The Giggle Garden: DIY

*taken from the song Rock Hudson sings in Pillow talk

Pinterest is great. It is seriously the best place to find DIY projects. Before, I would have to endlessly search google, youtube, or ask a Lowe's or Home Depot employee, only to get little/no results or blank stares.

The last week I was feeling pretty good, my hips weren't hurting as much, and I had a little bit more mobility. So I decided to tackle a few projects. I figured, I either get them done now, or have to wait several months to be in the mood to do anything major again.

So my #1 project was to re-arrange the kid's room because it is ALWAYS a disaster and it drives me crazy. The biggest problems, besides for my children's fascination to dump all their toys out of their buckets and play 'train' and 'fort' with the empty buckets, (why do they even have toys?!) was their books and stuffed animals.

At the time we had two hand-me-down doll house looking things, one that would hold all their books (barely) and one, if you tried really hard, and if you're good at tetris, you could get all their stuffed animals to fit. However, with Reese and Everett's need to try and fit themselves into small places (I'll get back to THAT), they always dumped all their books and animals out just to sit in the doll houses.

SOOoooo.. I searched Pinterest for 'stuffed animal storage', and I came across a few options, however, I found a problem with each one.

Problem: $45 average.
My kids would dump out animals and wear this as a hat, or a tiny fort.

Problem: $58 baskets, $250 bookcase.
too easy to dump out, and cute wire buckets are a fortune.

Problem: So it's pretty awesome.. but not $450 awesome.

Problem: tooo small, awesome price $4.99 or something, but with my kid's animals, I could maybe fit one in each cubby. I would have to buy 10. so... $49.90

Problem: $5-$25.
If you have active toddlers you know perfectly why this is a very very very BAD IDEA. I can just picture me walking in on Reese and Everett, and having Everett in the high hammock and Reese trying to swing from the dangling chain...... then everyone falling down and breaking bones.

THEN I came across this one:

Problem: $157 w/o shipping...
but.....the design....
Now that's what I'm talking about!!

This is just PERFECT. The kid's can't climb in, they can put their toys back easily, they can all fit, it's perfect.

Then I tried to get a DIY on this thing... and it wasn't happening. Some husband put a DIY explanation, and I thought he was too 'thorough' (not really, he listed parts and said nonsense). SO.. it was up to me to try and figure this baby out.

I was looking online for some bookcases (cheap and non-fancy) for the kid's room, and I came across one from Walmart for $15, and it had some decent reviews. So I was all set and ready to go to pick it up, when the thought occurred to me.

Instead of building the 'zoo' (aka animal prison) out of 2x3's and dowels and having it NOT match, why not just buy another bookshelf, and turn it into a zoo? It will match, not be too tall (R&E's room has vaulted ceilings, like a barn shape), and it will be able to fit all their animals.

So that's what I did.

Here are my materials:

Drill: $0 (husband's)

Bookshelf: $15 Walmart (Click to go to Walmart website)

Bungee Cords: $2.50/2pack- I bought four... ($10 LOWES)

1/2 inch Spade Drill Bit: $3.00 (or if husband already has one $0 LOWES)

So here it goes (sorry for the lack of pictures... I just wanted to get it done):

1. I first measured out my holes for the bungee chords. The shelf measured a tiny bit over 28 inches, so I measured out 7 holes, 4 inches apart, 2 inches from either end, and 2 inches in.

**Make sure you are drilling 2" from the 'pretty finished' side of the board, it will be the side with the finished trim**

2. I attached the drill bit to the drill .. and made 1/2 inch circles at each 4" marking, on the top and bottom shelves. (I saved the two shelves that came with the bookshelf, I didn't need them for this project...)

3. Then I put together the bookshelf according to the instructions

4. So now I had a bookshelf with 14 holes in it... Now it was time for the BARS.

At first, I debated back and forth on how to do this part. Do I attach hooks and hook the bungee cords? Do I drill holes and try to fit them through the holes? Do I do the hooks on the bottom and knots at the top? Do they just make bungee string without the hooks so I could weave it in & out of the holes? Or do I just go with regular camping string and make it super tight? Or do I go with the wooden dowels?

I eventually decided to do holes on the bottom AND top shelf with bungee cords.. and here is why:

First, I found out they don't make bungee string. According to Home Depot and Lowes, I am a crazy person for asking for Bungee String. I just wanted a stretchy string DANG IT!

So I decided to go with Bungee cords. I wanted to have the 'bars' be tight, but stretchable, since the kids have some larger animals. The wooden dowels will break and the camping string will become loose.

5. Attaching the bungee cords. Here is what I decided to do:

Take your bungee cord.

Take one end, slide the hook to the other end, and cut off this tip.

Once you cut this end off, slide the tags and the two hooks OFF the rope.

The other end will look like this.

Thread the cord under your bookcase (it will be hidden by the small panel on the bottom). The 1/2 inch hole will not allow the pre-manufactured knot to pass, it will serve as an anchor.

* you may want to add a washer to hide the hole, so it looks a little prettier, I decided not to, just so the kids wouldn't have something else to try and grab or pull off....

Continue to thread through the matching top hole.

pull through, pull tight, tie off, and burn the ends (so the string doesn't start to unravel)

Continue this, 7 more times and voila! You have yourself a cool Animal Zoo ... all for $25!!!!
AMAZING!!

So here it is.. Not über impressive, but it gets the job done. If you are feeling adventurous you can always paint the bookshelf and add moulding to make it all fancy shmancy. The possibilities are endless!

And my kids LOVE IT. *sigh* so easy to please.

....and I hear even Kurt likes it... but I have yet for him to tell me... I heard it from Reese...

One of my New Years 'resolutions' was to learn a new skill.. like sewing, or knitting, or quilting, or crocheting.

I see SOooo many cute things, especially on ETSY that I want to get..

then I look at the price and..

it's $85.....

then I freak out and find another listing... ok ...

$50?!!!

Then I have a mini break down and a self-loathing time-out, cursing the day that I never learned to crochet.

Luckily one of my friends had purchased a hook and some yarn because we were going to learn together (we just never got around to it...) and left it at my house... in a bag.. hanging on the door.

So there it was.. lurking .. giving me the 'laaaaaaazy eye'....

So, after the self torment of trying to rationalize a $50 purchase for something made from a $3 hook and a $5 ball of yarn, I decided I better suck it up and YouTube {the crochet} out of it.

I found a great Australian lady with fabulous long nails to teach me the basics and show me how to make some cool things.

My first attempt was to make a scarf?? I don't really know what it turned out to be... I think I was just trying to practice holding the hook and getting used to it. But, Reese thinks I made her a scarf, so we'll just let her keep on thinking THAT....

Next she showed me how to make a newborn cocoon.... I decided I wanted to modify it a little (different yarn, larger stitch), so here's my finished project:

(hint hint.. if you are having a baby I would like to use this prop........)

Here's her YouTube video: Basic Baby Cocoon

After feeling pretty confident in knowing the lingo, I decided I wanted to make a beanie for little bo.

On a side note: I have discovered that crocheting is like reading a book for me. Once I get started I can not put it down until I have finished it, or it's 3:30 in the morning and I'm in that weird limbo state where I'm not sure if I'm still awake or I've been crocheting a bow and arrow for Katniss. {Yay for March 23rd!}

Sooo... while discovering all sorts of crazy crochet people on YouTube, I came across the *perfect* beanie for Everett.

For those of you who don't know.. my son LOVES Angry Birds. If he sees a phone, any phone, he expects the game to be on it, and ready for him to play.. and then you will be his best friend, until your battery runs out.

Anyway, so here's his Grumpy Pig Angry Birds beanie.....

Ok, ok, so I got fancy with the camera angles.... I think it turned out pretty cool.

Here's her video: Grumpy Pig Beanie

I had to modify/change a few things, I didn't really like the way hers looked, plus it was WAY too big for my little bo.

When Everett saw it this morning he LOVED it. He hasn't taken it off since.. well, he did take a bath today, so I took it to take some pictures of it... but other than that I think it's his favorite.

And THAT is the best feeling EVER!

My next big adventure in crocheting is to make a cute beanie for Reesie. I found a super adorable beanie idea (that she's not too thrilled about), but I think it's in my expertise range of beginner. However, it is not a YouTube video... it's just a 'pattern'

or more like a foreign language.

Take a look at this:

(I mean WTHeck?)

I'm sure this is super easy, and maybe I've already done this before... but what the heck does this say? I really need someone to walk me through this crochet language so I can crochet more than what
patient-women-who-make-YouTube-videos can offer.

So, for now, Reese will have to settle with something from YouTube.. or another video tutorial....

Now, the question remains.....where can I find a doggie-princess-crown-rapunzel-owl beanie tutorial?

hmm.. this may be a little tough.

OH MY GOSH! I FORGOT PICTURES OF EVERETT!! HERE THEY ARE: