Toy Review: B. Toys Squeeze Blocks

For Chanukkah, Logan got some squishy blocks. I just got around to giving them to him but here we go.

Battat B. Elememosqueeze

I discovered Logan's obsession with knocking things over when we were in Florida. Whenever we would build a tower of block, Logan would crawl from wherever he was to attack and knock them down. 

While we used wood blocks there, I liked the idea of him having squishy blocks to play with while he is learning the art of building. He's into throwing things and wooden blocks hurt when they make contact with your body. Plus these are soft and nice for teething!

I actually think Cory might like these blocks as much as Logan. He loves to build the towers high and see Logan come knock them down.

They are a simple classic with a soft, colorful update. There are fun shapes to play with and the blocks each have a different letter and animal on them. Eventually, we'll be able to use them to teach Logan his letters and animals too. I love them and so do Cory and Logan. - 4 stars from each of us!

DIY: Arranging a Wall Collage

Soooo...Baby with a temperature equals no post yesterday, but two posts today! And Logan is feeling better --- bonus!!

Alright, so first I spray painted my frames, then I made templates with them, now it was time to actually put them on the wall and get'er done.

I taped the templates to the wall, arranging and re-arranging multiple times until I got the layout I wanted.

Then I marked the location of the nail on each template. I did this by first measuring the location the nail head would go on the back of the framing and using the level to find the exact measurements on the template marking the spot with a dot.

Next, I layed out the frames on the floor to make sure that they looked good in my grouping. I was really glad I did this because I noticed that too many similar frames were clustered together. I looked for easy swaps until I settled on a layout I liked.

Not sure what happened to my camera during these shots.

Final step was hammering the nails in and leveling off the frames. I put masking tape under the location for each nail so that the plaster on the walls wouldn't flake as much.

So here is the final project (ignore the random place holder stuff)....

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Mute Monday: Mailed it!

Dreaming of: A Pop of Pink

With a windchill of 8 degrees, I've been dreaming of Spring. This year I'm really into pink, not bubble gum pink or ballet pink but NEON pink! Here are my key picks for the upcoming season!

1. 3.1 Phillip Lim Dress // 2. Gap Belt // 3. J.Crew Sperry Top-Siders // 4. Diane Von Furstenberg Clutch // 5. Blank Denim Jeans // 6. Splendid Bikini // 7. House of Harlow Sunnies // 8. Rebecca Minkoff Diaper Bag

Gettin' Sticky With It

This past weekend was really busy, like I mentioned earlier, but Cory and I did manage to do a family activity with Logan - a contact paper wall.

It was super easy to make, a little contact paper, some painters tape and some foam shapes from Michaels. I probably spent $6 on the whole thing. Here is is in the setting up stages:

Logan picked up on what to do immediately. He kept sticking and unsticking his fingers and he loved to pull the sports balls down too. About 3 minutes into playing he learned to stick the shapes up as well.

I decided to tuck it behind the door in his room so we could play with it for the week. It has held up surprisingly well actually! Since his room is sports themed, it doesn't bother me at all that it is always out and it gives him something to do while I put away his laundry.

I'll probably take it down soon and put it away for another rainy day (or maybe a snow day if we ever get one!) I think I might add some feathers and fabric into the mix next time too. Who knows...maybe I'll even add it to the activity list for his birthday, which we are hosting at home.

It was a really fun activity for the whole family and it was just awesome to see Logan explore something new. I get to do activities like this all the time for Logan but Cory really got into it too. I think we might do some artwork this weekend as a family since the weather forecast is bitter cold!

Toy Review: Little Tikes Activity Walker

As I mentioned in this post yesterday, Logan is becoming a champ at walking with push along toys. The one I'm reviewing today was featured in both videos - which is why you might find my review a little surprising.

Little Tikes Activity Walker

Lets start with the look of it. I'm a little confused - He is a nature lover or a postman? It seems like they went half in for each theme. I like the mail cart idea of it, Logan loves to remove the letters and put them in the slots but then why the bugs? The bugs are the part that do the most actually, but logan is interested in them at all - except for the little bee on top.

As for the make well - it's light weight and easy for Logan to maneuver, but the drawers are very off. Whenever he sticks in anything in the slot other than the letters, the bottom drawer flops open. It is an odd design too because the "drawers" are covering one long slot - so the item you put on the green falls to the bottom of the blue space instead of being two separate spots. It is just weird - apparently Logan thinks so too because he is constantly pulling the drawers off - a little too easily I might add.

It is a surprisingly strong piece for hold him though, he pulled himself to standing on it frequently without it toppling over, but when walking time comes around it lists slowly to the left - could that be Logan? I don't think so, but he tries to walk in a straight line and it always ends up hitting the furniture. Maybe it is Logan but I'm not totally sure. 

Anyway, Logan loves to push it around - not because of what it is, but because he is walking. He rarely plays with any part of it, like he does his other push along toys, but then again, he doesn't always push them around. Logan gives it 4 stars. I give it 2 - because it did function, but at the same price and more interesting design, I would put my money on Fisher-Price Bright Beginnings Activity Walker or for more - my personal favorite and a future birthday present I think - Hape Wonder Walker. The Wonder walker is on our list because of the wagon compartment. I think Logan will be using this to haul blocks to the construction site or pick up food at the grocery story during his pretend play years.

Any one else have a good activity walker? 

Back to our Regularly Scheduled Programing

I know, I know, I totally slacked this MLK weekend. But here is the thing- ALOT happened this weekend. We learned to play poker with friends, had a breakfast date with our nephews, had a playmate with our nephews, went to gymboree - twice, had a guest over from Florida (which meant spending 2 hours frantically shoving everything in drawers and closets so our home appeared neat!) had a shiva to attend, hung the 25+ items on the wall for the secret project, made a cool new toy for Logan, received our citrus lane box, tried a new diaper brand... and then this happened:

That walking pretty much took the icing on the cake of a pretty awesome family focused weekend - and since Logan loved to walk and we loved watching him, we made him do it over, and over, and over again. So yeah. Not a lot of time for the blog.

 On the other hand, I do have a lot of fun things to update you all on! In the meantime...take another peek at  little man's skills!

Dreaming of: DIY Play Kitchens

I really, really, really want to build Logan a kitchen for Chanukah. I know...I am a year early in my planning and I haven't even purchased his birthday present yet, but I really want to do this. Problem is, I'm not so good with power tools. I don't own any or know how to use them....and I am the crafter one in this house when it comes to this (I bet my husband doesn't even know what a wet saw is.) You need a surround sound system wired? I'm your girl. You need Ikea furniture build? I can do it...but actually making my own piece of furniture makes me want to hid in the bathtub.

Seriously.

Here is the thing though, I have vocalized my desire to do this to quite a few people now. My husband, my mom, my sister-in-law, my handy man (because I am not capable of wall mounting a TV or regrouting the outside stone work.) - they all look at me like I am crazy. My mother-in-law actually yelled at me and told me I take on too many projects, while my husband nervously nodded his head in agreement after I had earlier asked a relative if they owned a miter saw.

Now you would think that with all signs pointing to NO, I would get this idea out of my head. Except that when people tell me NO...I just want to do it even more. While I continue to hem and haul over if I should buy him this lovely KidKraft Kitchen that would look great in my basement or this Hape Kitchen which is charmingly made of wood...I still drift back to the following images and dream that I too can be as handy as these fine DIYers.

1. Small and Friendly

Seriously - it has a backsplash!!!

2. The Crafting Chicks

I like a spacious kitchen, it gives Logan more room to play. Love the lines on it too - minus the dress skirt - he is a boy!

3. Young House Love

Simple + Pretty + Young House Love = Perfection.

4. N/A

I'm pretty sure this kitchen is nicer than my kitchen. It freaking has a working light!

5. Pilar Valtierra Photography

That is a marble countertop. MARBLE. For a child. Ridiculous - and beautiful.

So after those images I really want to do this for Logan. But then again...

Help!! Should I or Shouldn't I? Decisions, decisions...

DIY: Creating templates for a wall collage

Moving on to the second part of my super secret project is creating frame templates to put on the wall where the art work will go. Since I have a specific footprint in mind for the frames but no layout in my head, I think it is important to have working templates that I can adjust until I find the perfect layout.

For starters, I rolled out a long row of kraft paper and used tape to weight down the edges. I chose kraft paper instead of newspaper because my area is so large that I wanted to be able to view the finished layout without the distraction of the crazy colors of the coupon section. I could have used the less busy news section of the paper, but not without leaving ink all over the walls.

After I rolled out the paper, I started to line the frames up at the edges are start tracing them.

I lined each new frame up against an old frame so that I had to make less cuts to the paper.

I used a cheap paper mate pen to do the tracing after my rollerball pen left ink on one of the frames (easily cleaned off but a hassle none the less.)

After tracing the frames, I labeled the new template with a number in the center.

Next, I put a piece of masking tape on the back of the frame I traced with the matching number. This was so that I could arrange the templates however I want and simply match the numbers up when it came time to do the hanging.

This step wouldn't be necessary if you had a smaller arrangement or only 2 or 3 different sizes of frames, but since mine are a hodgepodge, I felt it best to do the numbering.

When I ran out of paper, I used old brown paper bags for the final three templates.

Yes. That is template 30....and I am running out to buy a few canvases today too. This project is a massive undertaking, but I am determined that it will be incredible!

Final step is cut out your template.

BAM. You are ready to start arranging. I hope this tutorial was helpful. It will work with picture frames, art work, mirrors - really anything you want to place on the wall. I've been playing with the arrangement of the templates on the wall for over 4 hours already. I'm all ready learning lessons to share with you on my next post about this project - which will hopefully include the big reveal!

Arachnophobic Baby

I've decided that Cory, Logan and I need to embark on more fun, new family activities - like the adventure we had at the aquarium. I'm shooting for once  a week or so going forward. Nothing big, just some good family time since most weekends Cory and I take turns watching Logan while the other person takes a break or does errands.

We decided to start off by going to a character brunch with my nephews so Logan could meet Spiderman, Mickey Mouse, Belle, Snow White and a Power Ranger. 

 I love this photo of Logan giving me hugs, he didn't want to pose for the camera, but I love it anyway. Ok, now onto the characters.

Tyler met Snow White and was totally enamored, in fact, he was the first person in line to meet her - beating out all the girls!

Logan loved Mickey Mouse, he was totally obsessed with holding his hand or watching him from across the room.

Tyler was equally in love with Mickey - look at that grin!

Ethan was a little too cool for posing for photos with the character, but he did a great spiderman pose for me! He was clearly very into his character. What a stance!

You know who wasn't so into spiderman?

Logan reacted to everyone but Mickey in the same manner - clearly he is saying "What the $@*&#$?!?!?" That face cracks me up every time!

Can't wait to figure out our weekend activity - perhaps if the weather holds we can do something outdoors.