sar3j's Profile

I love this idea! I have a thirteen month old son and he would love to do this.

I also have two older daughters (5 and 7) and they make lovely art for our home all the time. Watercolor paintings, charcoal sketches, etc...Some of the works I keep because they are my children and some I keep because I love the piece of work and would want it in my home regardless of who created it. I am a big proponent of having things in your home that reflect you and what you love. I keep encouraging my children to create so that hopefully they never come to believe ,as some do, that one must have been technically trained to produce art. Art is nearly impossible to define and, to me, you do not need to be a fulltime professional artist to create art. My most treasured pieces of art are those that were done by my children (the ones done with real thought, intention, and beauty, not some crayola scribbles) and my husband who paints lovely oil and watercolor portraits of people.

Oh, and our snack cabinet would be cleaned out in five minutes if I put a bowl of chips in there!

I am stealing the gizmo box idea for my kids. Great idea!

I would make it a sand pit just because kids tend to love sand so much.

I like a lot of the ideas already here, but I do have one to add. What about laying down plywood or something for a floor and then hanging pots and pans, pipes, lids, etc and letting them make crazy loud music with sticks? They would enjoy this now and when they get older. You could get the materials at Goodwill or somewhere similar for not a lot of money and they would hold up well in the winter.

Also, when my daughter was 15 months she started using the play equipment at the park and was right there with her 3 year old sister. Obviously I was right there the whole time, but she just loved to climb and was really good at it, too!

This is the best thing I have see all week, maybe even all year. I just never would have thought to build a splash pad in the backyard.

I am filing this away to make in a year or two for my little boy.

This is so cheerful and sunny. I can just picture a little girl loving this space.

I think the color scheme is great. The blue, green, grey, and white look really nice together. I also love the curtains. They look luxurious! Overall, the room still needs some changes made to make it seem cohesive, but I am sure with more time you will get there.

@ burnttoast, you might be appalled to know that I even kiss my husband and children...with my mouth. I also have a baby that I breastfeed, so we all tend to share our germs. Last time I checked, I didn't live in a house full of strangers, but people I eat with, bathe, and sleep with. The transfer of germs between us is inevitable, and a hand towel that we share that has only had clean hands wiped on it is the least of my worries when it comes to my health.

I have an ancient one (from the 60s) I got off Craigslist for $30. I bought it as a place holder until I had the money to get a new one, but after using it for 2 years with no trouble, I have no plans to replace it. These are great resources to bookmark in case something does go wrong.