artsy fartsy,  Bug

Contact Paper is my Friend

August 29, 2006 /

You wouldn’t think that when I’m in the middle of it. The stuff is so sticky. It never sticks where I want it to. It wrinkles and it goes on crooked and then there’s the cat hair and finger prints, it’s just a big mess. BUT when I’ve finally managed to finish my project, it’s a thing of beauty.

My project was this: I was tired of Baby Bug displaying her artistic talents on the cupboard wall beside her high chair. Sure, I could move the chair (and I will when she gets big enough to kick herself off of it) but it fits there and it’s out of the way next to the wall. However, being close to the wall also provides lots of surface area for Baby Bug smear stuff on. I was tired of scrubbing the butternut squash, the bananas, the rice cereal and pureed carrots off the wall. It feels like all I do all day long is scrub up after the baby. Scrub scrub scrub. Every surface has to be cleaned. It’s a lot of work. So I schemed up an idea that would turn my laborious scrubbing into a simple wipe. Contact paper! A coat of high gloss paint would do the trick too but I’m not up for painting these days.

So I stuck some pictures of her favorite people and a favorite toy between two pieces of contact paper and taped it up on the wall beside Baby Bug’s high chair. Presto: sticky swipe problem solved. As an added benefit we also have a fun game to play during our hour long “feeding the baby” sessions. While I try and dodge her swiping hands and sneak spoon fulls of food into her mouth, she can point out where her Daddy is or where Pounce is..

She’s learning too. I say, “Where is Daddy?” and sometimes I swear she bats at the picture of Toby. Sometimes she just bats at the whole thing… but at least it’s easy to wipe off. She loves it, I love it. It’s great. I just wish I could contact paper her too.

11 Comments

  • Beck's Mom

    August 29, 2006 at 9:38 pm

    Fabulous idea! If the contact paper gets too tedious, we have a Teacher’s Helper store near us that offers inexpensive, functional, do-it-yourself laminating.

  • Jessie

    August 30, 2006 at 4:36 am

    What a cute idea! I too hate contact paper when I’m in the thick of it. I can never get rid of all the creases, and it’s hard for me to accept that, perfectionist that I am. But, your project turned out great. I love it!

  • Gramma

    August 30, 2006 at 7:29 am

    I too, use contact paper lots. Right now am in the process of covering a plain cardboard square box with a pretty green mottled design. The box sits beside my word processing table in my bedroom and holds all the processor’s parenphenalia…print wheels, diskettes, ink tapes, etc.

  • aunt kathy

    August 30, 2006 at 10:47 am

    Try unrolling the plastic as you put it on. It’s a neat trick and prevents wrinkles. Make sure the pics are secure on a back so they don’t “jump up”. I used it all the time for school stuff for my kids. Have you thought about a world map by her highchair? I know a little boy who knew all the countries of the world by the time he was two because his mom kept a world map above his chainging table. She may get bored of the pics sooner or later (as much as she loves the people) and you could rotate them. Try words too. She’ll be reading before you know it if you put up words of people she loves and knows like Mommy, Daddy, Gramma, Aunt Kathy (just kidding), kitty, Pounce, etc. You get the idea. She’ll have a lot of sight words under her belt.

  • josephine

    August 30, 2006 at 10:59 am

    Aunt Kathy: I was totally thinking of you and all your school projects while I was making this. I should have included that in my blog post. You were my inspiration.

  • Jennifer

    August 30, 2006 at 1:28 pm

    Brilliant! You always come up with such neat ideas. There are so many possibilities of pictures to put up there. Makes me want to move our highchair next to a wall.