Pimp My Ride: Toddler Edition
Little children and interior design don’t always get along. Case in point, if you follow along with me on Facebook, you saw what happened when my son came across a quart of blue paint in my dining room this weekend. (And if you don’t follow me on Facebook, I would love it if you would!)
Aside from the messes and destruction they bring, kids also come with lots and lots of stuff. Lots. And let’s face it, most of that stuff is not so pretty to look at. Fun, but not pretty.
I wanted to get Griffin some sort of riding toy for Christmas and I found the perfect little car at a local consignment store for just a few dollars. The only problem – it was hideously ugly.
Now I am not delusional enough to think my thirteen month old could care less whether his toys are cute or not. But I know this thing is going to be hanging around our family room for many months. And that Ronald McDonald red and yellow color scheme it had going on was a bit blinding. So I decided to do something about it.
A bit of spray primer and paint and it was a whole new car!
I used painter’s tape and plastic bags to cover the tires since I wanted them to stay black. Then I sprayed the entire car with spray primer for plastic. After priming, paint your smaller details. I used an amazing chrome spray paint I already had on hand (after checking the label and seeing that it can be used on plastic). I love this chrome spray paint because it gives a much shinier color than typical metal spray paints so it looks more like real metal.
Once that dried, I used more tape and plastic bags to cover everything I wanted to stay chrome and painted the body of the car with some oxford blue spray paint that I also happened to have leftover from another project.
And I ended up with a sweet little ride for my sweet little boy. And not only is it no longer an eyesore, I actually really like it.
So does Griffin.
(Disclaimer: I’m not about to become a psycho mom who only allows toys that match the décor, but it is nice to not have to look at that yellow and red monstrosity everyday.)
What do you think – pretty awesome gift for a little boy right? How do you deal with all the toys and paraphernalia kids come with? Have you ever given a toy a makeover – or wished you could?
I think it looks . . . pretty awesome. Never thought about why those toys have to be so darn BRIGHT. I guess I just assumed there was research about what colors were appealling to kiddos. But why not start training them right from birth? If an 8 month old can learn to swim, he can learn to color coordinate . . . .
Haha, thanks Laura. If I can teach Griffin to appreciate a great color palate, that would be wonderful. I do get that kids like bright colors but I don’t think that means absolutely everything has to be a new, brighter color. Plus, I think he’s really into the chrome. ;)
Very cute Carrie, great job! :-)
~Sarah
Thanks Sarah!
It turned out great. I must confess that I also tried to paint a car for my grandson. I didn’t do the prep work you did, and whenever I pushed him in it, the blue would come off on my hands! I solved that problem by passing it on to his grandpa, my ex. hehehe Now it’s his problem.
Haha – that is hilarious. I am hoping that the primer for plastic will help everything hold up well – I will let you guys know if it doesn’t. I’m also considering maybe coating the whole thing in some sealer for good measure but we will see if I get around to that. :)
HAHAHAHA THANKS
I now know what to do with my toy painting project if its an epic fail
Haha, thanks! Good luck!
So cute Carrie- I love the change!! I think we have some need of a little pimpin’ around our house too:)
Haha, thanks Krista!
Great idea. I never thought of that. Some of those toys are awful, both to look at and to listen to! Hopefully the plastic primer will hold up. That would be my fear, that the paint would scratch or rub off (and be ingested, knowing my luck, lol).
We have this in our basement. The one we have is actually the second one we have owned for our grandsons. They range in age from 5-17. The oldest 2 boys wore out and broke our 1st fire truck and our neighbor gave us one she’d had for her grands. We have grandson #5 starting to toddle around now and will be dragging the fire truck back out for him. My son is a police officer and when I saw your blue paint job I immediately thought of trying to make the old fire truck into a police vehicle for the youngest. Thanks for the inspiration.
Jeanne, sounds like you have quite a fun bunch of grandsons! It would be so fun to turn your old fire truck into a police car and I bet your grandson would love it!
and they paint never rubbed off on them or transferred to their clothes??? so adorable!! going to get paint right now !!!!
Sandi, Well to be honest the results have been mixed. No paint rubbed off or got on clothing. But after a few months hard use, some of the paint did scratch off. Which is really my fault because I never got around to using any sealer over the paint. If I had finished the project off proprerly, it may have lasted better but I can’t say for sure. I definitely need to redo this one properly and see what happens.