DIY Weekend Project

As mentioned in my last post, Ethan has really taken a liking to books.  Whether it's when we are reading to him or when he's sitting in his room by himself flipping through them.  He really can entertain himself with them for quite some time.  

Anyways, he also has an abundance of stuffed animals everything from raccoons to a sock monkey.  The other day I had an idea.  I thought it would be fun to put his stuffed animals around a table stacked with books, kind of like a tea party.  The picture of it in my head looked good.   So I spent the last two days scouring the internet for the perfect table and chairs for his room.  I have one small obstacle and when I say small I am talking about lil man.  He is roughly 28" tall right now and all of the tables on the market are 20" tall.  I get it, most tables and chairs are meant for 2-3 yr olds but I just can't wait.  

Here are a couple of the ones I really think are cute.  The two sets are ones I would get that would be on the big side but he could grow into.  The coffee table from IKEA is 18" tall so it would actually work a lot better.  The stacking chairs come as short as a seat height of 10" so that would be better but still high.  

If I want to get good use out of a table now, I have two options.  One option would be to get the IKEA table and cutt the legs down several inches before assembling it.  The website states that it's made of solid pine so I think it can be done and its only $39.00 so it wouldn't be that big of a loss if I completely mess it up.   This would give him a small table for right now so he could stand beside it and look through his books.

My other option would be to hit up Lowe's and get some MDF and put one together this weekend.  It sounds simple enough.  I mean if my husband can make cornhole boards all summer then this should be cake, right? Plus it would be fun to sand and paint.  

Before I go any further I want to sneak this in.  Some sweet snuggle time with lil man this morning.

Ok back to what I was saying, so many things to do.  I also want to put together the indoor photography backdrop and flooring for Ethan's 1st birthday smash cake shoot.  I found several How-to's on Pinterest.  I like the easiness of the vinyl wood flooring idea but for a more realistic look they suggest getting some unfinished wood planks that come in packages and simply staining them myself.  The floor portion doesn't seem to complicated or pricey which is great because I have been searching for just the right backdrop for several days now.  I found one on a site called lemondropshop.com.  She really has some great backdrops but the cheapest one is a 5'x5' on polypro for $50.  Now if I was a photographer and used it for my business the cost would not be a big deal but I'm struggling with the idea of paying that his birthday pics.   The name of the one I like is "Blue Grey Grunge".   I love the fact each backdrop has a sample pic or two from photographers that send them in after purchasing the backdrops and using them in their studio.  To be honest, the picture below looks just like how I envision the one I want to put together, down to the color of the wood floor. We'll see how close I can get it. 

Finally, last night's drawing.  The colors are off from the original but I didn't have the right markers so I just had fun with it.  I would have done another one tonight but I haven't had a lot of time today since lil man has been on a needy kick lately.  He use to be like this in previous months when he was going through growth spurts so I'm not sure if that is the case or not.  

Article titled "Kid's Covers Have Grown Up" in PRINT Magazine

I hear lil man crying, gotta go.  Good night.