Not in My House, or a House in a House

Every parent has guiding principles that make the messy task of leading another human through the world more manageable, purposeful. Some are (relatively) non-negotiable. Although I've found many of my beliefs have changed as I go, one of the few that has remained is this: I will not live in a daycare. Our main play area, the living room, gets restored to a near-adult living space almost every night. We own a stash of toys manageably sized enough to be put away, I refuse to have giant play equipment littering our rooms, and many times the kids play with what's at hand. Example: while I type, Frankie is tinkering with a six-inch USB cord and the tag on my leg warmers. (I've found babies to be mostly uninterested in baby toys; everyday things like keys and ID cards are much preferred.)

Despite my golden rule, I struggled with a desire to construct a playhouse, a space too small for adults to invade, a place where normal rules about messes and markers and stickers didn't apply.

After seeing this DIY over at A Beautiful Mess, I secured a giant moving box from a friend. And promptly put it in a closet, where it remained untouched for many months, until I got inspired one night and stayed up well into the wee hours cutting and gluing and creatively cursing until all was well and a miniature abode was born, in all the right colors. I used a box cutter on the bigger cutting jobs (roof tiles, doors, windows, etc.), and an X-Acto knife on the shutters, doorknob, etc. I used quick-setting paste (like Gorilla Glue) to secure the roof and wallpaper, mostly because I'm not patient to wait in between steps.

Although I broke my promise to avoid large play equipment at all costs, this one was admissible because, well, it's sublime. Total cost? Somewhere around €20. The box was free, I used only a small part of a roll of wallpaper, and the rest was spent on glue. Completely worth it. Five months later, it's still mostly intact, except for one damaged shutter I'm blaming on a rogue wind. Surely big bunny would never wreck anything I lovingly crafted. Right.

Happy creating, people. May your habitat, whatever size, inspire delight.

xxx+o,
Jess