DIY Crib to Headboard

I bought a new platform bed and knew I wanted to make my own headboard.  I was at Lowe’s with my mom one day and I was trying to figure out legs and particle board and everything else to use for a headboard. Let me tell you it was getting pretty expensive. Well luck would have it I have been saving Action Jackson’s crib for the past few years, rather my parents have been storing it for me.  It’s a dark sleigh style crib and my mom had the genius idea to use it as my headboard.  Well it works!   I had purchased 2 yards of natural linen to redo a couple of older chairs that were my grandparents. My mom was getting rid of their mattress pad and saved it for me to use foam (for ottoman, headboard, anything)

Here is what I did

I prepped and  painted the crib off white/ ivory. The original color is what is shown in the boxes.  I didn’t paint the squares since that is where the foam would be going.

I laid the foam on the squares and used medium heavy spray adhesive to help secure it.

I draped the linen over the foam and started stretching it and nailing it down with finishing nails around the edges to help secure the foam and linen.

Last step I got natural rope from Home Depot and did a double strand around the entire upholstered area.

I need to take a fair away picture. It is extremely comfortable.  Meaning I can lay against my headboard and not need pillows behind my head.. how amazing!

Handy Helper – Toothpaste

Toothpaste is becoming a miracle helper in my house. People always think they have a secret object to fix almost anything. I am sure there are thousands of uses out there. But here is a list of uses for toothpaste.. and not just for freshening breath! So far the best kind of toothpaste we have found that works best is the white Crest paste (not the gel)

 

1.) Bug Bites!

Yes! Bug bites! Summer is upon us and in Florida mosquitos are out in full force!  Mosquitos are nasty boogers and they  love Jackson.  I always feel so bad for him when he gets bit. Even if we spray him down, dryer sheets help, but he doesn’t want to keep them in his pockets.  Get a dab of toothpaste on each bite and it immediately relieves the itch and removes the redness.

2.) Burns!

Burns as in from the oven, grill, or curling iron. Anything else you might be a klutz with and burn yourself on, if you are anything like me.  Apply a light layer on the burn immediately.  Let this 1st layer dry and then gently wipe it off.  Reapply the 2nd layer. Toothpaste removes the sting and the swelling. If you allow it to set it on the burn for at least 2 hours (the combination of both applications)  your burn will no longer be tender t touch, no scaring either!

3.) Remove crayon marks on walls!

Gotta love kids and drawing on the walls.  Rub a small dab of toothpaste on a washcloth and rub it on the marks.  Make sure to wash it off with warm water though!

4.) Deodorize Hands!

Have you cooked onions or garlic before and you can’t get the smell off your hands and the stainless steel trick isn’t working for you.. try washing your hands with toothpaste. Toothpaste helps with bad breath so why not smelly hands?

5.) Jewelry

Be careful when doing this one. To polish up stones take a small dab of toothpaste and an old toothbrush and go to work polishing. Rinse with warm water.  Cleans up rather well!

6.) Zits!

Yes, toothpaste works on zits as well. Dab it on and go to bed!  It dries the zit out. Isn’t that just nice?

7.) Fill small holes in the walls.

Again just a dab on a small hole ( thumbtack size) and let it dry. Sand and repaint.

 

 

 

Happy Summer and I hope that these tips help!

1 year!

 

Well today The Adventures of Action Jackson blog turned 1 year old!  Thank you to everyone who comes and reads on all the activities we do.  We hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas is you celebrate. Jackson’s birthday is also Christmas day so we get to celebrate his awesomeness with a lot of presents.  He turned a might 4 years old!

You can also keep up with us on Facebook.   See everyone in the new year!

Toy Car Storage

Little boys have cars… lots of cars. Yes little girls can have a lot of cars too, I just don’t have a little girl around me.  My son has been collecting Matchbox cars since before he was a year old.  He loves them.  For a while there I think he was more obsessed with them.  Thankfully they are fairly inexpensive.  But how do you store all the cars that your child has been collecting for over 3 years?  Matchbox has a toy car sorter, but have you really seen it? It’s pretty cheaply made for how expensive it is. But also keep in mind that if a boy has Matchbox cars then chances are he will have other cars of various sizes.

So how do we store our cars?  In a tackle box. I’m not talking a child’s size tackle box, but ours has 3 levels with a big opening in the bottom for larger or oddly shaped vehicles.   We went all out. The tackle box can hold at least 100 cars! But what’s even better is that I spent $25. It’s sturdy enough that it can be carried anywhere and I don’t have to worry about it breaking and all the cars spill out everywhere!

(not all his cars are shown, this was mid cleaning)

Alphabet Crayons

You have kids, you have crayons, you end up having broken crayons, am I right?  Last week I bought a bunch of crayons thanks to a free deal through Target. I stockpiled. Well now I am thinking what am I going to do with 8 boxes of crayons plus the ones we already have.  My dear husband suggested the other day to take a box and melt them down into a few big crayons. Well I took his suggestion and made 3 larger crayons, but I also made some Alphabet crayons. Since Action Jackson knows most of his alphabet, he still needs help. I am hoping this helps.

What you need:

• 24 pack of crayons (or a lot of broken pieces)
• Alphabet mold (these can be found in the soap section of Michaels)
• Muffin tin and liners

Step 1:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line your muffin tin with liners.

Step 2:

Start removing the wrapper from all crayons. After doing several of these by just my fingernail, I had the bright idea to run them under hot water. This was much faster! As you remove the wrappers start breaking the crayons ( or using the broken ones) and placing the pieces into the muffin tin.

Only have a few crayons in each liner for the alphabet (We refilled another time to make the whole alphabet)

However, if you want big blocks for crayons fill the liners to almost the top.

Step 3:

Bake for the alphabet for roughly around 4 min.  Until they are all melted.

Bake for the larger crayons around 8-9 minutes. Until all is melted.

Step 4: 

For the alphabet: Once you remove your melted crayons from the oven, carefully pick up one liner at a time and pour it into the alphabet mold.  Allow them to cool completely in the mold. Repeat until the entire mold is full.

Bottom, still allow to cool.

Front.

For larger crayons: Allow the crayons to set for roughly 5 min. Remove from tin and allow to cool completely.

Top

Bottom.

Step 5:

For the alphabet:  Once the crayons are cooled flip the mold over and lightly push on the mold to release the crayons.

Step 6:

Enjoy!

Rocket Man!!!

I have seen this all over Pinterest for months thanks to Do It and How . I believe she is the originator, if not I apologize. But I went off of her design.

I don’t know of any Superhero that has a jet pack, but Jackson has decided to be Iron Man and Captain America today all while wearing the jet pack. I guess it makes him fly even faster?

What you need:

• 2 empty 2 liters bottles
• gray spray paint
• elastic
• cardboard
• hot glue
• Red and Yellow tissue paper
• Aluminum foil
• tape

Step 1:   

Spray paint your bottles and let dry. Good thing I painted my bottles almost 2 months ago and just never touched them. Some bottles have different textures than others. If you can get two of the same brand and kind it would be nice.

Step 2:

Cut your “flames” out of tissue paper. You can also use felt or just about anything else.

After I cut the flames out, I taped the tops together.

Step 3:

Enter your flames into the the opening of the soda bottles. Hot glue on the tape part so that it doesn’t destroy the tissue.

Step 4:

Get your cardboard (around 10.5 inches wide)

Wrap your aluminum foil around your cardboard and tape the seams.

Back

Front

Step 5: 

Make your straps. Our straps were 12.5 inches long.

Attach the elastic to the back of the cardboard using hot glue.

Step 6:

Attach your soda bottles with hot glue on the back. Be careful not to use to much and melt the bottles.  Fill in the sides with hot glue.

Step 7: 

BLAST OFF!!!! 

Playtime Adventures

In this house we really like the Muppets. My husband went to NYC on business around 3 years ago when our son was a few months old. Well he came home and surprised us with a Build Your Own Muppet at the Muppet Whatnot Workshop. You can do them at FAO Schwartz or online here.

Every now and then Jackson will come out and start to pretend play with our Muppet (who still does not have a name! Any ideas?).

Today we just played for a little while and my photos are kinda crappy since they are Iphone photos. Excuse the quality.

When I 1st saw it I thought it looked similar to my Dad (I love you). The hair, glasses, and he even has a hat that he wears. Plus he is wearing a NY jersey. My dad loves the Yankees. Even though it is supposed to be NY Pigeons.

The Muppet just wanted a smell.

 

Your hammer really doesn’t belong in his mouth, but we will play along anyways.

Big Hugs

Jack wanted to show him off

 

 

❤

Milk Painting

All you need is a shallow bowl, milk and food coloring!  Super simple science project all ages can do!  The original post came from I Can Teach My Child

Pour enough milk in to your bowl/dish dish just to cover the bottom.

Add a few drops of food coloring to your milk and watch it mix it self. If you want to help it out a little though you can get a fork, knife or something and slowly draw lines through the milk.

Cardboard Paintings

Looking for a cheap inexpensive activity for your little ones? Why not paint? Have no idea what to paint on, just grab an old box you have in the garage or an old shoe box and give it new life for a few moments.

We love to paint in this house. The only art work up on the walls actually are of Jackson’s paintings.  So today when he wanted to go outside I wanted to give him an activity to do other than digging up my flowers.

I brought out our Tempura Paints and did a few squirts into muffin cups.  I was able to pick up smaller paints and brushes in Target’s $1 isle yesterday. Took an old moving box out of the garage and onto the back patio. And I let him have some fun!

We tried a little bit of drip painting. He got bored with that fast since it didn’t fall off quick enough.

we have to paint rocks!!!

While singing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” he started painting body parts =)

Yes you can paint my white flowers blue.

When we were all done, we turned the muffin cups inside out and smeared the remaining paint!

Our finished painting!

Have fun and enjoy!!

Welcome To Our Adventure!!!

Thank you so much for coming to Adventures of Action Jackson blog!

Soon enough we will have our first adventure documented and put up so even you and your little ones can do it at home.

I hope to be able to inspire you and your family to learn through adventures, and messy (or sometimes clean) play.

Sit back, buckle up, it is going to get messy!!!

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.
-Pablo Picasso