Coffee bar

Posted on September 15, 2014

Coffee; an absolute necessity when you have a toddler. This coffee bar houses all of the essential items needed for the morning brew. The end. 

The project is assembled with pocket holes, self-tapping screws, and Gorilla Glue. The pocket hole system I use is called a Kreg Jig. (www.kregtool.com) It is a handy tool that allows you to drill precise pocket holes and create strong joints. The Kreg Jig is awesome. My husband makes fun of how excited I get every time I use it. 

The shelving support pieces are cut with a chop saw at a 45 degree angle on both sides (to form an equilateral trapezoid shape), then glued to the vertical wall rail and the shelf. The mugs hang from simple 3/4 inch brass cup hooks. If you’d like more information, leave me a comment.

A little artist's crayon block

Posted on September 14, 2014

Mali expresses herself with art. “False,” as Dwight Shrute would say, but if you think about a toddler and her mood swings, there is absolute truth to that statement. When she is a roaring beast, her color choice is usually black, the lines bold and angular. When she is a singing pixie, her purple crayon glides cheerfully in circles. Despite the mood, there are always several crayons scattered about the table and floor. 

Enter The Crayon Block; similar to the one used in my classroom. The block makes it easier for a hand to grasp ONE crayon, use it, and then return it to its spot. It may sound lame, but this is a big deal; the classroom was clean and organized.

Is this logic applicable to the work space of a toddler? The table was set with the paper and the block. She sat down, giggled, took one crayon out, colored, then placed it back into its spot, and chose another. 

One crayon at a time. 

Amazing. 

Then she started to belly laugh because she had invented a new game – dump all of the crayons out, and put them back… mostly

Sandbox

Posted on September 11, 2014

As a child, I always wanted a sandbox. When I saw this plan on ana-white.com, I immediately wanted to build it for Mali (and for me).  The ingenious way that the cover folded to become the sandbox benches was so smart and cool! I needed to build it.

The first couple of times we went shopping for lumber, the employees would stop and ask me, “Oh, what’s her name? How old is she?” At that point, Mali would charm them with her ability to answer for herself, and then proceed to ask them the same questions in return. They would look at me in amazement, smile and say, “Wow, ok. So, do you need anything?”  (Yes, a day off.)

Any trip thereafter sounded like this, “Oh look, Mali is back with her mommy. Hi Mali, how are you? What project are you building today?”  It was hilarious; we had become regulars along with the local contractors overnight.

This sandbox has certainly had its share of dump truck excavating and sandcastle creating. It is a play structure, it is going to take a beating.  Mali also likes to tap dance on the box when it is closed…

The stain for the entire structure is deck grade.  The floor of the sandbox is lined with weed block screening, which is a huge help in keeping the grass and weed from growing.  A blue tarp is placed over the top of the box in order to keep rain and snow out.