Extreeme Makeover: Stroller Addition

I have never been more excited to write a blog post!

 

My family is planning a trip to an ammusment park and I was trying to think of ways to make our stroller stand out so it will be easy to find.  I've heard all the tips about tying a scarf or whatever to the handle, but i really wanted a GREAT way for it to be MINE.

So i searched online for people who have done a makeover on their stroller.  Surly there would be *something* on pinterest.  

 

NOPE.

There were people with much more time and energy and brain power than i who actually took all the fabric pieces off and made new ones with cute fabric but there was no way that was going to happen.  And i saw a few people who used fabric spray paint to touch up their sun faded stroller.  And I saw one woman who painted a design on a cheap umbrella stroller.

But i wanted more. I  wanted a completely new stroller.

SO i decided to just go for it!  The stroller only cost me $14 so i really did not have anything to loose.  

So i picked out a color scheme and went shopping for paint.

Then i removed the cover (washed it) and taped off any part i did not want painted (including on the cover, like the clear parts). 

 

Then i set to work.  I painted all the plastic parts with a plastic spray paint.  The hardest part about this was being patient and letting it set for the 48 hours before putting on the clear top coat!  SO hard to wait, but i wanted to do it right!!  After the 48 hours i covered everything with a protective clear coat (used the whole can).  Then i let that dry.

 

Next i mixed up my fabric paint using Textile Medium.  You can find it in the paint section.  (side note, i ran out of mine (i've had the same bottle for 7 years now) and had to get more for this project and it was HARD to find.  Micheals, walmart and joanns all did not have it here.  Hobby lobby had a small bottle that wasn't enough for me, but i finally found a large bottle for $10 at Craft Warehouse)  You mix the textile medium with your acrilyc paint to make it a fabric paint.  The ratio is 2 parts paint to 1 part medium.
I saw a DIY where you could make your own fabric spray paint so i tried that first.

well, it didn't work that great.  It wasn't a fine mist and so i had to use a paint brush to apply.  So i didn't even bother trying to spray the fabric.  Now, if your plan was to do your stroller in 1 color only, you might have been able to get it to work (or use the commercial kind).  But that was not my plan.  So painting i did.

A tip, it would probably be easier to do this if you chose similar tone colors.  Trying to do a light color over dark meant a lot of coats of paint (3-4). 

But in the end i thought it looked pretty good.  It actually looks a lot like leather!

Then i set to work painting the rest of it.  I'm sorry at this point i stopped taking pictures. I was too absorbed in what i was doing!  But i painted under the canopy next (make sure you cover what you just painted so you don't get drips!! learned that quickly) Then once that was dry i did the outside in tan (very tricky since i had it on the frame, but i was silly and had removed the tape from the frame protecting it).  Then i painted the outside of the canopy which actually took quite a bit of paint.

NOW, my big plan was i wanted to paint a chevron pattern onto the main body (seat part) of the stroller.  Well, when i was out and about trying to find the Textile Medium i found almost a yard of teal chevron fabric in the remnants section for less than $4!  SCORE!  So i had a change of plans and instead sewed up a stroller pad (got the idea here). 

The pad was pretty easy.  I laid some brown paper in the stroller to make my pattern.  I made the pad with 2 different fabrics to give different looks if i wanted.  I then marked where the buckles woudl go through and did a zig zag stick (very thick) all around the place i would cut (like a button hole).  Only mistake i made was i had removed the bukles from the straps so my holes are too small to use with the buckles on!  OOPS!

I then also made a new 'saddle bag' since the one it came with didn't paint well and i didn't like.  It was a little tricky but i was able to make it work.

So now we come to come completed stroller!  Sure, it's not perfect (really hard to do fine detail painting, and the trim was hard to paint, it kept soaking it all up!) but i really love how it turned out!

 

The lovely Rainbow modeling her new stroller
(remember i do not use real names on this blog)

Detail shots

 

 

 

The fold is a little stiffer now from the paint but still works.  It will fold smaller but i forgot to lift the basket out of the way.

And the finer details where things were not so perfect

the trim was tricky.

As i said, the trim didn't turn out great.

It was really tricky to pain the straps.

I noticed after the base coat dried completely that i had a little bit of cracking on the tray.  I was out of the paint color though so i just clear coated the heck out of it.

I was trying not to pain this black trim, but that didn't happen. 

 So there you have it!  You don't have to live with a boring stroller if you do not want to!  I will make updates as i start using her and let you know how she wears :)  (i just finished yesterday!)  If you have questions, just leave a comment below and I'll try to get to them as quickly as i can :)

Personally, i think she's lovely!  Now to just come up with a name!

A side safety note.  Do NOT ever makeover your car seat.  Doing so is a danger to the function of the seat and will void your warranty.  No aftermarket products allowed.  Changing the fabric, adding pads (strap covers or bundle mes included) are all not allowed.  They are not made to manufacture specifications (like fire retardancy which is very important in an accident, just read this mom's story and see her pictures) and not crash tested (do *not* believe the things you read on the packages in the store.  There is NO standard for them to test them).  And there is no guarantee that the harness slots on a new cover are in the correct position.  Even being off a 1/2 inch could change the harness fit on your child.  Graco once recalled a line of seats because they found that the padding on the covers was 1/4" too thick.  That is how important it is.  Please do not alter your car seat.