DIY Lego Table!

If you kids are anything like mine, I'm sure they love building with Legos. It's good for their brain development, it teaches them math, architecture, and science, and it also helps build their imagination, social skills, and fine motor skills. Legos are great for girls and boys, and really all ages!

With that being said, my kids are pretty much in love with Legos. My son is obsessed. He has all the books, all the video games, knows all the videos on Netflix, and just started playing with real Legos (not Duplo). We saw the Lego Movie a couple weeks ago-- he just can't get enough. Which is awesome, because his birthday is this weekend.

While my husband and I were talking about what we wanted to get him for his birthday presents this year, he brought up the idea of a Lego table. I thought it was a great idea! Gives him a place to sit and play without having them strewn about all over the floor (hey, a mom can dream, right?), and a level place to build. I looked into them, and they go for anywhere between $40 and $300! You've got to be kidding me. That's when it hit me... I could totally do something like this. Or I could at least try! It might turn out pretty cool, ya never know.

I talked to my husband about me making him a Lego table, and he was totally into it. It's cool, I could make it custom, just for him, and know that no one else has one like it!

I decided to modify or "hack" the LATT Children's Table from Ikea, because it's $20, and comes with two chairs. I stuck with the primary colors, and used spray paint.

Photo step-by-step:

Ikea children's table comes with two chairs, $20

Lay down a plastic sheet (to protect your ground!), lay out your items, and group them how you'd like to paint them. It helps to keep it separated.

Sand all the pieces! I promise, it makes a big deal. There was one spot on one where I didn't sand very well, and the paint kept sliding off. I had to let it dry and re-sand that area. Don't go crazy, just take off all the "smooth" areas, and make it slightly gritty, so the paint will stick.

yellow, red, blue (and green, soon!)

It was so easy, and fun!

This is the paint I used. I got it at Michael's craft stores, but I ended up needing 2 cans of red, and 2 of the blue. The surface area was larger on those pieces.

I got the seats and table top painted green.

4 flat base plates from the Lego store. This was the perfect amount... the guy tried telling me to only buy 3, but I got 4 "just in case" ...I ended up using all but a couple strips and one tiny square!

***MOST IMPORTANT STEP***
MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS! Don't just line up the sheets and stick them together. There's a very small space in between each sheet, and it makes the difference of that area being playable or not! DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!!! If you attach Legos at the 'joints' it will line it up perfectly for you and keep everything attached.

Next, make a straight line of Legos where you will be cutting it, and use them as your guide. You will need a box cutter ($10 at a craft store, but probably WAY cheaper at Home Depot or Lowe's.), and to go over  the same area with a strong arm twice. That's all I needed to do, and it was VERY easy. Just be mindful and don't try to 1) cut it in one swipe, and 2) do it fast. Just take your time!

You can see the line I made above (the horizontal line) and that's what it will look like.

Then bend the sheet, right at the line. Bend it a couple times and it will come right apart.

The two lines and square I mentioned before. That's all that was left from the 4 sheets of base plates! 

This is how the chair turned out!

I sprayed the whole thing with a glossy clear coat spray paint, to help protect the paint. Then, I used some flat orange letters to spell out my son's name on the side, his Lego Table! After that, I sprayed the whole thing again, over the letters, with the clear coat... that way the letters stay put.

The guy at the Lego store suggested I used double sided tape, as opposed to adhesive spray or mod podge. He said the tape helps allow it to bend a little when the legos come off, and the adhesive tends to not work and crack off when it dries. The double sided tape was a great idea. HOWEVER, make sure you put Legos down the entire length of the joint, to help keep it attached when you flip it over, otherwise it will keep breaking apart and drive you crazy! It sounds funny, but I basically applied the tape in the "shape/outline" of the british flag. A few lines around the border, pay attention to each sheet (don't treat it like one), then put a few diagonal pieces in the middle. Flip it over carefully, center it, and press down firmly. Test it by attaching and removing Legos :)

Here's what it looks like up on it's legs!

And here is the entire table, finished, and set up!

All things considered, this was an incredibly easy and FUN project to do. It took a day for me to gather supplies, and a day for me to complete the project. And I'm so happy with how it turned out! I know he's going to love it.

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Pin this to pinterest, share it on facebook, instagram, and G+, and tweet it on twitter! @itslikemusic #itslikemusic #ILMlegotable I'd love to see your finished products!!

Sometimes I Give Up

It's February now, which means OMG VALENTINE'S DAY, right?

*sigh*

The biggest source of my current constant annoyance with Pinterest is the heart food. Just... no.

Unfortunately, and I don't exactly know why, but I feel like I need to put this out there:
I will not now, nor will I ever, cut potatoes into little hearts and cook them for Valentine's Day breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Never. I will never do that. Because they are going to be eaten, pushed around a plate, yelled at by my son who hates potatoes (I know, right?), or thrown away. And how long does it take to cut potatoes into heart shapes before the cooking process? Do you really have time for this? Does ANYONE really have time for this? Because no. The answer is no.

Not only will I not cut potatoes into hearts, I won't cut cucumbers into hearts, I won't cut pancakes into hearts, no pepperoni hearts, no toast hearts, I won't make churros in the shape of a heart, and I probably won't halve a strawberry and skewer it and dip it in chocolate to make a chocolate covered strawberry heart. Ain't happenin'.

If you do this, you can think you're better than me, that's fine. You might actually be better than me. I'm fine with admitting that. Do you know why? Because I give up.

I give up.

Because Pinterest has made me really hate the amount of effort I am unwilling to put forth.

I don't even CARE.

"aww, look at that! *pin* It's so cute!! ...I'll probably never make it. *sigh*"

The "Good Job!" Jar

Last Thursday was a 'last-straw' day. My sweet, adorable, caring, and kind three-year-old son had turned into a little monster.

As most three-year-old's do, he really loves his independence. Especially since he knows his little sister can't do half the things he can. He understands video games, knows how to turn Netflix on, he can navigate through the XBOX 360 dashboard with ease, he can go to the fridge to get his snacks, he gets dressed all by himself, and has his own thoughts and opinions. He's still testing his boundaries, of course, and is pushing them as far as they will go... which we found out on Thursday, was saying NO! for the thousandth time.

I had seen a few ideas on Pinterest to help guide a child's behavior. Honestly, I was thinking about making a behavior chart for quite a while, but I just didn't have the time. And after thinking about it, what good would a chart do if he couldn't read it yet? Then I remembered another pin I saw... a jar with cotton balls.

This jar idea seemed like the perfect alternative to a behavior chart, without the necessity to read it.

I went to Target, and bought a $1.50 mason jar, a bag of cotton balls for $1.19, and some scrapbooking stickers for $1 each (I got two packs). I used a sharpie I already had at home. When I got home, I wrote on the jar using the sharpie, then I decorated it with the stickers.

Some people were creating a fill-line as a goal... but cotton balls are a good size when you put them in a regular mason jar. I decided to just go straight for the top as the fill-line.

How it works for us:

For every acceptable* thing he does, he gets to put a cotton ball in the jar. For every unacceptable* thing he does, he gets to take a cotton ball out of the jar. When the jar is full, he gets to do an activity of his choice. He doesn't get a toy or money or anything like that for filling the jar. Thursday morning, his ability to play video games was taken away. He decided that his reward for filling up the jar would be an hour of video game play time. 

(Before you jump on my case for a three-year-old playing video games... he loves his Lego video games, he is great at them, and we still do a LOT of different activities throughout the day. This happens to be his favorite, so that's what I "took away" when he demonstrated the unacceptable behavior.)

At the beginning, I was acknowledging EVERY example of acceptable* behavior with a cotton ball in the jar, and every example of unacceptable* behavior with a cotton ball removed. This way, he learns what is acceptable* and what is not in a way in which he can control it. He is making the decisions himself and is learning what works. Also, by acknowledging every acceptable* behavior, and filling up the jar faster, he can see that his goal is attainable. Eventually, as time goes on, I will start acknowledging extraordinary and exemplary behavior instead of just everything acceptable*.

We started this jar on Thursday afternoon, and Saturday around noon, he got his hour of video game play. Today, he got one more hour.

He already is knowing when he does well and when he doesn't, and is more aware of how his decisions affect him, and us! He doesn't emotionally explode like he used to, and he is a lot quicker to recognize and remedy his poor behavior.

I can't say this is the easiest thing to maintain, because after 3 days, even though he's done well, we still have hiccups. But we are going to "stick to it!" It was, however, very inexpensive, and soooo worth the little peace it's already brought!

I definitely recommend trying this out with your toddler.

If you do, please let me know by commenting below! I'd love to see how your little one's jar turned out, and how it worked for you and your family! You can also post a picture of it on Pinterest, Instagram or Twitter, all with: @itslikemusic & #goodjobjar!

*I use "acceptable/unacceptable" because it is a relative term. What may be considered acceptable to me might be considered unacceptable to others. You decide what is acceptable/unacceptable for your family, just as I do with mine. :)

Scribble Monsters!

Here we are, October 1st! Did the year fly by for you like it did for me?

October is here, and it means I can start doing some fun and simple crafts with my little ones! My favorite of our Autumn crafts are what I like to call Scribble Monsters.

I started doing these a couple years ago. My oldest was just a year old, and I was pregnant with his little sister. I love decorating for Halloween, but I didn't want to do anything too scary, since he was so little. I also wanted to find something he could have a big part in, but that wasn't easy.

I started by drawing a pumpkin jack-o-lantern, then gave him all the orange-colored crayons from the box. He had a blast, colored everywhere, didn't matter if he colored outside the lines or not, because I was planning on cutting out the pumpkin and putting it in the window. Then I thought, how about monsters??

We had watched Disney/Pixar's Monsters Inc. already (he loved it, but what kid doesn't?!), and we had been on the rides and seen the attractions at Disney's California Adventure Park at The Disneyland Resort, so I knew some fun monsters wouldn't be too scary for him.

What you see below is the very first monster I drew for my son to scribble all over. He asked me to help, so I colored the horns; can you tell? :) He had SO. MUCH. FUN. with the monsters! We made and colored scribble monsters all day until our windows were full of them! We did them again the next year (which is the other photos you'll see in this post) with as much fun as before. This year, I thought I would share it with you, so you can make the Scribble Monsters with your children!

Scribble Monsters are SO easy. Anyone, any age, can make a Scribble Monster! Read on, and I will show you how! :)

What you will need:

• Blank white paper
• Dark black marker
• Crayons
• Scissors
• Tape

I start by drawing a monster, using the black marker. Just use your imagination! It can be as silly or simple as you want it to be. Once you draw one, more will come to you. You can ask your kids for input, too. It is so much fun!

Next tape down the sides of your paper. This is so the paper doesn't move around, if you have little ones, it's difficult for them to hold the paper while they color.

Give your kids the crayons and let them go crazy (on the monster!). They can do anything they feel like and they don't even have to stay in the lines! Not gonna lie, it's fun for adults, too :)

Once they are done coloring, cut out the monster from the page! You can tape it to the window, hang it on the fridge, or tape it to a blank piece of paper and put it in a scrapbook.

That's it! Awesome craft, awesome Halloween decoration, and so much fun with the kids!

I would LOVE to see your Scribble Monsters, comment with them below, share them on facebook and repin them on pinterest, and #ScribbleMonsters on Instagram & twitter, @itslikemusic! 

My DIY Dresser Refurbishment

I just realized I haven't posted anything about my dresser refurbishment!

Okay, so here I was, 7.5 months pregnant with my second baby, and I *NEEDED* something to do. I was going crazy. We had been in our new apartment for 2 months, and nothing was unpacked, I didn't have a place for anything, and our dining room was rather bare. We had a dresser we got from our friend... 

Yeah, this is the dresser your mom probably had. And your aunt. And their best friends next door. And the girls they didn't know 5 states away. My mom had this dresser set. I think she said her parents got it for her from Sears. All I know is, this was one of the most popular dressers of the 1970s (no really, google it), and I had to do something with it. We were getting new dressers for our room anyways, and I thought, "HEY!" why not turn this one into a buffet thing to go along side the wall in my dining room?

This, ladies and gentleman, was my very own nesting project.

I went to my local home improvement store and picked out the paint. I chose a really pretty robin's egg blue color for the all-over, and a black to dry brush it with. I got my sanding sponges, paint brushes, spray lacquer, and the plastic drop cloth stuff. Then I had to get my husband and brother in law to move the dresser downstairs to the garage for me. My awesome friend came over to help me with the bulk of sanding, but mostly, I was on my own.

I ended up sanding this thing for the next 2 days.

After all of the sanding, I got to start painting. YAY! You know, there's something very satisfying about painting, especially after you've been sanding something for 3 days just so you could paint in the first place.

I know, the color looks different... but lighting is funky in a garage! Don't judge. It is a gorgeous color!

After the blue dried, I got to dry brush the black over it. I had so much fun with this part!

Now, it was on to the drawer handles/pulls... I didn't sand those, but I wasn't too concerned about it.

Then I got to put everything back together!!

Folks, friendly reminder. Don't forget which screws were for which pulls... I got to undo and redo about 5 drawer pulls. Yeah, about as thrilling as it gets, right there.

I let my husband and brother in law know I was done. They were SO EXCITED!

They hauled it upstairs for me, and put it in the dining room.

It looks SO GOOD there! I'm quite proud of my little nesting project!

If you have any questions about what I used or how I did it, please let me know! I'm happy to answer questions, this was a really fun project for me... and if I can do it, anyone can!