Toddler Friendly Sliding Doors!

So, some of you know that in a former life I owned a medical supply company.  In digging through old inventory I found an overabundance of suction grab bars.  I'm actually selling a bunch of them on Amazon (hint hint).  Anyway, I have found them to be great for many things, put them in the tub, etc. but an unlikely solution came to me one day when I was watching Vivian try to get the sliding glass door to the porch open and yet, she could not reach the handle.  I stuck one to the door right at her level, and she now has her own custom door slider!

Want some of your own?  I've got the lowest price on Amazon for these things!

The Sandbox Project

So about a year or two ago I was researching sandboxes....yes, my exciting life...I know!  I was considering building one but found one on Amazon for a great price.

This isn't the exact one I bought but it's awfully close.  Anyway, once it came, it was very easy to assemble, I had 2 issues with it that I wanted to add a bit of "MacGyver" to.

1. The bottom was open, which is fine for your typical suburban yard; but when you live in the mountains with snakes and other critters, it's not ideal.

2. The canopy was a lovely blue and white stripe.  Unfortunately, the spot I needed to put it in was right in front of my house (as the back is a big slope with the risk of being reamed in the head by a golf ball.  In addition, my little mountain community has rules and guidelines about color.

Solutions!

Both solutions were quite simple.  As far as the bottom went, I was able to staple landscape fabric to it, which would keep the critters out but also let it remain porous and not hold rain, etc. The top, well, that took a little trial and error.  I first bought other fabric to put on it that would be more in line with the restrictive muted color guidelines of my community, but that wasn't the effect that I wanted.

Then I bought one of those paint tarps with canvas on one side and plastic on the other...that worked for a while but I didn't feel it was exactly what I was going for.

Luckily I had bought some corrugated plastic (during a time I was trying to "MacGyver" a homemade slide to no avail).  It sat outside for a while waiting for alternative inspiration and then one day...BAM...solution was right in front of my eyes!

Find it at Home Depot

I used tin snips to cut the piece in half and then nailed it right on top of the tarp.  That gave me a rain proof roof that looked very nice.

Here is the final result:

 

Anyway, long story short, when putting a sandbox in that has an open bottom: landscape fabric on the bottom, corrugated plastic roofing on the top.

 

Easy Peasy!