$16 DIY Play Tent

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img_5394We wanted to build a cool tent for the girls. I looked all over Pinterest for something we could build. I found all sorts of great ideas. The first plan was a frame made from pvc pipes but I couldn’t find what I needed locally so I moved on to plan B.

img_5417This was so easy to build. I went to our home hardware store and found a nice young man to help me locate the wood I would need. We decided on two 2×1″ 8 foot pieces of lumber which they cut in half for me. So I ended up with 4 2×1″ 4 foot pieces. Then we went to another aisle and grabbed a four foot 3/4″ dowel. The frame cost me $14 and change.

I then went to our thrift store and found a nice pink single flat bedsheet for a couple of dollars.

To build the frame take a 3/4″ spade drill bit and after marking 6″ down from the top of each board drill holes in all four boards. Make sure they are centred. Make and X with two boards and shove the dowel through it, do the same on the other end.

img_5386We don’t have carpet so the wood just slides open so we screwed the frame together. If you want to be able to store your tent you can also add a stiff strap across the top of the Aframe at the width you want it so it can fold up. Or use bolts instead of screws for easy removal.

img_5535Next measure your frame. You want to measure the distance of the dowel between the two AFrames (red line), this will be how wide you want to hem your sheet. Next measure from the bottom of the AFrame up to the dowel and double that number (blue line), and add 3.5″. This will be the length of your hemmed sheet, and bottom pocket. My final hemmed measurements were 40.5×92″.

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One Exhausting Circus

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9a2b7a5c-9c23-4540-b7c9-53f5e6f673e1First off click on that main photo and watch it. Then you can read the rest.

Guys I have been thinking about starting a Facebook page for our family for a while. I love reality tv shows and sometimes I think I might be living one. So I figured I should share that with the world.

We are a family of 6. That is not really that big. I think since we have all girls and not a mix of genders we look bigger. I get asked a lot what it’s like in our home. I usually say we are a circus. We drink a lot of coffee (mainly the adults, sometimes the kids steal our coffee).

img_5188So come join our family Facebook page One Exhausting Circus 

We are far from a Pinterest family -though I dabble in a mean craft or two every once and a while and usually glue my fingers together. We are loud and messy. So if you like watching videos of real life, non perfect people who won’t make you feel bad about your dirty dishes come on and join us.

Ikea Kura Bed Climbing Wall Hack

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wallMy kids are climbers. They climb anything and everything. My four year old in particular. We also live in an apartment so we are limited on what we can build inside of our home. So I came across an Ikea hack of creating a rock wall on the Ikea Kura Bed. However it was just a photo with the supply list, so I kind of made it up as I went.

cuttingHere is my supply list

  • 3/4″ Piece of plywood with at least one good side. Cut to 41″ x 45″
  • 6 – 3/8″ bolts/nuts. The bolts we used are 4″ long and hang out about 1/2″. I think 3.5″ would work too.
  • 12 – 3/8″ Washers for bolts (one on either side of wood)
  • 12 Climbing Holds (I bought 2 packages of these from Canadian Tire, but you can buy real climbing holds also).
  • A drill, and a hammer, and different drill bits.

 

 

boltingI started by going to our local Kents Hardware store, grabbing my 3/4″ plywood and having them cut it right there at the store since we don’t own tools beyond a drill. Then I located my hardward. All of that cost me a little over $40.

My original plan was to buy actual rock climbing holds and multiple tnuts so we could easily move the rocks around the plywood. But with what we wanted and with what our budget was the playground holds were the cheaper option. You can still move these ones around, just not as easily.

DrillingSo here is what you do.

  1. We first held the board up to the bed and drilled 6 holes through the plywood and the bed railings. Make sure you are far enough away from any screws in the bed. We did 2 on either side and two img_5005along the top. After that we took it back out and took it outside.
  2.  Now we marked where we wanted our climbing holds to go and with a 1/4″ drill bit we drilled 12 holes in the wall.
  3. Flip the board over so you are looking at the back side of it, and hammer in the barrel nuts that come with the climbing holds. We actually had some issues with this. The barrel nuts didn’t fit well so we had to go back over the holes and widen them a bit.
  4. screwing in Flip the board back over and start screwing your holds back oninto the wall. We used both a hand held screw driver and our electric drill. The large bolts go into the barrel nuts (make sure you add your washers), and then you screw in the smaller screws to keep them from spinning.
  5. Take your board back in to the bedroom line it up and bolt it to the bed. Add washers on both sides of the bolts to make it more secure (or something, I have no idea. We actually forgot on some of them).
  6. Let Kids climb
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I don’t fold clothes

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imageGuys I have a secret or three. I don’t fold clothes. Like ever. With four kids I just gave up. This closet belongs to my 6 and 4 year old, the closet belonging to the 2 and 1 year old looks similar.

When we had dressers they would just pull all of the clothes out anyway so there was no point folding them. My new system works awesome. They each have two boxes. One box for bottoms (shorts, pants, skirts), and one box for tops. The only items hung are sweaters and dresses.

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Here is my next secret. I don’t even turn their clothes right side out. If they can’t be bothered to turn them right side out when they take them off then they can figure it out when they get dressed. I know I am pretty much the meanest mom in the world. Or the best because they are problem solving. Or something like that.

Also with the bins it is super easy for them to help me put their clothes away. Which is always nice.

imageHere is my last secret. See that bin. It is full of undies ranging in size from 3t-6 and every single sock the kids own. It is kept in the girls bathroom so in the morning they can grab undies that fit them, grab any random two socks (I hear people who wear mismatched socks are better adjusted and win the Nobel prize or something like that) and they are set for the day. Who cares if a sock gets eaten by the dryer monster, who cares if one sock gets a hole and gets thrown out, because no sock gets matched to its mate. And I don’t waste time matching and rolling socks. I mean I could be doing so many better things than matching and rolling dozens of tiny socks. Like eating cake, or wasting hours pinning fancy crafts I will never do.

And guess what you get a bonus secret? I don’t fold my own clothes or wear matched socks.

Do you have any secret ways you make your daily life easier?

Let Your Light Shine

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ripplesAs kids are heading back to school and routine takes over I am reminded of the importance of praying over my kids each day before they leave the house. And in that prayer to remind them that every action and reaction in their lives should bring glory to God.

We don’t always know how our actions will end up drawing another person closer to God. The last ripple from the small stone does not always know the first ripple.

 

 

Matthew 5:16

16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Let your light shine is a prayer we say over our kids each day. Matthew tells us that our good deeds should shine for all to see, not to be prideful, or to shine a spotlight on you or your kids but to bring praise to God!

We live in a society where we get awards for showing up, where you get praised just for being in attendance. Our society is all about shining a spot light on themselves to bring glory to you and me. The Bible however says that everything that we do, everything that we say, and in every way we act, we should be doing it to bring glory to God.

As parents this can be so hard. We want to brag about our kids, we want to make them feel like #1. But it is a fine line we have to learn to walk. There is absolutely nothing wrong with telling our kids they did a great job. But in doing so we have to also remember that we need to put God first. We need to remind them that in everything they do win or lose they should shine their light bright for God.

The best way for our kids to learn that is by witnessing it. By seeing us as their parents shining our light bright for God. That the words that we use, the actions that we do, and how we handle situations will be guide to our kids on how they will navigate life.

And boy can that be a hard act to do at times. The more we do it, the more we give all glory to God the easier it will become. We can be amazing examples to our kids to show them how to live a bright and fruitful life for Christ.

Prayer

God please let me shine my light bright to bring glory to your name. Help me to show my kids that You are number one in our lives and it is not about being prideful. Let each day and each moment bring glory to You, so that those around me see You in all that I do.

So shine bright for God. Let those around you see Jesus in all that you do.