Jackson's Busy Board!

We had a lot of fun celebrating Jackson's 1st birthday down in Utah with family. He had a lot of fun playing with his cousins and eating his cake. He also had a lot of fun discovering his presents he received. One of the presents we gave him was a busy board. I was inspired by this and just knew that I had to make one! So, I began researching different objects that I could attach to a cutting board. I spent a few weeks checking prices and objects before I even bought anything. Then I took about a week to put it together because lets be honest, I have never done anything like this in my life! Luckily my husband has an electric drill, but that doesn't mean I didn't have any mishaps along the way. For the record, apparently they make some screws stronger than others. Also, the week screws can break in half while you are screwing them into a cutting board.

So, here are the supplies and where I got them:

Cutting board: Walmart about $8 (I wanted to actually touch and feel this to make sure it would work, there were cheaper ones on Amazon, but they didn't always say how thick they were and I wanted it to be at least 1 inch thick)

Toilet Paper Holder: Ace Hardware about $4 (it was the cheapest one. The holder part wasn't even spring loaded, which was perfect because then I was able to put some rice in it and wrap duct tape around it)

Towel Holder: Ace Hardware about $4

Toy Tops: Walmart about $1 found in their Party section. (I threaded these onto the towel holder)

Bell: Amazon about $3

Latch Lock: Walmart about $3

Door Stop: Walmart about $2

Bike Mirror: Walmart about $2 (Turns out that this spins! I had no idea until i attached it to the board!)

Reflector: Walmart about $1

LED battery push light: Amazon about $6(set of three) It was super bright, so I put a couple layers of paint on it and now it won't blind my son!

Wheel: Walmart about $3

Before:

After:

So, here are a couple things I learned if you want to make one yourself:

-Use an electric drill with drill bits! Cutting boards are super condensed wood, so using this will make things go super fast. I didn't have access to the drill bits at first and I was just making pilot holes with a nail. This took forever and I had a couple of cheap screws that broke off in the midst of drilling and are stuck in the board. Fortunately, I was able to cover them up!

-the mirror and light need to be super glued to the board, don't just count on the adhesive already on them to keep them attached. So far the reflector is staying on just fine without the glue. We'll see how that goes.

-I thought I was going to be able to glue down the bell, but when I got it in the mail, it didn't have a thick edge on the bottom, it was just a thin ridge. Luckily, my brother had a drill bit meant for drilling through metal, so he helped with that.

-Do not attempt to modpodge any paper onto the LED light to make it less bright. Once it dries, the paper will just peel off. Also, I just painted yellow right onto it and it looks great. However, once you light it up, it looks a little hideous. I heard from someone that you are supposed to paint white first and then once that dries add your color. Not sure if that works, but probably worth a try.

I really am proud of this project! I think it will last many years and Jackson and any other kids we have will be able to enjoy it for a long time!

Pinterest Stuff

Hello, my name is Becky and I'm addicted to Pinterest.

There is just so much cool stuff on there! Seriously! I am determined to actually make the stuff I pin though. I have found some great recipes and Jarred is liking the new variety in the meals! I'm also really excited about some of the stuff for kids that I find on there. Jackson is a little young for most of it, but in a few months, we will be able to do all sorts of projects and experiments together! I have also made a couple of decorations for my house!

Here is some easter baskets I made. I used those ugly terra cotta pots. I cut some double sided scrap book paper to the size of the rims. glued it to the pots. Then I used the same width for the handles. I glued them to the inside of the pot. Added some green grass and also that flower. Popped some candy eggs inside and I was done! Very easy! Also, I was able to make this whole thing for less than $7!

I also made some cool balls to hang. Well, I've made one so far and I'm still working on the others. I was making these for Valentine's Day, but obviously, I'm a little late. Or really early.

I used some styrofoam balls, sheer fabric, glue gun, rotary cutter, and ribbon.
I cut circles out of the fabric. I used a wide mouth mason jar as my guide.
then I folded the circle in half and put a dot of glue on the middle of the folded edge.
Then I folded it in half again and put another glue dot at the corner.

Then I pressed it onto the ball.
I glued a ribbon onto the ball for hanging. This is what it turned out to look like!

This ball was a 4 inch ball. It took about 200+ circles and about 1.5 yards of fabric. This took forever! It didn't help that my rotary cutter is cheap and didn't cut very well. I'm still in the process of making the red and cream balls. I went to Walmart and got the smaller 2 inch balls, so hopefully it will go faster! Even though this project takes forever, it's not hard. Just a lot of cutting and gluing.

My next big project is to make a busy board for Jackson. it is supposed to look something like this.

Jackson is 11 months old!

So, Jackson is 11 months old! yay! I can't believe how fast this goes. Seriously, I think people told me that they grow up fast, but I had no idea what they meant until now. I still remember being pregnant and being so excited to have a baby. Now, its been nearly a year! Thinking back to him being a newborn makes me think about all the things he has learned and become in his short life.

For one, I am so glad he has figured out how to nap on a schedule. 6-7 months ago I thought I would die because I could never rely on him napping for more than 20-30 minutes. Lets just say not only did the house never get cleaned, but I was lucky if I got a shower.

I love that he has learned how to crawl around. I don't always love this on Sundays because I can't just set him on the floor in Relief Society anymore and let him play with toys in one spot. But, I really love being able to chase him around the house and play games and wrestle with him. I couldn't do that when he couldn't crawl.

I also love that he can climb up and down the stairs. This really comes in handy when I don't want to carry him up the stairs because I'm holding other things. He isn't good enough for me to let him go by himself so I always follow right behind him. But, it really is fun just to see him climb. Especially when he uses his head to help pull himself up! He recently learned how to go down the stairs feet first! This is awesome. He sometimes forgets and starts to reach for the first stair with his hand, but then he will remember and turn his body so his foot goes first. He also loves to babble as he does this, as if he is talking himself through it. So adorable!

He is a fast nurser! My family can attest to the fact that he was a very slow nurser when he was born. It usually took me 45 minutes to nurse him and then I would have to feed him every 2 hours. That really is ridiculous when you consider that the every 2 hours starts from the time you begin the feeding. So, once he was done I knew I would have to start nursing again in another hour and fifteen minutes! So, now he nurses in about 10-15 minutes! It's so great! Plus he nurses about every 3.5-4 hours so things are wonderful! In fact, I know I am going to miss nursing him when he weans to cow's milk.

Jackson loves playing with toys and reading books. We have so much fun playing with his toys together. He really loves balls too. It's a lot of fun to roll or bounce a ball back and forth with each other. I love hearing his squeals when he is chasing a ball too. He also loves reading books and turning the pages. He got some books with little flaps on the pages for Christmas. He really likes to flip up the flap and see whats under it. I love making him laugh when we look at books about animals and I make the animal noises. I know I sound like a total idiot when I'm reading those books to him, but who cares because it makes him laugh!

Those are just a few of the things that Jackson has learned how to do in his short life! I'm excited to see what else he learns in the next few years. They grow up so fast!