I had intended to have this post out last week but, life around here has been busy. I got a new job (which I’ll be starting after the 4th of July), there is a new manly prospect, my friend Jenny just moved in on the other half of the duplex and I’ve been working on projects to get an Etsy shop up and running! Busy times.

About a month ago, I was browsing Craig’s List and found a crib that was listed for free. I ended giving the number a call and then taking a trip about 20 minutes north of Green Bay to pick up the crib. I repurposed all parts of the crib for about $20. I was on the fence about dividing this post into smaller posts but I decided against it. I apologize in advance as this may be a longer post. The first three posts were pretty simple and didn’t require much modification and only minor hardware.

Blanket Ladder

First up,was a blanket ladder. I decided to use one of the crib rails as a blanket ladder. I have a few blankets that I keep out to use on a regular basis. But leaving them draped on my couch or love seat is just an invitation for Harley to snuggle up in them and leave his cat hair all over the place. This project was as simple as washing and drying it, propping the railing up against my wall and then draping blankets over the rails. I’m considering hanging it on a wall, I’m just not sure how I want to do it yet. If I decide what to do, I’ll keep you posted!

Drying Rack

The second use of the crib was to make a drying rack for my laundry. I don’t have a place to hang my clothes to dry in my basement or my back yard. To rectify this I decided to hang the other rail from the rafters in my basement. I drilled four holes into the beams and then took the screw eyes and screwed them into the holes. I cut four pieces of rope and looped them through the screws. Taking the ends of the rope, I then tied them around the rails.

Organization Center

Most recently, I made an organization center/message center. I don’t have a whole lot of counter or cabinet space in my kitchen. This would allow me to have a place to have all of my mail, bills, and other odds and ends I may need in a jiff y. This was another easy re-purpose project.

I hosed off the mattress spring and dried it off. To get started, I used the OOK picture hooks to hang the mattress spring because they could hold up 30 pounds each, fit in the holes at the top of the frame,and I didn’t have to drill holes into the walls. I used the nails supplied.

Then came the fun part, DECORATING IT! To hang the various baskets, I used smaller OOK Picture Hangers (I need to find more study hooks, one of them is bending already. To hang various important mail like my brother and Betsy’s save the date card.  To hang two pictures I stuck the brace of the picture frames through the hole so it’s straddling the a metal section. I spray painted some mini clothes pins in Krylon CoverMaxx’s Sunrise. I also found these cool paper flowers at Michael’s on clearance for $1 so I picked up three. I thought they would be cute magnets, so I cut a few pieces of magnets from a large magnet roll I had and hot glued them together.

Potting Bench

So the final project from my free crib was a potting bench. I the past when planting my plants into various pots, I would sit on my back porch, potting soil, tools, various plants and pots all spread out around me. This was not an ideal situation. My back and tush would be sore from all the bending and sitting. So when the crib came along I decided to make a potting stand.

To start I washed the sides down. and removed the hardware used to keep the front and back in place.