From your favorite cuddly toy to...Lego building blocksto the collection of dinosaur figures: When children lose interest in a toy, the question for parents is what to do with it? Ultimately, the storage space options at home are rather limited. To ensure that the children's room is not bursting at the seams, even new and intact toys are often sorted out and disposed of or given away. The new upcycling trend offers another, creative way out of the situation. We'll show you how you can make decorative and functional home accessories from old toys. The DIY ideas on the topic of “making new from old” are very easy to implement and are suitable even for beginners.
What to make from old toys: wall decoration for the children's room
Even if the children have virtually “outgrown” some toys, they can still find space in the children's room. This timebut as wall decoration. Various animal figures in particular are rarely used and children quickly lose interest in them. We offer you several ideas on how you can stage the animal figures. The first idea is for an imaginative wall decoration. You need the following materials:
- Covered stretcher frame measuring 15 cm x 15 cm
- Acrylic paints
- Brush, large and flat
- Glitzerspray
- Adhesive for plastic
- Rubber animal figures
First, paint the canvas with acrylic paint of your choice. Then paint the animal figure and spray it with glitter spray. Once the paint is completely dry, glue the animal figure to the canvas. Continue until you have attached all of the animal figures to the stretcher. Arrange them in a colorful ensemble on the wall in the child's room.
Make something out of old toys? Dinosaurs as coat hooks
Here comes a clever idea that will help youTeach children ordercan. Make your own coat hooks so the little ones can hang up their scarves, coats, hats and even accessories like headphones. To ensure that everything finds its place, you need the following materials:
- several plastic dinosaur figures,
- acrylic paints,
- a saw,
- Adhesive or Tesa Powerstrips,
- a wooden board,
- a brush
- Sandpaper
- Wood color, white
First, saw the dinosaur figures apart in the middle. Paint the part that you will use as a coat hook with acrylic paint. Set the dinosaur figures aside to allow the paint to dry. In the meantime, sand the wooden board with sandpaper and paint it with the white wood paint. Hang the wooden board on the wall and attach the dinosaur figures with the Tesa Powerstrips. Make sure that the coat hooks are approx. 15 cm above the child's height. This ensures that the child can easily reach them.
Make something out of old toys? Accessories for the sewing room
It used to be an absolute must in every house, but today it's more of a hobby room: the sewing room. The right storage space ensures that everything finds its place and there is no chaos. Here comes an idea how you will never lose your sewing pillow. Just put it in a transport toy like a truck. The sewing cushion looks particularly decorative and looks good at the table. At the same time, you can always put it away when you no longer need it. Transport toys made of metal or wooddo in the sewing rooma particularly good figure because they bring a vintage touch from bygone times into the room.
Animal trophies for children's rooms: Make your own wall decorations from old plush toys
By the way, you can also make very creative wall decorationsMake stuffed animals. The idea comes from the USA and is intended to express a protest against animal trophies made from real animals. Instead of real animals, old plush toys adorn the wall in the children's room. The trophies are ready quickly and do not require any special skill or crafting experience. All you need to do is cut off the animal heads with a saw, stick them to a wooden board and then display them. A good upcycling idea because most plush toys are broken after a year at the latest. It's also a cool decoration idea for children's rooms with a forest or safari theme.
Make something out of old toys? Make your own fire truck table lamp
Make the old fire truck a realityLamp in a trendy industrial style. You only need one light bulb and the lamp is ready in just a few minutes. It provides reading light in the children's room and sets accents in the home office. The best thing about the lamp is that you can regulate the lighting conditions in just a few steps and thereby influence the room atmosphere. Pull the bulb down, get focused light, let the bulb up, then it will diffuse soft indirect light in the room.
“Make new from old” in the garden: Build your own play table out of skateboards
It is a misconception that small children always like to be with their parents. Every now and then they need time just for themselves. You like to spend this time in a play area - in the children's room when the weather is bad and in the garden when the weather is nice. Now we offer you an idea of how you can build a play table for the children in the garden yourself. The little ones are guaranteed to be happy and enjoy playing outside.
And this is how you can build the garden bench yourself:
- The table frame is similar to that of a picnic table.
- Use skateboard decks for the seats and table top.
- Paint the table top of skateboard decks in chalkboard wood color.
Make your own flower pot from old toys
You can also plant vintage transport toys. Pick-ups are particularly suitable. The flatbed trucks all have enough space to accommodate a small flower pot. You can therefore first buy a suitable mini pot and plant it, and then place it in the cot. Succulents and other types of ground cover for the rock garden especially feel at home in a small flower pot. The decoration looks good on the wall shelf and can be displayed together with other vintage home accessories and flea market finds.
Another variant is to plant rubber animal figures. However, more skill is required here. And of course patience. You need the following materials:
- Large rubber animal figures, they should be hollow inside
- Cuttermesser
- Stechahle
- Potting soil
- Plant
- Acrylic paint
- Paint brush
The first step is to use the craft knife to cut an opening in the back of each animal figure. Make sure that the opening is sufficiently large. Then you can paint the animal figures in a bright color. You can either paint all animal figures in the same shade or in tone-on-tone colors. Then use the awl to drill several drainage holes into the bottom side of the animal figure. Meanwhile, prepare the plant – water it and place it in a sheltered but cool place. Fill the animal figure halfway with substrate. The next day you can carefully remove the root balls and shake off the soil from them. If necessary, you can loosen the roots additionally. Only then should you place the root balls in the new “flower pot” and cover them with soil.
Water the plants and provide them with slow-release fertilizer. Display the decorative figures on the mantel, on a coffee table or on the garden table. By the way, if you are wondering which plants fit in a small-format flower pot, then we offer you some ideas for inspiration. Tillandsias are of course a very successful choice, especially because they don't need any soil and therefore fit into even the smallest flower pots. But the money tree, bow hemp and various cacti are also perfect for planting in a mini plant pot.
Turn old into new: make your own garden wind chime out of a xylophone
A wind chime made from an old xylophone is not only a real eye-catcher in the garden, but also creates a beautiful sound. The percussion instrument is very popular with babies and small children due to its easy handling. But if the desire to play is over, or the first musical instrument breaks in the hands of the little artist, then you can use the tone sticks for the next craft project. Take out the sound sticks and hang them close together on a tree branch. Your new wind chime is ready, glowing in cheerful spring colors and making gentle tones sound with every breath of wind.
Turn old into new: dinosaur furniture knob for the children's room
Next, we will tell you how to make furniture knobs from old toys. The procedure is similar to the coat hooks. The only difference is in the attachment. Although coat hooks can be attached to the wall using double-sided adhesive tape, the adhesive tape cannot provide sufficient support for the furniture knobs. That's why you should screw the toys onto the furniture door. But first drill a 0.3 cm hole in the cabinet door. Then saw the dinosaur figures apart in the middle. Then pre-drill a 0.5 mm hole in the respective animal figure. By the way, you can fill animal figures that are hollow with plaster. Now all that's left is to screw the toys on.
What to do with old toys? Wall clock with Lego figures
The wall clock as a decorative piece in the children's room. We offer you an idea that you can easily implement if you have Lego figures at home. You need the following materials:
- a plywood board or a wooden tray
- clockwork
- Batteries
- Scissors
- Drill or wood drill
- 12 Lego Minifigures
- adhesive
- self-adhesive number
Drill a hole in the center of the locking plate for the clockwork hand shaft and mount the clockwork. First set the hands to 12 and then orientate yourself to position the Lego minifigures correctly. Of course, you can also buy self-adhesive numbers and stick them around the Lego figures. But for small children it is usually sufficient if you can keep track of the position of the hands. Soon they will learn that if, for example, the hands point to the girl in yellow, they have to go to bed. And if the hands point to the boy in yellow, lunch will soon be served.
Make fridge magnets from old toys: Lego building blocks
Do you have Lego building blocks lying around at home? Don't throw them away, you can use them for the next upcycling project. Glue magnets to the building blocks and arrange them on the refrigerator. Building blocks on a specific theme, such as “Super Mario”, are particularly popular.
Keychain made from old animal figures
Educational toys for the farm or dollhouse with pets are very popular with children between 2 and 4 years old. But if the farm has long been forgotten, you can convert the animal figures into key chains. Paint them in a desired color and hang them on the key ring using craft or floral wire. Complete!
Turn old into new: the plush toy becomes a backpack
Many children have so many stuffed animals that they don't even know which one to play with first. Some cuddly toys end up being forgotten. These are usually sold or given away. But you can also turn it into a backpack. For this purpose you will need the following materials:
- Medium sized cuddly toy
- 2 carrying straps with adjustment buckles for backpacks
- zipper
- Scissors
- Sewing thread and needle
- Substance
This is how the backpack is made: First, simply use scissors to cut the seam at the front, in the middle of the cuddly toy's stomach. This is where you will attach the zipper later. Once you have opened the cuddly toy, you should remove the stuffing. Leave just a bit of the filling at the bottom and cover it with the fabric. Sew the fabric to the bottom of the plushie. Now sew on the carrying straps as backpack straps. At the end all you have to do is attach the zipper and your new backpack is ready.
Make a picture frame out of old toys
Make your own lamp from old toys
Upcycling old toys: Make your own Lego pen holder
Make your own jewelry hangers from old toys
Upcycling idea: instructions for the jewelry hanger
Make a picture frame from old toys: DIY idea
