Monday, September 2, 2013

Girls Toy Chest/Bench.


Repurposed ends & sides of the crib.. 

And we have a Toy Chest/ Bench.

So as always I start with prepping the wood, making my measurements and start using my jigsaw.
Below you see the ends of the crib, ready for my little hands to get hold of them and cut them up :)
I decided where I wanted the height to be on one of the crib ends, marked the legs and cut them off. This will be the back of the toy chest/bench. Now silly me, I must have deleted the next picture stage!!! But I will still walk you through it.

So for the other crib end, I turned it on its side and again measuring the height I wanted, marked the width of the crib, making sure my line was straight, and picked up the jigsaw, and cut. Then I cut it right up the middle, cutting the whole piece in half. These will make your arm rests.



  Now the next big step was to dry fit, to make sure things fit.... Then I started to build the chest part. Now given I had no work bench, just my low Dumbo garage steps, my cuts weren't exactly straight, but heck, I'm not a professional, just Lil ol freckles, trying to make something passable for my girls room LOL.

Next I pre-drilled holes where I needed to fix the pieces together. I used wood screws to fix the back and side arms together.




 So... After a couple of cuts, I had my box, so it was time to fix it to the back and sides. Then I used Gorilla Glue to glue the edges of the boxes together, then screws as well.. You can never be too safe when it comes to making something your kids are gonna use.

In the next two Pictures you can see, I have set down the hinges, so the toy chest lid can function. After measuring where I wanted them, I screwed them in. TIP.... Make sure you have them facing the right way...I didn't LOL I had to unscrew and do them again !! DUH




NOW ANOTHER TIP....
DIP YOUR SCREWS INTO WASHING DETERGENT!! IT MAKE THE SCREWS GO IN SMOOTH AND QUICK.

Next I added a spare piece of wood at the base, using wood glue and screws giving the base a lip at the bottom. Picture on the right, you can see how the chest/bench is coming together.


Now once I was happy with how it fitted I screwed the side arms into the box. Now time to paint.



I used a white primer and paint  as the chest was pine, and the crib..it was super hard wood and I didn't want to sand the whole thing first. Once that dried, I used Bubble Gum Pink (Courtesy of Walmart) Which took two coats. Once dried completely, I took sandpaper and steel wool and some elbow grease and started to DISTRESS the edges...which, boy took some time and some aching hands and elbows for hours later LOL.


  THE FINISHED PROJECT.


By adding some little detailing and pre cut wood filigree and sweet princess's crowns and castle. Also I took what scraps of material from making the girls rag swags for their room and adding them to the bottom and around the back of the arms. Then I decided to add a soft cushion, which I think tops it off..... I was happy.





HERE IT IS THE FINAL TOY CHEST/ BENCH ! IN IT"S NEW HOME.
SEREN & CARYS'S BEDROOM





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