Look Out World....

....It's Crafty Time!!!

So, for those of you who know me and those of you that don't, I tend to think about worst case scenarios a lot. I have always worried about my kids and my family. We moved into the lovely house that we live in about 3 yrs ago. In the entire time, my kids have slept upstairs and that has always caused me some concerns. In case of fire what would they do? 

Well, I finally decided to do something about it and I did some research. I found some good sites online that gave me some info and I ran with it. Using some rope that we had purchased to hang hammocks I stated to make an escape ladder for the kids.

I actually did this a couple of times because when I tied it the first time and did a height check, the ladder was about 7 feet too short.  I undid all of my work and narrowed the steps up to give me more reach. I also tried to reinforce the rungs by putting a dowel in each one.

As you can see, the knots are not exactly tough to tie but they can still be a pain. When you first start tieing this, the entire length of the rope is being passed around and through the knot. It's a bit awkward but doable.

So I got this tie redone. I used rungs that were about 8in in width. I did a height test and the ladder reach to about two and a half feet off the ground. It's a big step for a kid but if they are climbing down it and not up they can jump the last bit.

Now before you say congrats, I tested it. I held it and asked my daughter to try to climb it from the bottom. She started climbing and on the second rung, the dowel broke. She didn't fall but that rung was more unstable. I am going to redesign this thing and try again. I want my family to be safe and if I can do it by using my hands to make something.....Bonus!!