… she had dumps like a truck, truck, truck (more highly inappropriate singing about butts here). And speaking of trucks, here’s the story of the little two dollar Goodwill truck that I got Clara in Georgia (mentioned in this video yesterday). This is what it looked like when I snatched it up:
Perfectly charming and vintage-ish, but a little less “Clara” than it could have been. So I thought it would be fun to get Clara involved in a little makeover. Yes, Clara would be the ultimate truck graffiti artist, but first I applied one coat of blue paint, just to set the stage for her scribbles (the entire project was free thanks to using a little test pot of paint leftover from this old art project last year). The color is Embellished Blue by Behr in case you’re wondering.
After it dried I handed it over to Clara with a box full of crayons and told her to go nuts. She had the best time coloring every last corner and crevice. I wish (oh how I wish) I had thought to take photos of her coloring with reckless abandon (I was too busy watching and clapping and playing the role of too-excited momma). Just try to picture Clara grabbing every color and feverishly coloring her blue truck while completely ignoring me. She loved it. She was focused. She took her truck-coloring job very seriously. Of course there were talks about how we can only color on things when mommy says we can. So here’s hoping she doesn’t doodle on everything else we own now. So far so good. As for the truck though, no surface was left uncolored – even the wheels got some crayon-love. About ten minutes later, Clara had created this:
Her crayon-holding truck, complete with crayon scribbles. Isn’t it cute?
It sits on her little drawing desk. Except for when she’s pushing it around on the floor (which is probably about 70% of the time).
I love that it holds all of her crayons out where she can see them since I used to store them in a little zippered pouch and it was harder for her to see all of the colors that way. And the holes definitely keep her busy since she likes to take all of her crayons out and then put them all back in. It’s like an interactive puzzle slash storage spot slash truck. I mean it rolls for goodness sakes! It’s the toy trifecta.
I thought about sealing her doodles with some clear non-toxic sealer (Safecoat Acrylacq) but I actually like the idea of allowing her scribbles to continue over time, so it can change every day if that’s Clara’s idea of a good time. She has already added a little more pink today. I’m looking forward to seeing how it evolves. Haha. Sort of like the rooms in our house. Now Clara has her little truck to “makeover.” And when she gets a little older we can even repaint it another color so she can start from scratch again if she’d like.
So as work continues on the deck outside (along with some Pinterest-Challenging), here’s a zero dollar project with a $2 thrift store find that Clara and I had fun with. Sometimes the little things are my favorite – especially when Clara’s in on the fun. But that’s not to say that our little crayon truck won’t be ten times more fun when the deck is finished and we can take it out there for some alfresco coloring. Haha. Those will be the days. What have you guys been doing with your kiddos (or pets)? Burger totally painted something for us a while back. That was a good time too.
Psst- Click here to see over 60 other kid-projects, from DIY book shelves to homemade mobiles and more.
That truck turned out so cute!!! I love it. I’m now on the look out for a wooden truck to try this for my little one!
That is so cute! Love that you painted it blue first.
Have a great weekend, YHL! & Stay cool, I heard it’s suppose to be brutal with the heat today & tomorrow.
Oh yeah- it’s steamy here already! I opened the door to let Burger out and felt like I got slapped in the face by the sun!
xo,
s
John and Sherry-
Do you have air conditioning? It occurred to me that we all know so much about how your home LOOKS, but really very little about how it feels/sounds/smells, etc etc. Do you keep it cool (if so, how?), or do you prefer hot summerness?
Oh yes, thankfully we have central air, but since our house is only one level and made of brick, it holds the cool air pretty well, so we only run it occasionally (we have it on a programmable thermostat to save energy). Sometimes we sleep with a table fan on us (Clara has one in her room too).
xo,
s
So cute! JBear (my little man) has a truck like that, never thought of painting it (don’t know why) but I have such a pretty bright green paint that would go perfect with his room. Consider it painted. ;-)
P.S. – Love sisqo!
That little truck turned out so cute! Love the little pop of color it adds to her table – just another useful decor item!
That was a great idea! I love that she uses it and plays with it in so many different ways!
What an adorable crayon caddy! And the artwork is so charming ; ) Don’t you just love Goodwill?
Yes, yes, yes! My mother in law saw the trick last night and wants me to snatch one up for her house if I see another one! Haha.
xo,
s
I loooove this! I love getting my kids involved in projects. Once she gets older you can let her paint on shirts. :) That is what we have been working on around here. One example: http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net/2012/06/diy-teen-shirts-with-elmers-cbias-cbias.html. They are easy and fun but definitely a tween to teen project! :)
That’s so much fun!
xo,
s
That is super cute! Great find!
oh my gosh this is SUCH A COOL IDEA! i would never think to do that to a little truck (or similar toy) like that. seriously. i kinda love this. i’m putting this on my, “don’t forget to do this when you have a kid” list. i just hope my husband doesn’t think that list means i’m jumping the baby gun or anything…
…i have officially over thought the adorable crayon truck. ahhh, Friday.
Haha, you’re just being Molly. I love it.
xo,
s
So cute! I also love the cactus on her desk. Can you share where you got it?
That’s from Plan Toys (we love that company and sometimes find great sales on amazon.com).
xo,
s
So cute! Just hope she doesn’t color on the deck!
Haha- we’ll have to keep a keen eye out!
xo,
s
Maybe you have mentioned it somewhere, but where did you get the cute cactus that’s on the desk?! SO fun!
That’s from Plan Toys. Love that company so much! We find stuff on sale from time to time on amazon.com.
xo,
s
So cute and so fun!
Awwww! My brother and I each had one of these – I think we had a truck and a car. You’ve motivated me to see if my mom still has them – it would be awesome to sand ’em down (I think they had some kind of finish on them) and paint them with my little girl!
Sounds so cute! Have fun!
xo,
s
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – you find the BEST stuff at Goodwill! Mine is all crappy. I try to go in there with a mind open to possibilities, but it’s slim pickin’s in my local Goodwill!
Also, that truck totally reminds me of something I made in summer camp (in a good way) back when I was a kid – I think mine was a whale though, with holes on the top for pencils, etc. Wish I still had it! :)
Ooh a whale would have been amazing. Clara LOVES whales since we saw their tails flapping out of the water in Hawaii. Seriously, she has a love of whales like no other. Haha.
xo,
s
Earlier this year my husband lost both his mother and his father very prematurely, within five weeks of each other. He has three younger siblings and after everything settled down a bit, we zipped them off to Cabo for a long, relaxing, meditative vacation. Whilst there, we went on a sunset cruise to honor their father (who was a sailor) and saw SO MANY WHALES even though it was a bit late in the season for them.
(You can see our pictures at the bottom of the post here http://www.filing-jointly.com/2012/03/we-saw-two-whales-one-was-mom-whale-and.html)
Since then, we have all loved everything whale.
This is a really long way to say, that coincidentally, we just purchased this little wooden whale crayon holder for our two year old niece, after I randomly came across it searching Whale Art on Etsy.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/25004924/24-crayon-whale-wooden-whale-on-wheels?ref=sr_gallery_19&ga_includes%5B0%5D=tags&ga_search_query=wooden+whale&ga_page=1&ga_ref=related&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery
Oh my gosh that’s so cute! And I’m so sorry for you and your husband’s loss Lauren. Very happy those whales put on a show for you.
xo,
s
What a great truck! And the paint is taking the crayon very well too. Clara is clearly the daughter of designers =)
You are making me wish I had a kid right now to do that with! I guess my 11 year old brother is too old for this, but I might subject him to this anyways! Off to go play with him now!
~Katy
My favorite DIYs are for our little Greta. Kids just appreciate these things so much! Love, love, LOVE it.
Too cute!! :)
Those wooden toys are the best. My brother had a wooden train set like that. The blue is such a fun color, and Clara did a lovely job. :)
What a wonderful memory you have made for your family! Love that she was given free rein with it.
I can’t take it anymore. Please do one of the following:
1) Capture your creativity in pill form so I can buy it, or
2) Adopt me,
3) Train me in your Jedi creative powers, Sherry-Wan
Hahaha, you’re hilarious and sweet. I’ll share the thought process that got me here. I promise it was really simple and I think anyone could come up with this.
First thought: I want to paint this. I wonder what color I should use.
Second thought: Hmm, what about painting some design on the truck like Clara Cola or something funny?
Third thought: Maybe it should say Clara’s Crayons?
Fourth thought: What if I just paint it a solid color and let Clara scribble on it, so she’s the graffiti artist?
See, it was a pretty simple what-should-I-paint-on-this-wait-let’s-let-Clara-be-the-artist train of thought!
xo,
s
Hahahahaha! I feel ya, LMG.
I’m gonna be singing Sisco all day now! Hehe. Very creative and resourceful idea. You clever cookie, you.
Haha I totally went to Spotify and changed the song I was listening to to Sisqo upon reading the first line. The 90s had the greatest music.
Hahahahaha, nice.
xo,
s
You are the coolest parents ever!! This is awesome and I would have loved it as a kid (even now I’m a bit jealous!!) xox
So cute I love it
That is incredibly cute! You are so creative!
so so adorable!!
Love the Sisqo reference! I just made a similar one on my blog: http://notsoelementary.wordpress.com/. Apparently (& inappropriately) that’s my puppy’s favorite song… haha!
Haha, so funny!!
xo,
s
I loved your video – Goodwill has some AMAZING finds!! Makes me miss shopping with my bff 150 miles away!!
When I saw the truck in Image 1 and a glimpse of the can below in Image 2 I thought it was a pint of ice cream. So my imagination assumed you were going to paint it like an ice cream delivery truck for Clara. Your way is MUCH better. She would get hungry if she saw that everyday.
Haha- me too!
xo,
s
My brother and I had a similar crayon holder each when I was little that my dad made us (used a drill to make the wholes) and he painted our names on the side so we didn’t fight over which was which. I’d totally forgotten about those, thanks for the reminder.
That’s so cute!
xo,
s
What a great project! Love ideas that include the little ones!
Also- thanks for the High School dance flashbacks….
Haha, work it Brynn!
xo,
s
Love that truck! Ruby just made her first portrait last night (she’s probably been working on it at school but she whipped one up out of no where last night for us). She said it was me with Daddy’s hair!
Hahahaha- that’s so funny!
xo,
s
what a great project! thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome!
xo,
s
So sweet, it looks awesome – good job Clara!
Thank you for always posting the links to the projects that you talk about in other posts, I can only imagine the time it adds to your posting but I always appreciate it when I see something I want to know about in a current post!
I have been looking for a play table for my daughter lately and can’t find what I want, I saw Clara’s today and it is perfect and ta-da, linkety-link – there I am – again, thanks!
Aw, you’re welcome Christina!
xo,
s
We recently got a higher cabinet for our TV to keep it out of reach of our 19-month-old. We previously used a Lack coffee table from IKEA and had planned to repurpose or donate it. However, while it was still in the living room waiting to be shifted, the little man appropriated it as his drawing desk and when the creative bug bites and there isn’t paper available IMMEDIATELY, Picasso jr uses said table for his creations. I love it. I’m also hoping we can confine the scribbles to this table and no other furniture/walls, and will now probably never get rid of it!
So cute!
xo,
s
I am in love with that little crayon truck! I would love to have something similar for my oil paints. It’s perfect that every color is easily accessible.
Sherry,
Could you have spray painted the truck?
Sure, I just used low-VOC paint I had on hand since it’s less fumey (spray paint is usually oil-based so it has more VOCs). Generally for Clara related objects I try to go low or no-VOC whenever I can since she has so much contact with them.
xo,
s
Good point…
My next project is painting an exterior table/chair set for my daughters…I was going to spray paint it. What’s your opinion?
Hmm, for exterior to hold up well I’d use a spray paint made for that material (metal if they’re metal, plastic if they’re plastic, etc). Since they’re outside they should offgas pretty quickly and it’s ventilated outside so it won’t be as fumey. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Thank you. I always read your blog…it’s my addiction :-), but have never really posted a comment/question…Thanks for replying.
But of course! Thanks for reading!
xo,
s
Happy Anniversary tomorrow :) Can’t wait to see your update! I always love your anniversary posts with date night and gifts. You guys are always so thoughtful!
Ps. Clara’s truck is cute too! Love the blue
Aw thanks Natalie! We had some anniversary plans this weekend that the storm totally ruined (we were going to spend the day in Charlottesville but no one had power and trees were down). here’s hoping we can figure out something to do to celebrate!
xo,
s
So cute!
seriously – get out of my head! i totally thought of that song the other night! why? i have no idea – probably has something to do with the whole sleep deprived, up half the night nursing my 3wk old thing!!
such a cute idea for the truck – my 2yr old would love something like that, although i’m not super confident that all of his other toys wouldn’t end up with crayon all over them as well! i love that you guys bring clara in on some of your projects – such a sweet way to spend family time.
awww, I love this! That girl of yours is adorable. GREAT idea!
adorbs!!!
I love this! Wooden toys are so cute! Right now my little guy is more interested in how he can build with his crayons than color….how he gets the round crayons into some of these creations is beyond me!
I just had to write a comment about yesterday’s post! i’m like a cockroach too! i could dip my chips in my kids’ barf (seriously never would do that) and it wouldn’t effect me in the least! love your blog it’s always genuinely positive and hilarious..oh and creative too! :)
-La Cucaracha
Hahahahahahhaha, so funny.
xo,
s
OMG! This brings me back to my childhood. I did not have a crayon truck, but as an only child I often played house with whatever toys/objects I had at my disposal. When I had to go to work with my parents, those were often crayons (which one co-workers thought was creepy… I mean, maybe so, but I was a bored 5 year old. Hahaha) How exciting that Clara’s crayons even have a nice truck to ride around in, so cute!
That is so adorable!
And now I have that song stuck in my head. Thanks, Sherry! haha.
What a clever idea. The truck looks so cheerful and Clara made it even more special. I like how you are selective when it comes to your choices at Goodwill. It would be easy to hoard and buy too much with all there is and because it’s cheap. But when there’s purpose behind it, it all has a place and doesn’t look cluttered. Btw, I was at World Market yesterdy(in Florida) and saw the cutest Adirondack chair for Clara. It was wood and tomato red for $24.99. Thought of you guys immediately!!
Oh my gosh- so cute! Will have to check it out!
xo,
s
Such a great idea! I wonder if I could find one of these trucks somewhere…to the google!
hmm…seems they might be homemade? I found some online for around $20, but not from a big retailer.
Have you ever taken clara to play with chalk on the driveway? That was my favourite childhood activity!
Yes, sometimes we play on the driveway or patio but she seems more into bugs and sticks and leaves for now. Haha. Here’s hoping she gets more chalk concentration with age!
xo,
s
Dang, what a find!