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How To Build Barn Doors

by Jill February 19, 2013

written by Jill

At last! The 2nd half of our Barn Door project is up for those of you looking to recreate this look on a budget. For the first half- the Barn Door TRACK Tutorial, go here.

The following is just the tutorial for the doors.

Click here to view this image full size.

At Home Depot (or Lowes), buy 11 1″x4″x14′ pieces of pine. Have them cut them in half for you, leaving you with 22 1″x4″x7′ pieces. Having them do this for you will make the pieces easier to get home in your car or SUV.

If you don’t have a table saw, have them cut 3 of the 1″x4″x7′ pieces in half lengthwise, leaving you with 6 1″x2″x7′ pieces. If you have a table saw, you can do this yourself.

Take one 1″x2″x7′ piece and one 1″x4″x7′ piece and stack them next to each other on top of a 1″x4″x7′ piece that has been coated in glue. About 2″ of the 1″x4″x7′ piece will be hanging off the bottom 1″x4″x7′ piece. (That bottom piece will be serving as the frame of the door at the front).

Screw the 2 pieces on top into the frame piece below. (The point here is that you’re screwing these pieces in from behind the door so you can’t see it from the front.) Refer to diagram (the yellow squiggly lines represent the frame pieces covered in glue). Do the same thing for the other side of the door.

Flip the end pieces over, with the frame side up. Line the rest of the vertical pieces up between them according to the picture, with a narrow piece in the middle.

Measure the distance between your two vertical frame pieces to come up with the length of the 3 other horizontal frame pieces. These should be between 19 1/8″ and 19 3/8″. The measurement will vary based on how accurate your cuts were and natural variation of the wood, so it’s important you measure to see what precise measurement you’ll need.

Where you lay your middle, horizontal piece is up to you. We have ours a little off center, and it’s 34″ from the bottom of the door to the base of the middle, horizontal piece. That’s really just a stylistic choice.

Be extra careful to make sure your vertical boards are lined up and square, then apply glue to the back of each horizontal frame piece, place on top of the vertical pieces and let it dry completely (overnight). After it’s all dry, the glue should be strong enough to hold the pieces of the doors together enough for you to carefully flip the entire door over (get some help with this), and then screw the vertical pieces into the horizontal pieces from the back.

After this, putty up the holes in the back and sand them down, then give the doors whatever sort of treatment or stain you desire.

We’ve also illustrated how to affix the DIY Barn Door Track that we posted last year to these doors. If this is confusing to you or you want more information, refer back to our original DIY Barn Door Track Tutorial. We’ve detailed how to hang the doors over there, too.

Please let me know if you have any questions, but please leave them in the blog comment section and not the Facebook comment section since I don’t receive notifications for those.

A million apologies it took so long to get this up. Per usual, Scott is a perfectionist and wanted it to be perfect before we published it. He’s so fantastic at illustrating stuff like this. I hope you find the tutorial helpful!

February 19, 2013 28 comments

Home Decor & DIY Popular Posts

DIY Barn Door Track Tutorail

by Jill September 10, 2012

written by Jill

Scott, my husband, is an AMAZING DIY handyman. I like to call him the Handy Husband. Between the hardwood floors, our entire home office, the kitchen table, and now these closet doors, hung from a barn-style track system that he designed and engineered himself, we have saved tens of thousands of dollars to get such custom touches in our home.

We fell in love with barn-style track systems that are hanging gorgeous doors in and on all the design magazines and websites right now. What we couldn’t stomach was the $400+ price tag. We searched high and low for a tutorial that would tell us how to re-create the rustic-meets-modern look of this exposed hardware, but couldn’t find any that were detailed enough or produced the look similar to the kits we would buy if we had a limitless budget.

So Scott spent weeks designing and putting them together himself, for a total of less than $120 (not including tools).

He is so extremely thorough and pays so much attention to detail it kinda makes my head spin. We’re very opposite like that. So I’m sure you can imagine how much “fun” we’ve had collaborating on this blog post. And hopefully you can understand why it’s taken over a month to get it up after I let you all peek at our doors this summer.

Let me say, because of his attention to detail and insistence on creating a very thorough tutorial, complete with materials list and illustrated diagrams, it should (hopefully) be easy for the intermediate handyman/woman to recreate in a weekend.

Please note: THIS IS NOT A BEGINNER’S PROJECT. I’m not saying you can’t do this as your first DIY project, but it’s definitely challenging if you’re new to using these tools.

Please also note: You will need a variety of tools to do this. That said, most of the tools would likely be found in your garage if you’ve done a few home-improvement projects.

Click here to access the materials list, which includes the tools needed (the big ones being a miter saw and bench grinder).

To start, you’re going to attach the track wheels to the bars that will hold up your doors. The diagram above can be viewed at full size by clicking on it, or going here.

Let’s walk through each of the steps illustrated above.

1. Grab a 3/4″ x 36″ x 3/16″ flat bar, and begin to bend the bar about 6-8 inches from the top. Bend the bar to a 90 degree angle.

This part is not exactly easy and takes some strength. Scott started the bend by laying it over a piece of the bent angle steel on the floor with about 6-8 inches sticking off one side, standing on top of the steel bar. He started bending it with his weight by stepping down on it. After he got the bend started, he hammered it until it reached 90 degrees.

2. Place the steel round rod (dowel rod) inside the seam. Hammer the flat bar another 90 degrees until the bar has completely folded over. Keep the rod in the seam of the bend the entire time so your bend is curricular to allow head space for the wheel.

The rod and the flat bar need to be held in place (preferably by someone else standing on them) as you continue to hammer the flat bar until it’s folded. That someone else, in our case, MAY have been our 4-year-old.

3. Place your drill 1.5 inches from the top of the bend. Drill a 7/32″ pilot hole through both sides of the bended rod. To prevent from burning out your drill bit, you may want to dip your drill bit periodically into some engine oil. If it does get dull, sharpen the tip with your grinder.

4. Using a crowbar, pry the bent end of the bar away from the straight end to make room to insert the wheel. Only pry it about 45 degrees.

5. Insert the wheel and shaft. Line up the shaft with the drilled holes. As you can see in the image, the shaft will likely have to go in at an angle. As you slowly hammer it down, it will straighten out. (Make sure the shaft doesn’t get pinned between the steel pieces or pressure from the hammer might break or jam it.)

6. Now cut the extra length off (at 11 3/4″ from the top of the bend) from the long end of the bar and the short end, using your miter saw with a masonry blade. The excess from the long end will be used for a second wheel and bar.

Please be careful when you cut the excess off at the top near the wheel that you don’t hit the wheel with the blade. Be prepared for sparks!

7. Drill 3/8″ pilot holes 5″ from the top of the bend and 10″ from the top of the bend. Again, use motor oil if needed to keep your bit from dulling, and use the grinder to re-sharpen your drill bit as you work. You can also use the grinder to smooth out the cuts at the ends and where the holes are drilled.

Repeat those steps 3 more times (assuming you’re only hanging 2 doors and/or only need 4 wheels on bars), and then have a beer…

Unless you’re jumping right into the next part of this project: the track. (If you’re on my homepage, click through to read more.)

September 10, 2012 145 comments

Cloth Diapers Photography

A Peek At Our New Barn-Style Doors & My New Favorite Backdrop

by Jill July 24, 2012

written by Jill

This weekend, Scott finished up a couple barn-style doors on a track that he pieced together completely on his own, based on some inspiration online.

This man. I don’t dare tell him he CAN’T swim the Atlantic Ocean for fear of him actually proving me wrong. I’m ashamed of how little faith I had in him to pull this off. But he’s not a blacksmith, you know?

Anyway, just add it to the long list of things he can hold over my head. “Remember that time you said I couldn’t fix the Jeep/install hardwood floors/bend metal and hang doors from it?? HA!”

For any of you interested in how he did it, we are currently working together to come up with as detailed a tutorial as possible. It will hopefully go up this week. I will tell you, though, this ain’t no beginner DIY project, and you need quite a few tools to pull it off. If you have the time, tools and determination, it shouldn’t be too hard.

Onward to what I really want to show off! These doors are officially my new favorite photo backdrop. Behold the cute that is nearly 19 month old Leyna showing off daddy’s handiwork.

When she ran into the office yesterday morning, she exclaimed “Wook! WhaYisTees??” Which means “Look! What is this?!” in toddler language.

Then she began to climb atop the tiny chair randomly placed in front (by me, for specific picture taking purposes in mind).

Toddlers love tiny chairs. It’s the cutest combo.

Leyna’s sporting an Itti Bitti Tutto cloth diaper that I’m so happy she finally fits! I got it from the Haute Green Blogher party last summer, but it was always a little too “itti bitti” to fit all her chub! She’s finally starting to stretch out and slim down a little, and now it fits perfectly. I’m so glad because it’s adorable, and also really absorbent and reliable. This isn’t any sort of official review. Just thought I’d tell y’all all a bit about the diaper she happened to be sporting when I managed to get these pics.

July 24, 2012 21 comments

Parenthood

5 Nostalgic Toys We Saved For Our Kids

by Désirée September 18, 2018

written by Désirée

Some toys are one-season fads (RIP Hatchimals) and some toys become heirlooms that span generations.

We recently asked Baby Rabies readers to share what toys they saved for their kids from their own childhoods and here are your top 10 responses!

LEGO

Of course! LEGO = A true classic.

Anytime I think of old school LEGO, I think of this vintage ad that made it’s way around the internet a while back. So good, right?

And while there have been a lot of changes and new pieces created in the LEGO world, the playability of a simple box of original blocks in undeniable.

No matter what your age, LEGO is always awesome.

5 Nostalgic Toys We Saved For Our Kids

Barbie

A toy that has evolved leaps and bounds since making her first appearance in 1959.

Barbie– full name Barbara Millicent Roberts for my fellow trivia lovers- has changed in appearance and philosophy over the years and still remains a favorite.

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A post shared by Carolina and Mary Jane (@barbie_invasion) on Aug 14, 2018 at 2:50pm PDT

Cabbage Patch Kids

Originally called The Little People and renamed Cabbage Patch Kids when licensed by Coleco in the early 80s, the brand has changed hands 7 times since Xavier Roberts created the first doll as an art student in Cleveland, Georgia.

These dolls were one of the most popular toys of the 80s, so it’s no wonder that so many of our readers chose to save them for their own kids!

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A post shared by sarah (@mycpk_collection) on Jun 16, 2018 at 2:38pm PDT

Little People

Not to be confused with “The Little People” above, Fisher-Price Little People have been around since the 1950s and are still being made by the brand today.

Little People have changed a lot over the years, but their popularity hasn’t!

Some of our readers mentioned the specifics play sets that they saved for their kids- the farm and school house definitely bring me back to MY childhood. I can still hear the “moo” sound that the barn door made when you opened it!

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A post shared by @smartypantsparty on Jul 7, 2018 at 9:35am PDT

My Little Pony

I think it speaks volumes about a brand that the reboot has just as much if not MORE of a fanbase than the original did when we were kids. My Little Pony definitely falls into this category.

We love the old school ponies, of course, but it’s fun to watch a whole new generation enjoy it too.

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A post shared by @_mylittleprecious on Jul 16, 2018 at 12:32am PDT

Some of the other toys mentioned include other Fisher-Price gems, like the record player, Teddy Ruxpin, Star Wars collectibles, American Girl dolls, Raggedy Ann, Hot Wheels, and Polly Pocket.

I wonder what OUR kids will save for our grandkids someday. Will they be unpacking “vintage” Minecraft toys in 20 years? Or will it still be that same box of LEGO? 🙂 Only time will tell!

This post contains affiliate links. Feature image via Les Choux Gras.

September 18, 2018 0 comment

Home Decor & DIY

Selling The Dream (House For Sale Part 1)

by Jill October 5, 2014

written by Jill

This is officially the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere in my entire life. Not just the longest I’ve lived in a home, but the longest I’ve lived in the same zip code.

So maybe that’s why, for the first time ever, I feel like I might cry when I think of closing our front door behind me for the last time. Or maybe it’s that I stepped in the door for the first time when my first baby was just 4 weeks old, and brought 2 more newborns through it’s door since. Maybe it’s because one of our beloved dogs lived out his last years of life here. Maybe it’s because we have poured literally our blood, sweat, and tears into transforming this place from builder-grade blah to home-sweet-perfect-for-us-home.

I guess it’s probably all of those reasons.

We’re selling the dream, y’all. We’re selling this house that we long thought was “just a starter home,” a house I had to fight to make myself love. But once I did? Oh, it was… it IS a deep love.

There’s a story in here about finding gratitude for the things we have in life, about making the best of what’s already ours.

But I have a showing tomorrow at 10, and a million emails to catch up on. I basically stopped working last week to help put all of this in motion, and I have no time to share meaningful life lessons right now. Maybe some other day.

We are selling the dream because we can finally, with confidence, say that we are ready for another dream. One with a much bigger yard, and a little bit more room to spread out. One with a dedicated space for me to do all the creative things I love to do, that I get paid to do, that end up taking over our kitchen… and our office… and our closet… and everywhere.

We are selling the dream to someone who is looking for their own dream. One that looks exactly like this…

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I was a total dork and wrote up a letter that I printed and left on the counter, all about how they could pick peaches and blackberries in the backyard, and the awesome closet organization, and how lovely the natural light that fills this house is.

I was tempted to draw “Ebola Free!” on the kitchen island chalkboard, but I guess you never do know if future homeowners come with a sense of humor.

So my job has been, and will continue to be until this place sells, to sell this “dream” to someone. The dream that they can move into this light-filled, pristine home and have a perfect life. One where they will barely lift a finger gardening, and still harvest buckets of fruit every year. One where their office will sport THE barn doors and DIY track that have been shared on Pinterest over 85k times. One where they walk their perfect children to school, and then their perfect children come home to play in a perfectly organized playroom, where they nicely put away all their toys, just like the perfect children who lived here before them.

And I know that’s the stuff that sells, right? The dreams are what sell houses. Not the realities.

Oh, but the realities have so much more heart….

If you know someone who is interested in this dream we’re selling, hit up our fantastic real estate agent, Adrienne, from Team Kirkpatrick. We’re in the Dallas area, specifically the Wylie/Sachse/Murphy area in the northeast suburbs.

October 5, 2014 13 comments

Crafty!Photography

3 Cheers For Love! An Easy Pennant Tutorial

by Jill February 11, 2013

written by Jill

A few weeks ago, I had a friend and her kids over for a playdate/Valentines photo shoot. I threw it together at the very last minute and couldn’t get out to shop for cute props and outfits.

So I pieced together whatever the kids had in their closets that were in the pink, red, white range and fit (which actually ruled out a lot). And then Kendall and I made some quick decor and props out of some craft supplies I had stashed away from other projects.

Kendall helped me cut hearts out of felt and I hot glued them to ribbon to make streamers for our background, which was set against our barn doors in the office. Then we made a couple pennants out of felt for the kids to hold.

Man, I can do almost anything with felt and a little hot glue. Those are the supplies I’m hoarding for the end of the world. We got a handful of cute pics, mostly thanks to some jelly beans.. okay, a lot of jelly beans.

Of course, my kids love to play up their “photographer’s children” syndrome and fight my requests for sweet poses. (That one up there? TOTALLY LUCKY shot.) BUT, fortunately my friend’s kids are not quite there yet, and I wound up getting a sweet shot of miss A showing off her pennant.

The pennants have turned out to be a big hit with the kids. They like to run around and wave them. Kendall likes to “decorate” his room with them. They were so easy to put together, I didn’t even think of documenting the process for a tutorial at the time, so I went back and made another one today to show you all how it’s done. You can use this same concept for any season, holiday or reason. They make adorable photo props!

What you need:

3 colors of felt, less than 1/2 a yard of each (or scraps for 2 colors)
1 12″ wood dowel (I purchased these in the cake decorating section at the craft store.)
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Ruler
Siccors

Take one piece of felt (the largest, and the one that will make up the majority of the pennant) and fold it in half. Along the fold measure 8″ inches across from the edge of the felt. Make a mark or a small snip with your scissors. Also make a mark (but not a snip!) at 4″ (or halfway across).

At the 4″ mark, place your ruler perpendicular to the fold of the felt and measure down 11″ for a medium sized pennant or 14″ for a large pennant and make a mark.

The pennants the kids are holding in their Valentines pics are large. The one I made for this tutorial is medium.

Line your ruler from the 11″ or 14″ center mark all the way up to the 8″ width mark or the edge of the felt at the fold and draw a light line. Cut along these lines for a perfect triangle.

Next, using the same method, cut a smaller triangle from your second color of felt. This time, though, there is no need to fold it in half. Just use the edge of the felt as your guide. For the medium pennant, I cut a triangle 5 x 7″. For the large pennant, I cut a triangle 6 x 11″.

To make the heart, I simply folded this triangle in half and cut one out.

Then go ahead and cut a 1.5 x 8″ piece of felt from your 3rd color and set it aside.

Unfold the large piece (the pennant) and hot glue the wooden dowel down the middle.

Fold the pennant back in half, over the wooden dowel, and hot glue all the edges together. You’ll probably have to apply a little extra hot glue near the top and the bottom of the dowel.

Place the 1.5 x 8″ piece along the edge of the pennant, and trim the edges to match the angle. Then hot glue that down.

The last step is to line your smaller triangle up, centered along the bottom edge of the accent piece you just glued down, and glue it down.

Tada! It is so super simple and a really fast project.

We’re brainstorming 5th birthday party ideas for Kendall now, and he’s leaning toward a baseball party. I’m starting to envision a few nights of making pennant party favors.

February 11, 2013 2 comments

Build It Popular Posts

Hardwood Floor Topped Table Tutorial

by Jill October 5, 2012

written by Jill

Remember my Husband-Made Kitchen Table?

At long last, we finally have some instructions on how to create one yourself! Unlike the Barn Door Track, this project could probably be finished by a beginner, or at least someone who has used these tools on smaller projects a time or two.

The base of the table was inspired by this tutorial on The Art Of Manliness, but we modified it to give us enough space to seat one person at each end of the table. We also opted not to paint the bolts because we liked the look of the exposed hardware.

Tools and materials for the table base:

Nail gun
Wood glue
Table saw
Miter saw
Wood chisel
Drill, 3/8″ drill bit and 1/4″ drill bit
Ratchet set
(8) 3/8 x 6 lag screws
(8) 3/8 x 3 lag screws
(16) 3/8 washers
1 box 1 1/4″ wood screws
(3) 4″ x 4″ x 8′ solid wood pieces
(3) 2″ x 4″ x 8′ solid wood pieces

The diagram below will give you a visual of how to cut the wood and put it all together (click on it to see it larger). For more specific instructions on how to piece the base together and cut the notches, please refer to the original tutorial on The Art of Manliness.

*Note- To prevent splitting your 2x4s when attaching the legs to the top of the base, drill a 3/8″ pilot hole through the 4×4. Hold the 2×4 flush against the 4×4, then use a 1/4″ drill bit, and drill through the 3/8″ pilot hole to create a smaller 1/4″ pilot hole with a 2.5″ depth for the 2x4s.

The top of the table is made from leftover hardwood flooring pieces (from the floor we installed last year).

Click through if you’re on my homepage to see the 2nd half of the tutorial.

October 5, 2012 28 comments

Travel

Where To Take Little Kids While You Wait At Walt Disney World – Ultimate List With Maps!

by Jill March 1, 2019

written by Jill

Are you planning a trip to Walt Disney World with toddlers? Will you have to balance entertaining small ones while big ones ride rides? I’m sharing my favorite toddler and preschooler friendly spots in all 4 WDW parks in this post! Be sure you save or screen shot the maps for each one, too!

image of a toddler held up around lots of balloons

We just wrapped up an epic family vacation at Walt Disney World with kids ages 2, 5, 8, and 10. Not everyone was tall enough to ride all the rides. Not everyone wanted to ride the same rides. It’s a challenge when you’ve got to divide and conquer, but it’s not terrible if you know where to go while you wait.

My husband and I would take turns and split up with the bigs waiting in the ride line, and the littles who needed to be entertained while they waited. Even when we had FastPasses, we could expect to wait 20-30 minutes for our riders to exit some rides.

Of course, we tried to time this during stroller nap time. And if that was the case and I only had the 2 year old with me, I’d find a shady spot and enjoy the relative silence. When he was awake, though, he wanted OUT. And if I had another kid with me, we were certainly not going to enjoy any kind of silence just sitting and waiting.

So we hit up the following spots in each park while we passed the time:

Walt Disney World – Magic Kingdom

Rides: Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain

There is a play area to the right of the entrance to Splash Mountain. It’s right near a bathroom, has plenty of seating nearby, and it’s pretty easy to keep an eye on runners without having to helicopter them.

Ride: Space Mountain

We spent a lot of time getting energy out at the space in front of the Tomorrowland stage. In the past, this has been home to a dance party that our then 1 year old loved. This year, there didn’t seem to be anything happening on the stage, but that meant that space was left wide open for running and playing with his Buzz Lightyear bubble blower.

There is a little bit of seating, but you definitely have to be ready to chase a runner since there’s no fencing or barricade to keep them from running into the crowds. You could also take them onto the PeopleMover while you wait if the line isn’t too long (generally it doesn’t seem to be). It’s our 2 year old’s FAVORITE.If your little will sit still for it, and you have the budget and the desire, there’s a face painting spot near the Tomorrowland stage, too.

Rides: Barnstormer, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Dumbo

Anyone can ride Dumbo as long as littles are seated with adults, but did you know you don’t have to ride Dumbo to get inside and play under Dumbo’s Big Top? It’s an indoor, climate controlled play space that’s 90% contained, and it’s glorious! I’ve nursed babies here, I’ve sat and enjoyed coffee in peace while big kids played, and I’ve brought them here to entertain them while we wait for riders.

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A post shared by Jill Krause (@babyrabies) on Oct 29, 2015 at 8:02am PDT

If you do plan to ride Dumbo, they will give you a buzzer, like you get at a restaurant, and when it goes off, it’s time to jump in line. Never waste a Fast Pass on Dumbo if your kids will want to play in the tent!

If it’s hot out and you are cool with your kid getting wet, you can also take them to Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station right outside the Dumbo ride. As of today, it’s closed for renovations, but should be open by the end of March, 2019.

Screenshot or save this map to your phone for quick reference in the park!

Walt Disney World – Epcot

Ride: Mission Space

After you say goodbye to your riders entering the line, walk to the left and head into the exit. You’ll walk into a gift shop, and on the other side of that is an area with video simulations for big kids and kids-at-heart, and then you’ll see a play area, complete with climbing tunnels, to the right. This climate controlled area is an awesome space to step out of the heat. I’ve found a quiet corner to nurse babies here a few times. The playground has spots for toddlers and bigger kids. And there is only one way in and out so if you have a runner, you can just park yourself there.

Ride: Test Track

This is one of those lines that is long even if you have a Fast Pass, so settle in. No worries, though, the BEST new play area in Epcot just opened within steps of the ride. To the left of the MouseGear entrance, you’ll find what is now a Ralph Breaks The Internet themed outdoor playground. It’s fully enclosed (except for the entrance) with quite a bit of seating for adults. I’m told the theming will change, but this playground is a permanent fixture.

Ride: Soarin

Soarin is inside The Land pavilion, and you can certainly let your littles run around the waiting area there, but it’s not very entertaining. If you’d like to stay inside the pavilion, check out the wait time for the ride Living with the Land. It’s about a 20 minute ride, and the wait has always been next to nothing while we’ve been there.
If you would rather not sit and hold them, head over to The Seas with Nemo & Friends and take the escalator to the 2nd floor. There’s an incredible aquarium that they can walk through with windows right at eye level.
There is a splash pad at Epcot between Future World and the World Showcase. Just be sure your child has a change of clothes before you let them discover this.

Screenshot or save this map to your phone for quick reference in the park!

map of Walt Disney World Epcot

Hollywood Studios

Ride: Tower Of Terror and Rock & Rollercoaster

Hollywood Studios is lacking in dedicated play spaces for kids at the moment, so here it’s all about finding places littles have space to safely get their sillies out. The open space in front of the TOT exit may seem like a good spot at first glance, but I’ve found it’s a nightmare. There are stairs that my danger baby insists trying to go up and down, and there’s a pathway that’s also a designated smoking spot that he is determined to explore. So if I can’t convince him to stay in his stroller and enjoy a snack at this spot, I take him to the open area in front of Rock & Rollercoaster.There’s still a lot of foot traffic in and out of here so it’s not a place you can let runners run free, but you can usually find an empty spot off to the side and let them play with a toy or enjoy a snack. If you’re feeling festive, there’s a face painting spot here!

Ride: Star Tours

We rode this ride A LOT so I have a few options that worked well for us. The SciFi Drive-In Theater restaurant is adjacent to this ride, and there’s a car out front that entertained the toddler for maybe 5 minutes each time. He climbed in and out and pretended to drive and honk a horn. It was never entertainment enough for an entire ride cycle though.
There’s a courtyard in front of the Muppet Experience and a dead end road to the side of it (for now) with a Star Wars backdrop that will stop your runner from running off. Both are decent places to let them get their energy out.
I actually found the best solution for us was to take my 2 year old across the park (it’s not a big park) to the Animation Courtyard and into the Star Wars Launch Bay. I was able to nurse him in the quiet Han Solo museum and then we got in line to meet BB-8 and Pluto was right outside. We timed it perfectly to meet the rest of the fam on their way to Toy Story Land once they exited Star Tours.

Rides: Slinky Dog Dash & Alien Swirling Saucers

Toy Story Land would have been the BEST PLACE for a playground, right? Sigh. Sadly, there isn’t one, and with height restrictions on two of the three rides (Alien Swirling Saucers is only 32”), if you’re traveling with a little little, you’ll have to find something else to do with them while you wait.

Our 2 year old was OBSESSED with the Green Army Men, and they were out and about nearly the whole time we were in TSL, each time we visited. He even got to bounce a Pixar ball with them! This was plenty of entertainment for him for one ride cycle.
If you can manage to get a FP for Toy Story Mania for the same time your other riders will be on the height restricted rides, it’s an easy enough ride to manage littles on your own and the FP line seems to move pretty swiftly. You could also hop in line to meet Woody & Jessie or Buzz if you think you have the patience for that.

If none of that is working and you need a place with a little more space to run and perhaps a dance party, head out of TSL and just after you exit, to the right, will be the old Pixar Place alley. It is currently home to An Incredible Celebration. If you’re into cookies or bribing your kids with cookies, you gotta get a Jack Jack’s Num Num cookie while you’re there.

Screenshot or save this map to your phone for quick reference in the park!

Animal Kingdom

Rides: Expedition Everest, DINOSAUR, Primeval Whirl, Flight Of Passage

Animal Kingdom, in my opinion, has THE BEST play area for littles- The Boneyard. It’s HUGE and there’s something there for kids big and small. We just really love Dinoland U.S.A. as a whole, especially now that Donald’s Dino-Bash is going on. There many character interactions throughout the day, and a dance party later in the afternoon that lasts through the night.
Another cool thing about Dinoland is it’s not a bad place to hang no matter what ride you’re waiting for riders finish. You can all meet back up in the center of the park on Discovery Island.

You might also like: 6 Stunning Photos You Would Never Guess Were Taken And Edited With A Phone

There is also the Hakuna Matata Time Dance Party, which lasts a good portion of the day, on Discovery Island.
The Muziki Drums across from the Harambe Market are a family favorite for us, too.

Pandora has winding trails and tons of beautiful foliage to look at, especially at night. You might also catch the Pandora drums that play throughout the day. Fair warning: this can be a stressful place to let runners out of strollers. The combination of foot traffic and all the trails can make it easy to lose sight of an excited kiddo.

Screenshot or save this map to your phone for quick reference in the park!

map of Walt Disney World Animal Kingdom

I hope this helps you on your upcoming Walt Disney World trip! I’ll be writing more about taking babies and toddlers to Disney here soon, so be sure you’re subscribed and following me on Facebook and Instagram for updates. For videos about family travel, be sure you subscribe to our travel and lifestyle channel Happy Loud Life.

Click here to read more tips and tricks for Walt Disney World.

And if you love my photos and want to know how you can take and edit pix of your family at Disney World with just your phone and a few cheap apps, be sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter to find out when my next ebook- Picture Play At Disney World- goes on sale!

If you found this helpful, I’d love if you’d pin it to your Pinterest board!

image collage a pictures of the main highlights at WDW

March 1, 2019 29 comments

Lifestyle

South Texas Family Friendly Fun- You’re Invited!

by Jill March 16, 2016

written by Jill

In January, I got to join some of my friends and fellow writers for a retreat at my mom’s venue Strawberry Pines. We went to the Pines first ever private concert & barn dance and had an amazing time. The newly renovated 100 year old barn is the perfect place for dancing and unwinding. It’s even family friendly!

They are hosting another private concert this weekend, open to pre-sale ticket holders only! I know there are quite a few of you in the San Antonio area, or you may know folks down that way, so I thought I’d share a bit about it because I think you’d all love it.

What makes this even more rad is incredibly talented country artist Rodney Hayden is performing (check out a video here), and he’s married to a lovely girl I went to high school with. Small town life forever.

I’m telling you, private concerts the barn at Strawberry Pines feel like a scene from a movie. It’s an atmosphere you don’t often find anymore. Ticket sales are capped at 200 for an intimate and enjoyable experience. It’s BYOB, but drink set-ups are available. AND there’s a kid’s area. (My mom really thinks of everything). Bonus for the barn being on private land far away from busy roads, so no stressing about kids running out the front door into traffic.

Strawberry Pines is in Poteet, TX, which about a 30 minute drive south of San Antonio. Tickets are $25, and they take credit cards. Kids under 15 get in free!

This Saturday, March 19th from 7-11 p.m. Parking is free.

Call 210-296-1764 to purchase.

I wish we could make it down there this weekend, but life is a little nuts up in Dallas right now. Please tell me how you like it if you make it and thank you SO much for sharing this with anyone you think may be interested!

March 16, 2016 0 comment

Crafty!Home Decor & DIY

A Star Wars Christmas! (And a Silhouette Cameo Tutorial)

by Jill December 1, 2015

written by Jill

After months of collecting dust, I’ve finally found my groove with my Silhouette Cameo and have loved busting out the holiday crafts with it over the last few weeks.

Behold, my latest!

Star Wars Snowflakes with Silhouette Cameo | BabyRabies.com

These Star Wars Snowflakes are designed each year by Anthony Herrera Designs (he also has Frozen and Guardians of the Galaxy!), and are available as free downloads for anyone who’d like to try their hand at making them. He offers tutorials on how to cut them out by hand with an Xacto knife.

Click here for all of Anthony’s snowflake designs.

Since I have a fancy paper-cutting machine, though, and since there’s no way I’d be patient enough to cut these out by hand, I took the images of each (like this) snowflake and saved them to my computer. Then I imported them into my Silhouette Studio library.

(Gonna try a little Silhouette Cameo tutorial here since a few of you have asked for it. I am NO expert, though.)

From here, just open a new file, drag the image into the file, then size it to how big you want it. I was able to get 4 from each 12×12 sheet of cardstock.

Star Wars Snowflakes with Silhouette Cameo | BabyRabies.com

Then I clicked on the Trace icon in the upper right menu (the yellow icon with what looks like a green butterfly in the middle). Select the area you want to trace, which should be a square around the entirety of the snowflake design. Next, UNCLICK High Pass Filter, and move your Threshold over to about 96 for super clean edges.

Click on the design and delete the original image. You should end up with something like this.

Star Wars Snowflakes with Silhouette Cameo | BabyRabies.com

Now, I’m sure there’s a way to remove that square around the image, but it didn’t affect my snowflakes and actually made it easier to peel each one away from the mat, so I left it. (And also I have no idea how to remove it.)

Just repeat that process for all the snowflakes. Then send to your device to be cut. I went with the basic cardstock settings.

Star Wars Snowflakes with Silhouette Cameo | BabyRabies.com