Unless you live in a cave, you’ve all seen the typical faded Little Tikes cars of various types. You have to admit, Little Tikes toys are kind of like the cockroach on Wall-E. They’re made so well, they’re going to be around forever no matter what happens to the world around us. However, if they’re left outside, the colors fade and they start to look pretty worn out, although they still have lots of life left in them.
I’ve had it finished for a bit, but wanted to see how well it held up before I tell everyone how to go do this themselves.
I’ve read lots about the Krylon Fusion for Plastics spray paint, and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to put it to use. For this project I used the Krylon Patriotic Blue Fusion for Plastic and in Hunter Green. I also used regular Krylon MAXX in silver metallic for the bolts on the wheels and the steering wheel.
Also, if you haven’t already seen it, I’ve completely made over an old bouncing pony with the Krylon Plastics paint, be sure to check it out HERE.
Anyway, back to the car, shall we?
Little Man’s car was originally the red and yellow kind that after years, looked more like pink and cream (sorry about the terrible fuzzy pic).
Following the manufactures instructions on the Krylon spray paint, I cleaned the car. Prep work is extremely important on this project. Next, I took it apart, which surprisingly was easy, because only two screws hold it together. Once I did that, I was shocked at how much nastiness hangs out in the cracks and crevices of this toy, and I had to clean the grimey parts again.
Next, I put plastic bags over the wheels, and taped up all the small parts I didn’t want painted blue or green, and went to town. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, so I’m not going to give a tutorial on how to spray paint without dripping, etc, but I’m sure there’s one out there somewhere.
The directions said the paint would be dry in 15 minutes, and ready to use within the hour. I actually let it set overnight before moving to the next step of taping off and painting the smaller details. I taped off the wheels and steering wheel and gave it a coat of Krylon silver. This actually wasn’t plastics paint, but I thought I’d give it a try anyway.
*NOTE* If I were ever to do this again, I would do the painting order opposite of what I did. I’d paint all the small parts FIRST, then cover them and paint the bigger parts.
After letting it dry overnight again, I was ready to put it back together. Once it was put back together, I had some finishing touches to take care of. With my white paint pen, I added a pinstripe, a license plate, and some eyes and a grill. Once that dried well, and just for good measure, I covered the entire car with Krylon for plastics Clear Coat.
I finished this car makeover about a month ago, and it has since been played with, climbed on, driven, and even left outside in the rain. I can honestly say that so far it looks as good as it did the first day. The only part of the paint that has worn off at all is where the door opens and closes. It just rubs too closely I guess. You can’t even see it when the door is closed though.
Needless to say, my sons love it! I’m on the lookout now for more cars to makeover. Wouldn’t a green and yellow John Deere car be awesome? You never know, one of these days, you just might see one here.
Jess says
Awesome! Next time I find one of these faded cars at a yard sale or something, I'm on it.
The Doodler says
I see these cars at yard sales all the time, now I know not to pass them up! Thanks for sharing!
Brie from darlingdoodles.blogspot.com
Lesley says
Oh that is so cool! Good for you!
Just Me.... says
Wow that is pretty darm amazing. I need to start getting alittle bit more crafty..lol
New follower from the blog hop would love it if you could come over and check out my site.
destined for home says
We have a yard full of toys that could stand to be spruced up like this. Never even considered painting them. Thx!
Cook Clean Craft says
That turned out great. Our Cozy Coupe was a hand-me-down from a neighbour, so it could definitely do with a remodel, although keeping my son away from it for a day or two may be a struggle!
Eschelle says
great idea I should have done this with ours when we had one lol!! We had to give it up though as we moved into an apartment.
malia says
wow your version is fab! following you via blogger + twitter ( -: happy to meet ya! malia
Jayda says
New follower from the friday Hop and I have to say I never thought about repainting and now I am wondering why not…its a great frugal way to bring life back to those outdoor toys!!
awesome!
http://twochildrenandamigraine.blogspot.com/
The Jacobsen Family! says
Wow! WAY cuter! Great job!
New follower from the hop! Would love a follow back!
http://ourjacobsenfamily.blogspot.com
TexaGermaNadian says
So cute! You did a great job on this. Those cars fade so badly, but you 'pimped' it right up, didn't you Xzibit! Haha. Stopped over from the Friday Blog Hop. Have a great one!
http://texagermanadian.blogspot.com/
Natalie says
Wow!! That's a huge difference! I love this so much! Thank you SO much for sympathizing with me on my contest misery and for voting too! I really appreciate it! And now I get to discover your blog and I love it!! It's so clean and organized and I can't wait to have time to putz around and look at everything! Definitely a new follower! Have a great day!
Good Girl Gone Green says
WOW, you really pimped u his ride! Great job!
kristen says
that's awesome!!! I would have never thought that you could pimp a cozy ride. We have basically that same old style Cozy Coupe for our munchkin. It's his favorite toy ever.
new follower via blog hop!
Melanie says
SOOOO cute
Shiloh says
Oh boy! What a fun idea! It looks so much better:) I'm a new follower from Hop till you Drop:)
Free Things By Britney says
Ha! That looks great!
Frazzled Mama says
Hi!!! I'm stopping by and following from Blog Hop Till You Drop. I hope you'll check out my blog Frazzled Mama at http://frazzled-mama.com and follow me back.
Hope you have a great weekend.
Jess and the boys says
CUTE!! I'm a new follower! Please follow back if you get the chance! 🙂
-Jessica
And Then There Were 4…
http://www.giveawaysandlife.blogspot.com/
Tammy in NE says
I like the colors you chose. We did this with an old Little Tykes car we picked up at a garage sale ($5!) early this summer. DH painted the exterior black, the interior is cherry red, and we stenciled flames on the doors. Now I'm looking for one to do in pink and purple for my young nieces. :o)
Free eBooks Daily says
What a difference – the car looks amazing!
I am a new follower. Looking forward to reading more of your posts.
Hope to see you on my blog – Free eBooks Daily. (You can even read ebooks on your computer or smartphone!)
http://www.freeebooksdaily.com
PitterAndGlink says
I think you may be a magician! Love the transformation! Visiting from Tatertots and Jello. 🙂
Mimi says
I love this! My kids are grown and I wish that paint had been around when they were little. What a fabulous job!
emily @morefromthemoorefamily says
We did this with our little Tikes hand-me down table, last year… it works well, but if it's an area that gets used a lot it will wear, but STILL looks better than the faded!!! 🙂
Shelly Peterson says
How awesome! You did a great job fixing that up!
Material Girl Green says
This came out great! Love the new colors! I'm a new follower http://materialgirlgreen.blogspot.com
I also love your baby artwork on your etsy
Mindie Hilton says
That is amazing, what a great before and after pic. I am going to feature you on Thursday afternoon at Bacon Time 🙂
Abby says
Wow, great mind think alike…
http://thriftywithtriplets.blogspot.com/2011/09/pimp-my-ride-toddler-edition.html
Although, I must say, you went all they way. I did not think to take it apart 🙂 I just taped the parts I did not want painted.
kpmattingly says
So cute!!! Great job! 🙂
allenaim photography and design says
AWESOME…my boys would DIE!
Angie @ The Country Chic Cottage says
This is amazing!! Thanks for linking up to OMTWI!!
Jessica Lucas says
months later i stumbled upon this…i love it and i'll be trying it soon. how's it holding up?
jess @
tupelocreative.blogspot.com
Megan B says
I am about to paint my son's playhouse and I too would love to know how it's holding up?
Thanks!
Megan
Debilou ~ Mississippi Mama says
I have never even thought about painting one of these.. I have two grandgirls that will need one in a year or so.. Ill be on the lookout for one now. Yours looks great
Megan says
Can I ask how many cans of spray paint it took?
karenmed409 says
Love it.. I am thinking of revamping ours, he has gone throught 9 kids..I got new wheels arriving next week and I like your idea
diane says
I just found a car similar to this but its a bed I am going to paint it like a ladybug for my granddaughter now I know how thanks for the post
Michelle says
Thanks for your blog post on this! Gave me the assurance that my project would work out. Here is a link to mine completed!
http://shrunkengiraffe.blogspot.ca/2013/05/little-tikes-coupe-makeover.html
Reiko says
This is just what I did last summer and had high hopes for it to last but it really didn't. The paint goes on really well and looks great for about 4 months when it just starts peeling and chipping. Hopefully yours will last longer than mine.
scoop says
impressed, so well done! I have so many outdoor kids toys that have come faded from yard sales- this really dresses something old up, thanks for sharing the great idea!
Anonymous says
I repainted a battery operated quad for my grandson. After I sanded it I sprayed
on a coat of plastic paint adhesion/
adhesive that I picked up at a paint
store. The product makes the plastic
paint adhere better to the plastic. I
then used a plastic primer and finally
the plastic paint.
It has held up fairly well but it did come off when it got scratched. For the time & money
spent, I would not go to the extent that I did. It doesn't matter to my grandson in the least. He was just happy to have it. The "looks like new" was what I wanted. I need to quit being such a perfectionist! Keep It Simple! Definitely the way to go!
fivepaintedlane.com says
Love it!!!
Anonymous says
I just found one of these in someone's trash by the road. Of course I couldn't pass that up! Was thinking of ways to paint it, maybe even a cute little Halloween coupe, but yours is soooo cute. You did an awesome job!
Anonymous says
I just bought a used one for 15$ and painted it -followed your directions. Wow! I decided to paint the bottom blue and the top red, and the gas cap bright yellow. It matches the play-set colors in my yard and looks amazing. Thanks for the great idea. My grandsons LOVE their "new" car.
Ebeth says
Curious to know if the paint pen portions have stayed on well. I want to get one of those push buggies for my niece for Christmas and personalize it with her name and am trying to figure out the best paint/method
Laura says
Hi
Just wondering how well the paint job held up. Thanks so much for your blog.