Cardboard Car Garage

I tackled a fun little project last night with my son Patrick to create a garage like structure for his "matchbox" cars out of cardboard. I got the idea from Pinterest in a series of photos that showed many different projects for kids all made of cardboard. Some were more ambitious than others, so I decided to start with one that looked relativity easy. We grabbed one of the many shipping boxes I had lying around. I think the original pictures used an old shoe box, ours was of similar size.

As we started construction, I realized we may need a little more material, so rather than cut up more of my shipping boxes, I saw some foam core board I had in my overly large pile of crafting supplies. We switched over and it worked great! I think it would also be a possible alternative material to cardboard for many of the other projects. Another bonus is that it it fairly inexpensive, I got mine at the Dollar Store. I would maybe even prefer it to cardboard because of all the possibilities of detail you can add to your project, as it is white, or just let you kids go crazy coloring it.
Our project turned out quite good if I do say so myself. We spent a total of 30 minutes on it and it was a lot of fun! Now my son is only 3&1/2 so I did most of the construction and all of the cutting myself, (be careful with you Xact-o knife) , but he still had a blast!

For the materials we used:  
                           1 small to medium cardboard box             (think shoe box size)
                              1/4 sheet of foam core from the Dollar Store
                              1 Small crafting razor knife/Xacto knife
                              Basic crafting all-purpose Tacky Glue (Elmer's would
                              work also)
                              Sharpie Markers (Black, Red, Blue)

All in all I would say it was a Pinterest success! And would recommend trying this or something like it for anyone with kids. Patrick's endorsement, "It was AWESOME!"

Here is the link for the original inspiration from pinterest: http://boysgerms.com.au/2012/04/25-ideas-for-a-cardboard-box/
                 

A dilapidated barn, and a toothless gentleman... I'm so there.

You know what show I am super into lately, American Pickers. It gets me all jazzed up when they go to some creepy dude's house dig up something dirty and tell me some American history about the piece, and consequently what it's worth. I even enjoy all the car or motorcycle parts and memorabilia. I myself would love that job, and be great at it, if I do say so myself. Well, that is, if it wasn't for the being on the road away from my kids part. Oh, and the I'm afraid of those crazy people part. Other than that we are cut from the same cloth, me and those pickers.

I am my father's daughter...

As I'm getting older, not only do I realize I am capable of an early midlife crisis, I also realize my dad and I have more in common than I had previously thought. I find myself searching craigslist for VWs, just to see what's out there (or V-doubleya as my pappy says it). I have more of an appreciation of classic cars than I did when I was younger, bored by the numerous car shows and cruises that were our family vacations. I currently am lusting after a Squareback. I want to find one and restore it, that's right, I'm ready to get my hands dirty. The other common thread we hold as father and daughter is love for the Portland Trailblazers. Who would have known I was capable of holding my own in a sports conversation with my dad. When I'm feeling really confident I'll even cross over into some NFL convo, just to see how long I can keep up. Not long. Anyway, here's to you pappy, love you tons, you girl, Amber.