Hang Up the Stuffed Animals

 Hello Readers. If you have children in your house then you probably have stuffed animals. And there is never just 1 or 2, they seem to multiply. There are so many. They are everywhere and don't look neat or tidy at all. We can't get rid of them so let's find a way to store and display them neatly.

Let's hang up and store the stuffed animals in a neat way. 

All of our stuffed animals lived in a pile on this chair. They also lived on the floor because they didn't stay on the chair. We love them so they had to stay close by but this mess looked bad and made the chair useless for humans. We could do better than this. 

We needed some cord or string or even thin rope. I chose this because it was in my sewing stash but it was also a little bumpy. I don't think smooth cording or satin ribbon would work well for this project. It would be too slippery.

You can use something simple like this jute cord. It is very inexpensive too. 

I put the cording across the top of the bookcase. You could also use a dresser for this project but the taller the piece of furniture, the more stuffed animals you an hang up.

 

 I wanted the cording to go over the top of the bookcase and hang all the way down off the bookcase on both sides.

The next thing you need is a few dozen clips of some kind. These cheap clothes pins would be great. 

 

You could also use something more fun and colorful if you want.

 

I clipped one end of the cording to a soft container. This was going to anchor the cord on this side of the bookcase. 

 

This is a good place for the stuffies that are heavy, large or favorites that will be played with or slept with often. 

 

The other end of the cord needed something to anchor it too. On this side I used a large bear. He is heavy enough to hold the cord. I clipped the cord to his ear. 

 

I made sure to get the cording and part of the stuffed animal in the clip. The clip really needs to hold on to both.

 

I started clipping all our stuffed friends to the corThe. 

 

 I clipped the stuffed animals on both sides of the bookcase. I liked this storage method because the stuffed friends are visible and unharmed in this clips. The bookcase or dresser you use will be unharmed too. 

 

My child liked this set up. They could see the stuffed animals but the stuffies were not in a mess on the floor anymore. My youngest child is 10 so I don't need to worry about him hurting himself with the cord or the clips. (*This is not a good storage idea if you have an active baby or toddler that will hurt them selves with string or cord or might climb tall bookcases or dressers. You know your child, as always use your best judgement and caution.) Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Year End Update***- These stuffed animals are still in a semi orderly arrangement thanks to this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frame a Puzzle

 Hello Readers. If you have kids then you probably have some Lego blocks somewhere at your house. My youngest is obsessed with anything Lego has ever made. He got a new bedroom recently and you can probably guess the decorating theme. That's right. It's going to be a Lego room. As a bargain loving mom, I want to decorate on a budget. I had an idea. Puzzles! Specifically, puzzles we already owned.

 This was an easy project using very simple supplies I had at home. 

My youngest loves all things Lego. I thought he would love this puzzle in his room.We could put it together and hang it on the wall. I knew there was special glue I could buy and use but did I need special supplies? (Spoiler- No. I didn't.)
 

This puzzle was not easy. Getting all the Lego heads together was a lot harder than gluing, framing, and hanging it was. 

 

I spread a couple sheets of newspaper on the table and put the puzzle together on top of it. This is very important.
 

Once the puzzle was together I needed simple basic white glue. I grabbed a bottle of kids school glue and some kind of paint brush. Any brush will do.

I squirted the glue on one part of the puzzle to start with and ...

I spread the glue all over the puzzle, one section at a time. I tried to make sure I didn't miss any pieces of the puzzle. 

I tried to make sure that some glue got in every crack. This wasn't difficult because the glue looks white at first but it will become totally clear when it dries. 

 

Here is my puzzle all dried. The glue adds a bit of shine but it is clear and doesn't change the look of the picture. 

 

The puzzle was connected by the glue and all one piece now. I was able to lift the puzzle and move it around easily. I flipped it over so I could see it back.  

 

I peeled the newspaper off the back of the puzzle. Some pieces of paper stayed stuck to the back of the puzzle. The small bits of paper won't matter when I put the puzzle in a frame. I just want to remove any excess paper from showing around the edges.

 

I didn't have a frame that was the exact size so I added a small piece of tape at the top corners of the puzzle to keep the puzzle from shifting around in the frame when it was hung on the wall. 

 

I put a nail in the wall above the dresser. I just used my eyes to judge the placement. 

 

I hung the frame with the puzzle on the wall and my kiddo loved it. 

 

We also used this puzzle. We put it together and glued it the same way. You can't have too much Lego art on the walls, right? Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update***- My youngest still loves Legos and this puzzle on the wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep Kids From Falling Out Of The Bed With Pool Noodles

 Hello Readers. I know kids eventually grow out of falling out of the bed. I am waiting for that to happen with my youngest. He will just move around in his sleep and slowly go over the edge of the bed and fall over the side. It is very disruptive to his sleep. And honestly it is really disruptive to my sleep too. I have a solution. It's easy. You need 3 pool noodles and some strong tape.

It's time for bed. Let's find a way to stay in the bed.

I got my pool noodles from the local Dollar Tree. They had plenty out in the front of the store. 

I got 3 white noodles and some strong white tape. (One noodle is not enough. It will slide out of place. I have tried it.) I thought white would blend in with the mattress and mattress cover but the color doesn't really matter.

I cut a piece of tape that was long enough to go around all 3 noodles. I wanted the noodles to stay together and be strong so I wrapped the tape around and overlapped it a little. I didn't want this to come apart in the middle of one night.

I wrapped the tape around tight and made sure it was stuck to the noodles really well.

I taped the noodles at both ends and in the middle. 

When my noodles were all taped up I slid the whole thing under the mattress cover. The noodles will sit on the mattress and under the mattress cover. I pushed it up towards the top of the mattress where the pillows would go.

The 3 noodles will make quite a lump. That is what we want.

I put the sheets and blankets on the bed as usual. You can still see the big noodle lump. 

Here is a look at the bed with all the sheets, blankets, pillows and stuffed friends. The mattress cover and the sheet are very snug on the noodles. They stayed in place well for my child in real life sleeping.

Thanks for reading along. Sweet dreams to all of you. 

***Year End Update- It has been a few more months and my child id still staying in bed and not falling out. I am SO glad I made this!