Where did my baby boy go? The days of him playing with toy cars and cuddling soft toys are well and truly gone. He just turned 9 a week ago and he’s right into army men games, fighting ninjas and battling zombies. All things I don’t have an absolute clue about. Because he’s right into these battle type games, I thought I’d make over a toy car garage into something that was more suitable for him.

We’ve been through a couple of these toy car garages over the years. I never pay anymore than $2 for them from the thrift store. They might be a little worse for wear and missing a few pieces but they still work the same, allowing the kids to park cars and move them around. (Isn’t that what they do?)

He just didn’t use it for his cars so I had a bright idea. (Didn’t I tell you I’m the ‘ideas girl’? All the ideas and never enough time.) I knew he had a few military helicopters, tanks and that sort of thing and going by one of the video games he plays, there is always burnt out buildings in the jungle that they have battles in, well I think they do. After a couple coats of grey spray paint, I drew a letter ‘H’ with a ruler and traced a circle around to resemble a landing pad for a helicopter.

I had a couple of pill bottles with expired medication in so threw that out and spray painted them black and wrote ‘OIL’ with a white chalk pen. The small stones were from the garden which I glued on with craft glue.

The ‘POISON’ drum was just a small trinket I picked up from my local tip shop which I spray painted black. My skull and crossbones are looking a little dodgy but you get the drift.

Because these video games he plays always seem to be set in run down, abandoned buildings which are covered in graffiti, I decided to give drawing graffiti a go and although a little amateur, you get the message.

I surprised him with it just before his birthday and he was blown away. He absolutely loves it. I picked up some more ‘awesome’ soldiers from the local discount variety store for a few dollars and it keeps him occupied for hours.

He’s so into army stuff he wanted to get dressed up as a ‘bandit’ from his favourite video game, “Rage” (I think it is) for Halloween. Again, another dodgy attempt by Mum to replicate a costume. The most important thing is that he loves it. That ‘thing’ around his neck was a knee-high stocking stuffed with newspaper and wrapped with gaffer tape plus more gaffer tape around his legs. Don’t you just love the thongs? That’s Halloween in Australia for you!

It’s all about reusing what you have, making do and thinking outside the square or, in my case, trying to keep up with the kids and what they’re into.