Henry's Ball Pit

I am very handy and I mean very handy...one of those "oh I can just make that myself types." And when I got laid off at 6 months pregnant that became very dangerous. Fortunately I have a wise husband that knows the more I am into a big project the more content I am. Which lead me to making Henry a groovy little ball pit all his own. Now I know you can fill a blow up pool with plastic balls but that just was not going to cut it for my first born and a mother with a lot of time on her hands.
Supplies: fabric, foam pool noodles, balls, sewing machine

The first thing I did was head to IKEA because I needed sturdy lt. wt. canvas in fun patterns (no kiddies patterns we were going straight up Stockholm). Then I decided I wanted the pit to be 4 foam pool noodles high and made my pattern for the walls. Basically I made long giant sleeves for the noodles to fit into. It takes two pool noodles per row to make it work.












Once you get all the noodles scooted in there and I have to warn you to make a pattern that gives you a little wiggle room. If you are not a good pattern maker you can still do this but just ask me so you can avoid the pit falls. After you get all your noodle layers in there you get to complete the circle. I brought all the ends together and then put a strip of fabric over the seam just to keep it clean (I totally hot glue gunned that part). After that I attached the bottom. The bottom is two layers of fabric with batting in the middle. I wanted it to be soft for Henry. I also ran a running stitch to keep the batting in place. The bottom I hand sewed on which is mindless and did not take long at all. For the balls I ordered a rainbow pack and a clear pack. I really only needed one pack of 100 balls but it was fun to have it over flowing. Now that Henry is 1 he hops in and out of it all day and I don't have to worry about his dive bombing into it because everything is soft and can't be harmed by his barbaric ways. The cool thing is it looks like it is even going to make to baby number two...famous last words!