybe not a million, but on most nights I carry: a purse, a lunch box, a diaper bag, mail, a sippy, a water bottle, keys and an almost two year old. In one trip. Really. I have often thought that I should get someone to take a picture, but if there were someone here to do so - I would make them help. :P

Oh, and this board is also useful for the hubs and I to communicate one very important thing.

Dishes are: CLEAN!