Crafty Day

Living as I do in a house where there is always a pile of in-progress drawings and uncapped markers, it's difficult to avoid the art bug. Why try? Once upon a time I fancied myself a creative person. Why should the little people have all the fun? 

This crate once served as my very own toy box.
(Thanks, Mom and Dad!)
Now, it's time to William-ize it. 

I took advantage of this sunny and warm November day to turn the garage into a painting studio. A few days ago, I brought this old crate up to William's room to fill with books. He wasn't in love with it, until I suggested painting it. Then, he couldn't wait to get started:

William: What are we doing today?

Me: We need to drop off the big kids and then I thought you and I could go to Menards for some paint. 

William: I love 'Nards! 

Although William quickly found some paint brushes from somewhere in the basement, I decided to go with spray paint for this project for speed and cost reasons. Truly, the old box probably doesn't have much life left in it, so a basic spray paint job will be good enough. 

First, I reacquainted myself with the adorable Black & Decker Mouse sander, an old friend from our old house days. 

A few nails were needed to de-wobble the crate:

Spray paint time! William really wanted to help with this part, but he had to content himself with a supervisory role. He did't realize he wasn't going to be able to take it back to his room right away. Waiting for paint to dry is indeed a dull job. Especially when you're four.

I had no illusions that this was going to be a Pinterest-worthy project. It was more of a test-run before painting some more interesting things. I learned that even the slightest breeze can make the newspaper drop-cloth stick to the newly painted item.

We considered leaving the inside yellow for a Packer effect, but William voted for full green coverage.

And done! It's nothing fancy, but it will work just fine. And as long as the painting studio was open, why stop with just one small project. We have a few old Ikea plant stands that have faded in the sun. One just needed an update. 

(This time, I found a one-piece drop cloth and bricks to hold it down!)

Look! I'm camouflage! 

And here's the finished table, waiting to dry. It went from "eh" to adorable. There are at least two more little tables and a whole patio set that are calling out to be the next painting projects, which I will do, just as soon as I get this blue paint off my hands.