My Old Crib to Ben's New Toy Chest

 

 

 

 

 

I meant to write a post oh... a year ago about this transformation,

and you know... I didn't.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This turned out to be a good thing because Ben ended up breaking the thing anyway... more on that in a bit maybe.

 

 

I've written many a time about how awesomely creative my family is,

and here is yet another example.

My uncle, after hearing that I was expecting (the first time), offered to give back to me the crib that my brother and I slept in when we were babies.

And while I was tempted, it was only for sentimental reasons

as the thing is... well... old (we won't say how old).

It's been through at least 3 babies as a crib and had definitely seen better days.

Not to mention my uncle lives in GA. I live in PA. Shipping the thing to me didn't seem worth it.

 

So I moved on, my mom bought Ben his nursery furniture. Done and done.

Broken but not for long!

 

 

 

 

 

Then I get this toy chest in the mail.

My uncle turned (half of) my old crib into a toy chest.

He did the hard work,

and I put it together when it arrived at our house.

 

 

 

 

 

Clearly I didn't do a good job, because once Ben was climbing all over everything, it broke.

In a number of ways.

So while I've been getting prepped for baby number two,

I decided this thing must come back to life.



After first coat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wood glue,

some reinforcing screws,

some paint,

and we were back in business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't usually paint wooden things, and in some cases am adamently against it.

However, this had so many scratches and teeth marks, it really had to be done.

 

 

Apple/ Fire Engine Red. Always a winner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the most part, you can see how it went from crib to toy chest above there.

I'm thinking that you could hypothetically squeeze two chests from one crib.

 

The bottom and the top are pieces of plywood.

 

The top, I upholstered with some 1 inch foam, batting, and coordinating fabric.

And added a handle with cotton strapping material.

 

 

Cute, yes?

And always nice to hide the ugly and obnoxious toys away.

We love it.

:)