Anyone with a toddler can
tell you, they are quite the little movers and shakers. Our littlest honey bee
is into EVERYTHING! She’s here, she’s there, she’s up, she’s down. Really, it’s
exhausting. Lately, she has been climbing on anything that her tiny feet can
fit on. While watching her attempt one of her dangerous stunts one day, the
hubs and I came up with the idea of giving her a little step stool of her very
own. One that she could both sit and stand on, and that would be sturdier than the
wipes box she currently favored.
We were
out and about last weekend checking out a local antique and second hand store and, as luck would have it, found
THE one. It was nice and sturdy, and made, what looks like by hand, out of real
wood. It was also a good size for my little girl to be able to pick up and move
on her own. It was instant love so we paid the nice lady behind the counter $12 for it and
just like that, it was ours, and I had my next project!
I had saved a special
piece of scrapbook paper that I knew that I wanted to use to make something special
for my tiny honey bee. I decided that this would be the perfect project to use
it on and I picked out a pink colored paint to match the paper. But first, I
needed to prepare the step stool for painting. The stool was painted black by
its last owner and as everyone knows, black is the hardest color to cover, so I
began by priming it with paint primer and let it dry completely.
Next, I gave the stool a
few coats of pink and made sure that every nook and cranny was well covered and
let it dry overnight.
Then came the tricky part
of putting the paper on the top of the stool. The stool that we had chosen had
rounded corners and no sharp edges, which is perfect for a child to play with
but not so perfect for trying to glue paper to. I placed the paper with the
side that I wanted showing facing down. I flipped the stool over on its top and
traced the top of the stool onto the paper, getting as close to the top edge as
I could.
Then, I removed the stool and cut the traced shape out of the paper.
After placing the paper on the top of the stool, I trimmed around the edges
with an Xacto knife until I was satisfied with how the paper fit. Then I glued
it down with Mod Podge (wonderful stuff btw) and let it dry for a few hours.
This particular stool has
two holes cut out in the center of the top, so next, I cut out those two
circles. To do this, I flipped the stool over, making sure to place a cutting
mat under it so I wouldn’t cut into my work table, and roughly cut out each
circle. After that was done, I flipped the stool back over and carefully
trimmed each circle.
I had some of the
patterned paper left over so I used it to cut out a few flowers and added them
onto the sides of the stool for decoration. I was now ready to seal
the stool so that the paper on top and the decorations couldn’t be peeled off
by little fingers. Using the same Mod Podge that I used to glue that paper and
flowers down, I painted the entire stool making sure to cover the paper and its
edges well. I did this twice and once more around the edges of the paper to
ensure that it was covered entirely. I let it dry overnight, and it was
complete!
I am so happy with how
this project turned out and I think my little girl is too!
Kellie
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