How to Repurpose Old Toys Into Pretty Home Decor

If you’ve had kids, then chances are at some point they’ve had wooden puzzles and toys, especially from the Melissa & Doug brand. Did you know you can repurpose those puzzle & toy boxes when the kids are done playing with them? Yep, that’s right. Because they’re wood, they can easily be repainted or stained and used as home decor. Hang with me, I’ll show you how.

With Fall just around the corner, I wanted to update my decor a bit this year into the farmhouse style. I found these puzzle and toy boxes at Goodwill a while back. And my son had lost all the pieces to this wooden puzzle. And so, they because the perfect project pieces.

I basically used what I already had on hand. Because I paint and flip furniture, I have many products available. I’m showing you which ones I used, but only to inspire you. Use what you have or what will work with your decor.

I began with the smallest Melissa & Doug box. I think this originally held puzzle pieces. I began by using Pure & Original paint in slate gray left over from this dresser makeover. I watered it down and made it into a wash, so it basically went on very thin and light. The results are a pretty gray, weathered wood look. It holds a little jelly jar and a pretty white pumpkin I found in the Target dollar section.

I chose to repurpose the old toy tool box next. I removed the center stick, and used black Krylon to spray paint the box black. And then I hated it. Yes, that happens. You try something you think will look great, and then it doesn’t. If this happens, don’t panic. The thing I love about paint is that you can always paint over it.

As a solution, I pulled out my trusty Duck Egg Blue from Annie Sloan. The toolbox got a quick, one coat of paint. I didn’t focus or try hard to fill in every crack, because I actually did like a little of the black showing though. The blue over the black gave it a rather gray appearance that I was happy with.

The final repurpose was the puzzle. Of course the front wasn’t what I was working on, but the back.

I used my favorite new stain, General Finishes java gel stain, and stained the back. I could’ve just painted it brown, but I was curious to see how the stain would do. It only needed one coat because the wood took the stain brilliantly.

I actually posted a quick paint tutorial of these pumpkins on my Instagram story, hopefully you caught it there.

If not, you can check out my post over at The Crafty Blog Stalker this month. I shared a full tutorial featuring pumpkins similar to these, if you’d like to paint your own.

I love sharing ideas like this with you, my readers. I know you probably don’t have exactly all the pieces of products that I’ve used. But the idea is simply to inspire you to pull on your own creativity, right? Look around your house, check out the thrift stores.

What do you have that you can repurpose? Give it a try, and me know!

 

If you like this repurpose project you may also enjoy my Melissa & Doug puzzle box turned it into a Valentine’s Day Shadowbox.