Showing posts with label toys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toys. Show all posts

Monday, January 28, 2013

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!



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!
 
 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

PVC + 5 Gallon Buckets = Great Toy Storage!

Here's a quick and easy PVC solution and a fun way to store toys or anything else...

Vivian LOVES putting things away these days...I can only hope that habit will last!  So I thought of making a small (but expandable) "storage shelf" that she can reach and where she can put balls and various other toys.  This project took less than an hour.

Materials needed:
  • 1" schedule 40 PVC pipe.  They sell this in 10' increments which is just about exactly what you need for this project.
  • 4 x 1" PVC slip tees
  • 6 x 1" PVC slip elbows
  • 1 x 1" PVC 4-way cross connector
  • 2 x 1" PVC end caps
  • PVC Pipe cutter (I use a table/chop saw because I cut a LOT of PVC)
  • 3 x 5 gallon buckets (can get at hardware or superstore in paint section)
When I have just a few cuts to make in a 1" or smaller pipe, I will use a pipe cutter.  These range from VERY affordable to my favorite thing...the chopsaw...


 
  1. Cut 10 pieces measuring 10  inches
  2. Cut 2 pieces measuring 4 inches
  3. Cut 3 pieces measuring 2 inches
  4. Assemble as shown

 When adding the buckets, put the buckets face-down and bang the pvc onto them for a snug fit.




You could also paint the whole project now that there is awesome spray paint that bonds to plastic!