Happy Friday: Frugal Frozen-Themed Trike
Sent from reader, Tiffany:
I often times drive around to check out what people are tossing on the curb. You wouldn’t believe the things I have found! Some are in GREAT condition, some need a little clean up or wash, and some need a small makeover. Not to mention, the toys you may already own, that are a little worn out and could use a new look!
I recently found this Fisher-Price trike out by the road with the trash. I stopped and picked it up, knowing I could probably do something with it for my daughter. And what better theme right now for a young girl then FROZEN!
Materials I used:
3 cans Rust-oleum spray paint, one for each color I was using, and one clear coat.
(the amount of paint you will need will vary depending on project size)
Sandpaper
Screwdriver
Painters or masking tape
Newspaper or plastic for covering
Custom car decal, stickers, ribbons
Here’s what I did:
1. Take the item apart as much as you can. I was only able to get the front wheel, and the seat off of this trike.
2. Sand everything down. I used just a sheet of sand paper by hand, but if you have some kind of nifty tool that would make it easier, by all means, use it! 🙂
3. Cover and tape off the sections you are painting if using more than one color. Wait for the first coat to dry and do a second coat. I recommend waiting 24 hours before taping off a newly painted section, to give the paint time to cure.
4. After you have all your parts painted, and everything has been dry for at least 24 hours, reassemble it. You may need to do some touch up spots at this time.
5. Decorate! Use your imagination! I ordered custom car decal stickers from eBay for SUPER cheap, and had them say Let it go. The seller had a max 20 character for 1 decal so I was able to just type it twice and only had to pay for one sticker! It was perfect. I also ordered the snowflake and Frozen stickers from eBay, for super cheap. The reason I chose eBay for them was because with Frozen being so hot right now, its hard to find things at good prices. If you were to be doing another theme, check your local dollar stores for a great selection of character stickers! The tassels are gift package décor that came 3 to a pack at the dollar tree, and I just screwed them right into the plastic pretty easily.
6. After you have all the stickers done, apply the clear coat spray. You will want to apply 2 coats of this as well, and let it dry in between.
After all was said and done, I spent less than $20, had a blast making this for my daughter, who is BEYOND excited to ride this thing, AND she is the ONLY one who will have one like this!
Let your imagination fly and don’t be afraid to try new things!
HAPPY FRIDAY! 😀
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That looks awesome! The question is…now that you built the bike, do you want to build a snowman? 🙂
haha!
I love it!
Lol 🙂
OMG the cutest thing ever! Love it. Nice idea, especially the handle bar curls. Who would have thought? You did amazing.
By the way we have an old trike. So now I’m determined to do this lol I want to go get paint but it’s too late! I’m thinking I will do my little pony. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thanks! It was my first time at a project like this, so I’m ecstatic at how great it came out!
Fun! Most of my furniture re-do projects come from my neighbors’ trashcans Ü.
Too cute!
What an amazing transformation! Your daughter is lucky!
This is wonderful! I love it! I’m into many crafts but never thought of repurposing something like this. 🙂
I’m very impressed! I had a friend try to spray paint my daughter toddler bed for my son, disaster. 🙁 I think they didn’t let it dry and we didn’t sand it. I’m pregnant so I didn’t do it but I wish I would have read up on how to spray paint. Now it’s just chipping away still in the garage 🙁 I need to find away to fix it. This bike looks amazing!
I did something similar I painted my kitchen table didn’t read up on how to actually paint something ….total fail 🙁 hope you fix your toddler bed!
The paint that was put on will have to be removed and it will need to be sanded. Depending on the material of the bed it may be easy.
Cutest.Thing.Ever!!!!!! That is such an awesome idea that would have never occurred to me.You did a phenomenal job….my daughter would be thrilled to ride that! Lol
How cute.
This is amazing!
Wow Tiffany…You are super creative! The special touches you added are wonderful. Your daughter must be so thrilled. Thanks for the tips and step by step instructions. ✨
What a great mom! 🙂
I say copyright it and sell some. You’ll make millions!
That’s awesome! We love taking others trash and turning in to our own treasures!
So cute!!!
Adorable! Way to go!!!
I make so much money by reselling stuff I find for free or buy at garage sales! All it takes is a little elbow grease! Downside- I make so much I have to claim on taxes.
E if you don’t mind could you give a few examples? And where do you sell? I know people never pay much at garage sales. Online?
I know people who sell this type of thing on etsy as well as in actual consignment stores or craft fairs too. When I was little we would go to a flea market every week and people would have refurbished items they sold there. Some had clients that would bring them items to work on during the week that they had found at other vendors and they would pickup their refinished item the next week.
In my area, there is a super well organized kids consignment sale that takes place twice a year. For a long time I just complained about how overpriced they were, but all moms seemed to loved it and found the prices fair. So I went to the other side of the fence and started participating as a cosigner. Now I picked up everything I see on the side of the road, accept all donations from friends and families no matter the size or gender, go to tag sales at the end of the day collecting bags of free items, wash them real good, get rid of stains, etc and sell them. At these sales people pay A LOT more than what they are willing to pay in a tag sale, in my opinion. At least in Western Mass.
I am in Mass also can you tel me more about these sales? The name of them? I just left Florida and we had what was called “Just Between Friends”, sounds like the same type of idea.
Hi Lori, my pleasure! The sale is called All 4 Kids, this is the link: https://www.sites.google.com/site/all4kidseasthampton/ Next one is in September, the location is Easthampton, MA. If you live nearby and think you would like to participate, email me and I will help you as much as I can, my email is rebecacha at yahoo dot com, oh! and welcome to MA! 🙂
Awesome job
That’s awesome. When I was a kid, my Aunt and Uncle were fostering a child my age. When it came time for her birthday they asked me what I wanted to get her. I told them a bike because she told me that she never had one.I came home from school the next day and he had a scrap bike, pink paint and took me to pick out baskets and pom-poms. I got to design it and she loved it. I think it is a gift we will all always remember. I am sure that your daughter will remember her one-of-a-kind bike.
That is so sweet. What a great story!
wow… awesome… thanks for sharing!
Is this a plastic bike? Do you have trouble with chipping paint at all? This is such a fabulous idea! Thank you for inspiration!
Yeah, I’m not sure how well spray paint is going to hold up on plastic. Probably good enough for as long as her child will be riding it, though.
It is spray paint for plastic and when I have used it I was VERY impressed at how it lasted! It is a very good product.
Yes, plastic spray paint works great. Years ago, we found an old Power Wheels Jeep for about $5 at a garage sale. Well-loved. Kid that owned it had washed & waxed it a ton- so the color was very faded. My husband sanded it & took it completely apart & spray painted it yellow for our little boy. Turned out awesome & the paint stayed wonderfully.
That’s what I was wondering. How well does it hold up on the wheels that are in constant contact with the pavement? I can see it being fine on the other parts possibly if it was prepped properly.
Yes it’s paint for plastic, but you will eventually get chips. You need so sand really well first. There is nothing you do about the tires on the pavement, the paint will start to show through, by mine are black under there so not a big deal to me.
I did this knowing it’s not going to last forever. It’s going to chip, and stickers might fall off one day, but she will love it anyhow, no one else has one and she feels special. I can’t afford a ‘real’ frozen trike are retail, so this was what i could do 🙂 plus we all know there will be something bigger and better than Frozen, sooner than later lol 🙂
We have used this same product on plastic and yes it eventually will wear or come off in spots. Using the clear coat will help that process take longer though.
Super cute. By the time the paint starts to wear the trike may even be too small for her.
LOVE this!
I love this!!! It’s awesome!
This is super-cute! Good job! 🙂
Totally Sweeet!!!!….great work
Such a great idea, thank you for sharing the pictures and the details of how to do it.
Good job you are not only recycling but making your little one happy and inspiring others. I love it!!!
Wow, this is awesome! Thanks for sharing, Tiffany, and for posting, Collin. Love!!! But I’m afraid, after being featured on this, the world’s most famous blog, your daughter will no longer be the only little one with one just like this. 🙂
Awesome job! I just rescued a pink toddler bed from my complex’s trash area. I can’t believe the things people throw away. Your project is similar to things I do all the time. Creativity is my passion!
Aweeesomeeee!!
Amazing one…thanks for sharing…!
Very impressive and very creative. I am very jealous. :-). I wish I was both.
Very cool! And we are currently watching frozen !!
LOVE this!!!! I always try to do these types of projects and they’re total fails LOL
Tiffany, this is fantastic! I’m pinning this to remember it. Thank you for the step-by-step instructions.
What a cute idea!!!!!
Love it! When I was little my dad got an old trike from the junkyard and made it brand new for me.
That looks better than one you would buy in the store! Amazing 🙂 Way to go, mom!
Cute I think I may try this with my daughter’s cozy coupe
I bought some garage sale outdoor small plastic side tables for $1 each. I appreciate this step by step. I wanted to try and spray paint them but have never done it before.
I did the same thing….re painted my granddaughters little tikes play house I got from a neighborhood garage sale. after 2 years, it stills looks nice and fresh and since we painted it in the colors we liked, no one else has one exactly like it.
there are soooo many things you can do with just a can of spray paint. lol
Awesome project very creative wow
Wow! I am beyond touched by all of your kind words! Really made me feel wonderful about this and as a mom. Thank you all!
I did this along time ago to a kids lamp for my son. It was primary colors and had a wooden plane the turned around on the middle rod. My son was into camo and had a camo comforter so I painted it to match and it was fun to make the camo pattern all over the plane. Wish I had the time to do this now.
Love your new color scheme. Much nicer than the original colors would have been. Maybe you should be working for FisherPrice to advise them of the colors they could use.
Even more than the project itself, I think it’s wonderful for your daughter to see
you being a “can-do” Mom and tackling something challenging. You’re being
a great role model – not by just words, but by actions!
What grit sand paper did you use. I have to paint a plastic wagon for my brother’s wedding
I’m not sure… Just grabbed a piece of whatever my husband had lol
So cute Tiffiany.. what a great idea for your daughter. I know she thinks mommy is the “bestest mommy there is”. 🙂
I have used the same Rustoleum plastic paint on those resin type outdoor chairs that start looking yuck after a few years. I had a set of 4 that were more durable and sturdier than the $4-$10 ones in the stores these days. Pressure washing and cleaners just wouldn’t do anything to clean them nicely. My husband purchased the Rustoleum plastic paint color of my choice and now we have 4 brand new looking chairs again. . Thanks for the cute idea.
Forgot to mention the paint cost more than we paid for the chairs a few years ago. But when you can’t find a durable product out there without paying a fortune, you don’t mind buying 1 cans of spray for each chair. You can get away with 3 cans, but 4 helps you to coat the chairs much better.
This is so cool! Good job!
This is re-purposing at it’s Finest!