Scavenger Chic

Upcycled Baby Crib Photo Holder

• By Joan
• September 19, 2018
• 2 Comments

I have a great way to display all those Instagram photos you share but never see again.  Just dig out your old crib.

This particular crib was a dumpster find and since I had no warm and fuzzy memories of this crib ever being used, I had no trouble taking the saw to it.

Cut off some of the length of your crib side.  You could use the full side but my goal was to  make it look less cribby.

 Here I left 9 slats but I ended up chopping off one more slat, an even number of slats looked better with the photos.

Make the two sides of the crib equal by sawing off any excess.

I’m assuming these are baby teeth marks.  Somebody was hungry.

I’m sanding all the freshly cut edges, the baby teeth marks and roughening up that smooth crib finish.

I first painted the crib with red chalk paint  because I wanted a layered look.  Follow the red with a coat of black chalk paint.

While the paint is drying is a great time to print out your photos.  Printing out 2 different sizes gave me a chance to see how they’d look on the slats.  I ended up choosing the smaller print.  Without the white border the smaller print measures 2 3/4″ square.

When the paint is dry, sand off the edges revealing that first layer of red paint.  Seal with clear or vintage wax.

I’m going to be using a small bolt and wingnut to hang my photos.   If you also decide to use the bolt, use a hole punch in the center top of each of the photos.

Keep reading, I have a couple alternative ideas.

Measure and mark where your photos should go.

Drill holes the width of your bolt where you placed your mark.

Again, drill only if you are using the bolt and wingnut as a hanger.

The small bolts and wingnuts were rescued  from my Farmhouse Scavenging .  Since I haven’t had many chances to use the wingnuts,  and I had a bunch,  I might as well use them here.

You saw the bolts and wingnuts that I ended up using, but my original idea was to use small clothespins….too tiny.  I switched those out for  the full sized clothespins…they still barely fit over the wood.  The slats on the baby crib were thicker than they looked.

Don’t have a supply of wingnuts?  You could also use thumb tacks or Glue Dots .  Have any other ideas?

Right now the crib is holding 24 photos, if I trimmed off the lower border on the photo  I could add 18 more photos to the display. 

Is now the time to chop up that old crib?  Stay inspired.

Shared at Metamorphosis Monday, Talk of the Town,

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