Toddler Busy Board

I actually have a tutorial for you today. The other day I was noticing that my youngest daughter has a thing for buckles, zippers, velcro, really anything that she can pull apart and put back together. She seemed content to play with her buckles on her highchair but I decided to make something a little more fun and portable for her. The idea is similar to a busy book, but less time consuming to make!

I grabbed some supplies from the dollar store and around the house and spent a grand total of $5. Awesome right??

To make your own for your little one you'll need:

- a canvas
- some paint and paintbrush
- a glue gun
- velcro (I got the kind that was already adhesive, not the kind you have to sew on)

The rest you can be creative with. I used, magnets, ribbon, string, a few beads, and pictures that are laminated.

I painted the canvas with three coats of acrylic paint just to make it a nicer colour. Than I decided where I wanted my items to be placed on the canvas. For some of the items (the pictures and the coin purse) I simply velcroed them to canvas. I wanted them to be removable. The string with the beads and the ribbon, I actually glued to the canvas with my glue gun. She's been playing with it for quite a while and it seems to be holding up quite well. If you have another more permanent idea, let me know!

My 3 year old loves the board too!

You can be as creative with this project as you want. I left some room on the canvas so I could add things as she gets a bit older and more hands on. You can also make it more appropriate for an older child. If you are using small items such as beads, please supervise them so they don't accidentally swallow one!

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A Fun Playroom {In Progress}

(If you are a regular reader, you aren't going crazy. We're doing a little spring decorating over here on our little blog. Thanks for being patient as we "tweak" things here and there!)

I might have a problem with decorating. Okay, maybe not a problem. But I never seem to finish a project. Things in our home are always changing; things are moving here and there. Nothing stays the same.

That is why I am welcoming you today to step inside our new playroom, aka, the old craft room!

Yes. I changed my mind and decided to turn the craft room into a playroom for Gavin and eventually, Cameron too. Why you might ask?

Well. I never seemed to actually do any crafting in this room. I had everything set up nicely (for the most part), but I would haul my supplies out to the table and craft out where I was with Jesse and Gavin. I didn't like to be alone in that room.

I still have all my supplies in this room (as you can see on the yellow dresser), but now Gavin has his own area where he can play and be creative.

To spark some of that creativity in Gavin, I decided to make one wall a full chalkboard wall. He loves it! I was somewhat nervous about making a whole wall black, especially since I am more the light and bright type of person, but I like it!

I hung up a few empty white frames just to break up the total darkness of the wall. 

I gathered all of the children's books in our house and put them on the bookcase (from IKEA) along with my collection of Bobbsey Twin books (has anybody ever read them??) and Nancy Drew books, passed down to me from my mom. Toys and blocks went into two containers on the bottom shelf for Gavin to access them easily.

On the other side of the room, sits a futon, perfect for overnight guests and reading books. I do have a bit more work to do in this room, as you can see in this corner.

For now though, I love that Gavin has his own place to play, read, and create. Some toys do make their way out into the living room during the day, but he is very good to help clean up before bed.

Here's my list of things I still want to do:

• Find a rug 
• Make a window treatment
• Make and hang kid friendly art 
• Hang something to display Gavin's pictures (which are beautiful scribbles) 
• Recover more pillows for the futon (it's not very comfortable to sit on) 

 I realize that I haven't shown you the kids' room (it's not finished) or the coat closet (it's also not finished). Let's just say I'm keeping you in suspense...I'll finish them soon someday.

(If you want to see some of my ideas that I have been pinning for the playroom, click here.) 

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Let There Be Bathroom Light

Sometimes I think that our home renovations will never get finished. At least for my basement, and deck, and pretty much every part of this house. Part of the problem is that I have two toddlers and it's hard to get things done, and the other part of the problem is that my husband is rarely home to be able to do those things for me.

My bathroom has been a storage room for a year now. Kind of depressing.

It's a little frustrating but I know it's a part of life, right??

Over the weekend, we did get a few things done. We were wandering around Home Depot (love that place!!) and found a deal on bathroom wall sconces that we couldn't pass up. All the way to the checkout and home, my husband joked about how we would set the box in the unfinished bathroom and in about a year or so, he would have time to get them up. I joked along thinking to myself that it was probably more true than not.

We got home and later that afternoon, my husband surprised me by taking them out of the box and installing them for me!

No one is more surprised about this than me and I think they look fantastic!

They look a little off in this picture, but I promise they are straight!

That is one less thing on our to-do list. Here's what the rest of it looks like:

- find a mirror
- install the sink, countertop, and faucets, and hardware on the cabinet
- install the toilet
- touch up the paint on the walls
- finish putting the trim up
- install a drop ceiling and pot lights

So really, there are more things on the list than we've accomplished. But in my mind, every little bit helps!

Have you finished any little home renos lately? Tell us about them!

Simple Sensory Bin

Confession: We have been watching a lot of Diego ("Go Diego Go!") and Curious George...okay, mainly the whole Treehouse channel and the children's section of Netflix. 

With Cameron's arrival, plus Gavin having a cold/flu, plus me needing some rest time, and now us helping Cameron fight his first cold (saddest thing ever is seeing your little newborn sneeze and cough), equals a lot of T.V. watching in our house. Anything to keep Gavin out of the fridge to grab a yogurt or whatever else he can get his hands on. (True boy. Always eating.) 

(Do you see how Cameron caught his cold? At least Gavin loves his baby brother!) 

As much as I love that curious little monkey (I'm referring to Curious George here) and tolerate that adventure loving Diego, enough is enough with the T.V. I wanted to find more activities that Gavin can do without resorting to Netflix. 

After making some birthday cards for family members and making towers with mega blocks, I remembered an idea that I had seen on Pinterest awhile ago. Sensory bins. 

This is one of my favourite memories from kindergarten, besides the huge playhouse that was in the corner of the classroom. Hello playing house! Our classroom had a huge plastic bin of dried rice that we played with. I loved the feeling of the rice falling through my fingers. With those great memories and pictures from Pinterest, I set to making my own for Gavin. It took maybe 2 minutes to put together. 

I grabbed an empty plastic container that is suppose to be to hold scrapbooking paper. I found some lentils that I always intended to make into soup and a few almost empty bags of rice. I poured them into the bin, found some spoons, small containers, cars, and a boat and sat Gavin down on the floor to have some fun! Messy. But fun! 

Make sure that you have the broom handy for this activity. Also, keep an eye on your toddler. You don't want them swallowing any dried rice...or throwing it around the room. Not saying that happened with us...just warning it could happen. :) 

An easy activity that cost me $0. 

Happy weekend!