the happy little dude has been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a very long time now (since he was little enough that i was worried he’d roll out of a taller bed and be hurt) and so when my parents visited last month, i asked my dad if he’d build a bed for my boy.  i poked around on pinterest and was inspired by this photo.  happy little dude always wants us to “make him a tent” when he goes to bed (he likes to hide under the covers with a flashlight), so i thought he might enjoy having a whole “house” over his head.i added stars–both painted and glow-in-the-dark stickers — and a night sky to the inside, along with an LED taplight.  i love that he now sleeps on a pillow made for him by one grandma, under a quilt made by another grandma, on top of a bed made by a grandpa!

and after this photo shoot, we added a little bookshelf beside the “window” that can hold all the bedtime necessities.  i have to admit that i’m a little jealous.  i’ve always wanted glow-in-the-dark stars above my bed.  i love reading stories here every night!

long ago, i read this post on sew liberated and i’ve been wanting to create a mail station ever since.  i didn’t go back to re-read the post, so my actual set-up is a bit different than hers, but the idea is the same.  we bought envelopes, stamps, address and return address labels, a coupon organizer and a drawer to keep everything in and i cleared off (part of) the surface of one of the tables in my craft room and here’s the set-up:

i mocked up a sample envelope so he can see what goes where: i let him pick out his own postage stamps.  is anyone surprised that he chose the ray charles stamps?  the guys at the post office were impressed. this is the file where i keep the address labels and he mailed his first letter today!  (totally forgot to get a picture of that, but someone lucky will receive it soon!)  i also put some rubber stamps on the table and a variety of writing implements.  he really  loves creating “real” mail and it’s a pretty cheap investment for a pre-literacy activity that keeps him entertained and will likely put some smiles on the faces of the recipients.