All BOY Trash to Treasure...

Being a couponer, I LOVE LOVE LOVE deals! I hate paying full price for anything pretty much (there are somethings you should take a discount on I know). So taking something that has been discarded, or ready to be discarded and turning it into something AWESOME is a bit of an addiction for me...

We have a little man (he is almost 2) and being the only boy, we went a little crazy with his BOY room (I think my husband was just happy to do a room missing the color pink). So his room is all cars, with roads on the wall stop signs, license plates, the works. We even built a shelf on two sides of the of the room, almost to the ceiling that holds all of the cars from my husbands childhood, and his dad's childhood.

When we took out the crib, we went with the blue race car bed, and decided that he needed a "MANLY" toy box (hubby's words exactly).

This is what the toy box started out as;

I sanded the outside a bit, to remove scratches and make it easier to paint, and filled all the dings and holes with wood putty. I picked a paint that matched the room, but also had a metal look to it to get the metal tool box feel. I knew the toy box needed to have diamond plating on it, but then I priced diamond plating and almost gave up on that dream. I was going to find some other way to go, but I found diamond plating vinyl on the Internet, and knew instantly that I had to have it!

Being that the original toy box had the lines in it, I used backer board to avoid seeing the lines. I just measured and wrapped each piece and attached it.

I think it turned out AWESOME and really "manly".

The little man completely loved it!

The next project wasn't really as thought out. I came across this little table at the DI (Desert Industries, the Utah thrift store), it was only $5! It has a nice lip all around the top, and the actual table part popped out. The wheels in my head started whirling very quickly (if you were standing close to me I bet you could smell smoke). I have seen the car activity tables but they usually start at about $100 and only have one top, which is the car top. I had also seen on the Internet that you can make your own chalk board paint (woohoo!), and turn almost anything into a chalkboard. Both my kiddos LOVE to color, so I decided to mix the two of little man's favorite pass times into one AWESOME table.

This is what the table looked like before;

In these first pictures I have already started painting the top of the table black so I could get easier coverage with the chalkboard paint.

I removed the table top, and sanded, filled, and then spray painted the legs the same color as the toy box. Then I painted one side of the table top with (HOMEMADE ((woohoo!))) chalkboard paint. I did 3 coats just to be sure it was well covered. I let that dry for a day.

For the other side I had found a car play mat at Toys R US that fit almost perfectly. It was just a little smaller than the table top, so I painted the edges black so it would match the edge of the play mat, and give it a better finish. I chose a play mat for ease, but also to lower the banging noise of the table (I know both kiddos see everything as drums, and who ever is loudest wins). Then with Gorilla Wood Glue (love this stuff!) I glued the mat right to the table top. Super duper easy! Next I had found some little Cars tins at Walmart and with just some nuts and bolts attached them to the side of the table, so little man had car storage.

And DONE! SUPER CUTE, and total cost was less than $30!

The cars mat even came with little road signs!

For Christmas little man got the wooden Cars play track from Grandma, Daddy set it up, and Christmas was a HIT for all three kiddos (the third being the hubby).

The last "upcycled" project for his room was this wooden plane I found at the DI. It was only $2! it didn't have an ounce of paint on it, it looked as if someone had made it and never found a use for it. So just a little time and paint, and viola, the cutest boy shelf ever!

Little man is very happy with all his new room additions!
If you have any questions let me know!!
Happy RE crafting!!