Happy New Years

Light Box

I have been wanting to get Junior a light box for a very long time but after checking around I found they are very expensive. I was thinking about it again as Christmas approaches and decided that though they are far too expensive for me to purchase maybe I could make one. I did some online searching and came upon this fabulous blog which has some "do it yourself" ideas for light boxes.

I figured out what we would need to make it work for Junior and today I finally had some time to put it together.
For the light box version we made for Junior you will need: a under the bed type tote(we used the 28 quart, 6 inch high size), an under the cupboard light, white spray paint, silver spray paint(both the type for painting plastic), white duct tape, painters tape, paper, and some type of tool or knife to cut a notch in the tote for the cord.

I thought I had taken pics before painting the tote but I didn't.
I cut a notch out of the edge for the light cord before starting. After the notch was cut I put tape around it so there were no sharp edges, you could also sand it.
(I did not get a before pic so this was taken after the box was painted)

Place paper in the bottom of the tote and use the painters tape to hold it in place.
Then spray paint the inside of the tote with the white paint. Let it dry and paint it with a second coat of the white.
After the second coat dries paint it with a coat of the silver paint(I used two coats of the silver as well)
Once the paint is dry, carefully remove the tape and paper.
There was a issue with my white spray paint so I had some spots where it dripped and got past the tape. That is why in the picture you see a white line around the bottom. I wanted the edges to be straight so I put white electrical tape around the edge(inside of the box).

Place the light diagonally across the inside of the lid and secure it with the duct tape.
place the lid on the tote and flip the whole thing upside down. Because of the damaged spray paint nozzle on the white paint I had an issue with it not coating well so the silver showed through in several places around the top edge(that would be bottom of the box). I wanted it to look nice so put a layer of white duct tape around the edge.

I had somehow managed to get a bit of paint on the bottom so had to use some alcohol and scrub what I could off(beware, paint for plastic dries quickly and is very, very difficult to get off things including your skin, I still have white painted fingers tonight).

This next part is optional
I decided to decorate each of the sides with something Junior loves.
Here is the baseball side(the camera flash made the light look a bit strange)
the other side is fire fighter
A picture without the camera flash

I really had a great time making this and can't wait until Christmas morning when Junior gets to see it. I am considering switching the duct tape holding the light in place to velcro. That way I can purchase some battery operated lights for those times when we are not close to a plug in. I can then just swap lights depending on our needs. I will post an update once I get that part done.

Go Army

Junior taking a break to cheer on the Army Black Knights

Christmas Ornaments

Today Junior made a couple of Christmas ornaments during his stander time. The idea came from this blog, be sure to click on over and see some of the other awesome ideas found on the blog.
These are called I Spy ornaments. Junior had a blast making them and has been playing with them all afternoon.
I thought I would share Junior making his version of the I Spy ornaments.
We started by coloring some epsons salt for our "snow". Junior wanted one ornament with green and one with blue snow.
We then poured the snow into one of the ornaments(these are plastic ornaments that I picked up at our local craft store). That is the only funnel I had and it looks huge next to the ornament.
Ready to put the "snow" in his ornament(actually colored epson salts)
I raided our craft closet and also picked up a few things at the craft store(got to love a clearance sale)
Junior then picked what he wanted to put in the snow.
Junior loved telling me what to put in next.
We did two ornaments and this one was taller and thinner. We actually liked this size better.
After adding all the items to our ornaments we glued the lids on so we could shake and play with them without the top coming off. I also wanted to be sure the top didn't come off while they were hanging on the tree.

I was having a really hard time getting a good picture of the ornaments, I kept getting a glare.
One of them on the tree, though it won't stay there. Junior likes playing with it too much.

Sick Kid

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. We were very busy and now Junior is sick. He is slowly moving in the right direction but it will most likely be another week or so before I get another post up.

In the mean time check out this very cool blog. It is not "special needs" but there are some awesome ideas which can easily be adapted for your child's needs.