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.

Spring is in the Air!

*breaths in deeply*
Ahhhhhhhh, spring is in the air!  At least here it is! 

With spring comes all sorts of thoughts of what we want to do in our yard.  We bought our house the middle of last summer, but most of our work went into the house, not the yard.  But with the warming of the days comes the itch to get in the dirt and DO SOMETHING!

I have so many plans swirling around my head!

I have very large plans for our garden this year along with things to be more self-reliant.  I'm in the process of cutting out beds on the edges of our yard for garden beds and also making our existing raised beds larger.  I also want to make a patio, move our clothes line back some, make our compost pile better, build some privacy screens around our patio for things to grow on, do some AWESOME paths, build our chicken house, build some rabbit hutches (this might happen next year), and grow a variety of food including:
raspberries

 blueberries

strawberries

grapes

 apple and perhaps peaches

 asparagus

 lettuce

 spinach

 Kale

chard

 onions

artichoke

 carrots

 radishes

 tomatoes

 squash

 pumpkin

watermelon

 peas

 beans

 cucumbers

peppers

potato

mint

oregano

basil

tyme

rosemery

chives

cilantro

And we'll see if i add to the list. 

It's a lot, but i'm so excited.  And i'm excited to be able to do this all on a lot that is only .11 acres and has a 1,200 sqft house on it WITH a car port.  I will have to be creative and really utilize the square foot/intensive gardening technique, but i know i can do it :)

And now some pictures of the awesome things swirling in my head....

This is the best set up for sprouting seeds i've ever seen!  I actually purchased the supplies last night and have mine set up in our living room! SOURCE

Use your old bottles to water your plants down at the ROOTS where they need it most! SOURCE

Build a fence using wood pallets that you can normally find for FREE! SOURCE

a privacy fence that we could grow our grapes on SOURCE

Using ikea storage bins as nesting boxes for your chickens.  Easy to gather eggs and clean! SOURCE

a raised bed made from pallets.  You can find pallets for free all the time!  Just make sure they have HT printed on the side for 'heat treated'.  Others can be treated with chemicals which would leech into your garden.

Patio furniture made from pallets.  Again, could be made for nearly FREE!

Yet another way to use pallets in your garden.  can you tell i love pallets? SOURCE

square foot gardening.  Grow more food in less space! SOURCE

So i think that is it for now, at least for what i can find pictures for.  I'm very excited for the days ahead, it's just going to be a lot of work. 

If anyone has pallets, spare wood or glass bottles they are not using, i will gladly take them off your hands!

What are your plans for this spring/summer in your yard/garden?
Happy digging everyone!

Re-purposed Entertainment Center

If you have read my previous post i made about how i want more imaginative play for my children you will understand why i am so excited about this tutorial!

Do you have an old entertainment center like this laying around?

Well, get ready to turn it into an awesome play kitchen!

 (Pictures curtosy of Giggleberry Creations Blog)

Find a couple tutorials here to make this project :)

(I did not come up with this project i am only sharing it with you)

T-Shirt Shrug Tutorial

So something i do in my spare time (which lately has been when i'm nursing the little one) is explore different blogs trying to find new projects i want to do (someday).  The other day i ran across this tutorial and i instantly fell in love with it and wanted to share!

T-Shirt Shrug tutorial

One reason why i'm so excited about this tutorial is i found that shrugs are great for nursing in public!  I can just wear a tank top that i can pull down easily, and the shrug keeps me covered on the top/side.  Perfect!  I also like how romantic and "girly" this is, but still can be grown up!

But it's hard for me to find shrugs that i like or can afford so this is perfect, so needless to say, i'm very excited about this tutorial.  I think i'm going to have to go to the thrift store and see what kind of awesome shirts i can find!

So there you have it.  An awesome, amazingly cheap project to go do! Enjoy!