Rocking Rocker

There is definitely a market for chic looking kids toys nowadays.  

If you have the money you can get some outstandingly cool stuff --- like

those ultra cool people do, whose modern homes get featured in magazines and their kids' stuff looks just as mesmerizing as their adult stuff.  

I can drool over those things all day.  

But I'm on a budget.  

So our kid things are often kindly handed down to us.  (Thank you Carol!)  

We were given this great kid-sized rocking chair which J just adores ---

She heads to it as soon as she wakes up in the morning and after a good sit roams around only to return and climb and perch again.  

I was so excited to get this chair because J had been really loving a kid-sized rocker that Blake had loved as a kid that was at his grandparents' home in North Dakota.  And I got to wishing with all my mommy heart that we could find one of our own for her to enjoy at home.  And then lo and behold we were given one!  God is so good!  

Well my great aunt, whom my mom attributes much of my craftiness to, told me when we got this chair, "You know, they make spray paint for plastic now.  You could paint this."  

That's all I needed to hear.  

My mind was off and running!  I was going to make over this toy rocker.  

What color?  Colors??  How should I do it?  A Pattern?  

Hmmm...
After probably too much thought, 

I took the chair from this... ----------------------------- to this...

 

Pretty fun!  

Now I can kinda feel like one of those magazine people whose kid stuff just blends right into the whole family's living space.  

And another added benefit: if we ever have any boys, the chair is already unpinked for them!  

So if you are looking to make over other toys, this kind of project could be a great way to switch them up for the other gender as they pass through your family.  

Wanna see what I did?   

Well, first I took it all apart 

 by removing the screws hidden under those plastic covers.  

Then after cleaning it very well I took it outside and painted it with spray paint specifically for plastic.  (This is a must!)  

Here it is looking more chic after just one coat!  

I had thought about painting the seat, but I just couldn't get over the idea that I wanted a pattern on it.  

I thought about taping some stripes off, things like that, but it just wasn't really what I wanted.  

Then it dawned on me: I could use fabric!  

I had some leftover fabric from our curtains so I just measured around the seat and cut & sewed a sleeve I could slide around the seat and seat back while the chair was apart.  Once the chair was all back together, it wouldn't be able to slide off.  

They are totally basic.  Just a cylinder of fabric.  

And then I just put it all back together!  

I love little victories!