5 Up-Cycling Ideas for Kids Room Decorations

Jason from Dealspotr.com approached me about doing a post on Kids Room decorations, and I thought you would all enjoy these creative ideas. Be sure to check out Dealspotr.com to grab coupons and deals for your shopping!

So, onto Jason’s fun ideas!

In many ways, kids rooms are the most enjoyable to decorate in the entire home. They provide an opportunity to be a little more creative and whimsical than say the kitchen, bathroom or den. Due to the destructive nature of kids in general, they are also ideal for up-cycling projects. After all, you don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on top of the line furniture and other décor when little Bobby or Cindy might decide to draw on it with crayons or use it as a punching bag for their action figures and dolls.

There are lots of great ideas for up-cycled kids room decorations, but I prefer the ones that offer the best bang for the buck, so to speak. That is to say, they are super cute, while requiring little effort and minimal expense. Take a look below for five of my favorite up-cycled kids room decorations.

Vacation Scrapbook Picture Frame

Supplies Required:

• Unfinished Wood Frame

• Brochures/Magazines/Ticket Stubs/Menus from your trip

• Gloss Adhesive (Mod Podge works really well)

• Glue

• Scissors

• Vacation photo

• Paint Brush

Steps:

1. Get your wood frame:The cost of unfinished wood frames is so low (we found it for as little as $1 online) that it might make sense to just buy it, but if you happen to have an old piece of furniture you are getting rid of, you can also cut it into the shape of a frame and use that.

2. Buy necessary supplies:Hopefully you already have glue, scissors and a paint brush; but if not, then you can use coupons to get them very cheaply at a store like Target. Mod Podge is also sold at Target and many other craft stores.

3. Pick out which items you want on the frame:This is where it really starts getting fun. You’ll need to sift through all of the scrapbook stuff you have and pick out which pieces you think will fit nicely onto the frame. Press them against the frame to get a good sense of how it will fit.

4. Cut and paste the cutouts onto the frame:Once you’ve gathered all the pieces, it’s time to cut them out and paste them onto the frame. You want every inch of the frame to be covered with a memory as exposed wood takes away from the nostalgia.

5. Apply the gloss adhesive (Mod Podge):Use the paint brush to put a thin layer right on top of all the cutouts and let it dry. If you feel it’s necessary, you can add a second layer.

6. Choose a vacation photo: At this point the only thing left is to decide which photo you want to put in the frame. We suggest you go with one that is at least somewhat related to some of the scrapbook pieces you decorated the frame with.

Popcorn Tin Sports Ball Wall Decorations

Supplies Required:

• Old Popcorn Tin Tops

• Spray Paint

• Construction Paper

• Glue

• Letter and Number Magnets (optional)

Steps:

1. Decide which ball you want to mimic:This is obviously the key to starting this project. A basketball tin top will need to be orange, a baseball or volleyball needs to be white, a football needs to be brown, and a tennis ball needs to be light green. Soccer balls can be white or black.

2. Spray paint the top of your tin:Ideally, the popcorn tin top is already the color you need and you can skip this step, but if not, then you’ll have to spray paint it the necessary color.

3. Let the popcorn tin top dry:The length of time it takes to dry depends on the type of paint, but it shouldn’t take more than 24 hours.

4. Cut the construction paper:For a basketball, you’ll want to cut out curved pieces of black construction paper. For a baseball you’ll want to cut out large curved pieces of red construction paper as well as thin slits to represent the stiches. For a volleyball, you’ll want to cut out several curved black strips of construction paper. A tennis ball only requires two curved pieces of white construction, while a football requires several small rectangular cut-outs of white construction paper and one longer curved piece. For a soccer ball, you’ll need a few large squares of white or black construction paper.

5. Paste the construction paper to the tin:We recommend using the strongest glue stick you can find and applying the glue to the construction paper. Then just paste it on in the appropriate place.

6. Put the magnets on the tin:This is a fun way to finish the project, but isn’t entirely necessary. If your child has a favorite number you can put that on the tin and maybe attach the word “All-Star” or whatever the kid’s favorite position happens to be for that sport.

Coin and Candy Jars

Supplies Required:

• Spaghetti Sauce Jars

• Glue Stick

• Stickers

• Paper

Steps:

1. Rinse two old spaghetti sauce jars and remove all the labels: Considering how expensive it has gotten to buy mason jars at the store, spaghetti sauce jars are an excellent alternative.

2. Make one “Coin Jar” label and one “Candy Jar” label and attach them to each respective jar: The thinking behind this is that it teaches kids the value of money, while also explaining to them that candy is a special treat. They will have to pay from the coin jar in order to eat from the candy jar.

3. Paste the labels to the jars: If there is any glue left from the previous label it will make it tougher for the new labels to stick, so make sure all the previous glue has been completely taken off the jar.

1. Apply stickers to each jar: It will make it more fun to put stickers of dollar signs and money on the coin jar and stickers of different candies on the candy jar.

5. Fill up each jar: Whenever your child gets new coins or candy make him/her put it into the appropriate jar.

Cardboard Chalkboard

Supplies Required:

• Old Box

• Chalkboard Paint

• Paint Roller

• Scissors

• Nails

• Chalk

Steps:

1. Take apart an old cardboard box: You’ll want to keep the rectangular part of the box that will best replicate a chalkboard shape. You also want to pick a side that has no tape on it.

2. Cut it into a proportioned square or rectangle: You want the edges to be as smooth as possible so it doesn’t look messy on the wall.

3. Paint four nail heads: You don’t want them sticking out like a sore thumb

4. Nail it to the wall: The beauty of chalkboard is that you can nail right through it on each corner. It will be easier with a drill, but you can also just hammer it in yourself.

5. Write a message on the chalkboard and show it to your kids: They’ll get a kick out of seeing their new present. Have your camera ready!

Shoe Box Footprints

Supplies Required:

• Several shoe boxes

• Skin-safe paint

• Scissors or Knife

• Nails

Steps:

1. Remove the sides and top of the most recent shoe box for each family member: Keep the bottom of the shoe box intact for decorative effect.

2. Pour the skin-safe paint into a bucket: Have each family member step into the bucket of paint or if the child is too small, dip their foot into the bucket of paint.

3. Step on the shoe box: Don’t let the paint dry onto your foot. You want the entire footprint to be captured on the shoe box.

4. Let the shoe box dry: Depending on the type of paint, this should happen pretty quickly.

5. Hang the shoe boxes on the wall from smallest to largest: This will provide a fun and unique representation of how big each family member’s foot is at the moment.

Some pretty creative ideas. I love that they don’t cost a lot, but would be a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing with us, Jason.

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Contact Lorelai at Lorelai@LifeWithLorelai.com