Learning our Loved Ones and Limitations

At last, I have created the ultimate family wall. It is touchable, pullable, pokable, and very lovable. destructable! 

Lately our little pumpkin is pointing at his Daddy and saying 'DaDa', 'Daddy', or even the occasional 'Bill' and is  filled with snuggles for 'Mumma, Mummy, or Momma.' So we would love to teach him the other vital members of his family tree.

Lucas' Loved Ones wall was originally in his nursery behind the glider. It looked great up there aesthetically, but annoyed me that for him to look at the pictures he had to virtually crawl on your shoulders while you sat in the glider and peer over his lamp. The frames are from our local Christmas Tree Shop. They were $3-$5 a piece.

As always I was inspired by a post on Pinterest and once again it was from YoungHouseLove.
They showed how they baby proofed wall hanging photos. Imagining Lucas standing in front of his family members and being able to physically point or poke at them as he learned their names was irresistible.
They had switched out the glass for plexi-glass and used Command Strips to hang them. I had the perfect spot in mind! We have a mini hallway that passes the bathroom on the way to studio. P.S. Ta-da!! I have a french door! Bill installed this gorgeous door for me. I love that is cuts down the noise from the rest of the house, but doesn't make me feel cut off or isolated.

Only plexi-glass stood in my way! I checked the posting and Sherry had pulled the plexi from some cheap frames they had around the house. So I was left to fend for myself. I didn't know where it was sold or how it was sold. I didn't know if I would have to cut it down or if it came in picture sized sheets. I contemplated purchasing cheap frames with plexiglass covers from the dollar store, but I had more than 9 pictures so spending $9 seemed silly when I would be throwing out the frames. Someone mentioned thick transparency sheets, but where would I get those? Could he pull the plastic down from the corners? So basically, I was left looking for a very specific item that there isn't a high demand for. My favorite...When all your shopping trips are limited to the few hours between naps and entail carrying a 13 month old in tow, searching from store to store is not an appealing idea to me. So as the procrastinating perfectionist I am, if I didn't have a perfect plan it goes on the back burner.

 Today in Lucas' Early Intervention his PT offered the idea of laminating. Yes, I was so obsessed I was talking about it in Early Intervention. That was interesting. Laminate paper is easier to come by, but if I switched the picture I would have to re-laminate and heaven forbid I got a bubble in there! Not perfect.

Finally, I bit the bullet and went off to the local craft store. As I scanned the shelves for anything and everything that would work I saw a photo calendar. I could cut out the sleeves! This could work! 12 months means I have enough for 9 frames! But the price tag got me. $20 for something I was going to cut up, so back to the shelf it went.

But this made me realize, since I have 4x6 frames, I could cut out photo sleeves from any of my old photo albums! A perfect solution was born. Price tag $0. Nothing was holding me back.  I do have 1 8x10 and 1 5x7, but I hung them high enough on the wall that he shouldn't be able to reach them.

So in case the idea isn't self explanatory enough I took some photos of the step by step of what didn't work.

Here's my sassy little photo album circa 1999.

No holds bar, I started cutting. You have to cut directly around the photo as there isn't the extra room in the frame. Yes, there were some fun honeymoon pictures in this album circa 2005.

Make sure to leave one side of the sleeve alone. It makes a little plastic folder for the photo.

This makes me feel better about him being able to pull the plastic from the frame. If your little one has busy little fingers like mine, I think this might help.

Introducing his Great Grandma and his late Great Grandpa behind plastic!
The plastic actually reduces the glare that you get from actual glass so even with the little crinkles and creases I was still quite pleased with the result.

Now on his way to go bang on the glass of my new door (Bill thought ahead and got Tempered) Lucas can take a pit stop and visit his aunts, uncles, cousins, grand parents, and even great grandparents. Mom and Dad are there too of course and the 8x10 is of himself. We think it's good for children to think the world revolves around them  have self confidence.
Ahhhh. Now I can stop laying awake in bed thinking about plexi-glass.

Update: I should have Kid tested before posting! Just as I feared Lucas' little fingers were able to rip out the plastic and photo in about .02 seconds. I guess tonight I'll be dreaming about Plexi-glass.

At least he had fun with it! Have you had a recent DIY disaster or struggled to find the exact materials for a perfect DIY idea?