New digs

So... A few months ago, Mom Coffey's work was giving away their daycare cribs. I was lucky enough to get one with a bottom drawer- I'm still trying to figure out what to put in there. He really doesn't have a whole lot, and what he does have goes in the armoire.

The crib was sturdy and well built. I just didn't like the color. Easily fixed right?
I'll let you be the judge.
So a few weeks ago I finally started tackling the crib since the hubbs was home more,and someone could watch the babes. First, I had to sand it. That means taking it apart (it had weird screws on, called hexes) keeping all the screws in a safe place and hope to God I remember how to put it back together after sanding and painting.
The gloss would not let the paint go on the way I wanted it to, so it had to come off. You can buy a primer paint and skip the sanding for $18 a gallon. But where is the fun in that??? I already had the sanding machine (and some sandpaper) so off I went. Took me three days to sand it. On the last day, the machine broke and had to finish the job by hand, but by then I only had very little to finish.
After that, I painted it white. Why white? We wanted to use paint we already had- blue, white, or black. White just seemed like the better choice since there is no black furniture in his room and blue would make it a boy's crib. It went on really smooth- better than expected. It only took me about 4 days. I kept repainting it to make sure the strokes looked even- that's the OCD in me.
I took it apart on day 2 , and was finally time to put it back together (after like 2 weeks).I got nervous because I wasn't sure if I remembered how to put it together, but once I got going, I was fine. Whatdayouknow? I am my father's daughter...it was like riding a bike.
Now that this is done, I have the hubby's permission to buy a mattress. I found a place called buybuybaby nearby that I'm dying to check out. I saw on the Internet that they have Rocky onesies. If that's not cool, I don't know what is.
Here are some before and after pics. I actually like how it turned out. I think on the plastic side, we will add chalkboard paint or something so he can later use that when he's older.
It was a super thrifty project. The only things I bought were the sandpaper, the hex set (to take it apart), and the paintbrushes: a whopping total of $7.
The mattress uses the same sheets as the pack n play, so there is no need to buy any of those.It makes me so happy when things just work out in the end. Makes me feel like things were just meant to be. I'm glad Dom has a crib that can turn into a toddler bed. Now he just needs to learn how to climb in and out.
Here are the pics. We have to work backwards, cause the Ipod is being stupid, sorry...

This is what it looks like now. The newspaper was just there in case the paint dripped.

You can kinda see the paint on the glass and plastic. Let me tell you that pinterest helped me a lot on this. You can boil vinegar and use a rag. You wipe it on the parts with paint...and let me tell you...it came right off. If it doesn't, you can use a plastic scrapper. Either way, it was a lot faster than trying to just scrape it off.

This is the part I had to sand by hand. It took a while, but it finally got done. I couldn't really waste any more time since its getting colder on us here, so I decided to paint and put together the other parts of the crib at the same time. Also to make sure I hadn't lost any screws.  The drop side will go on the wall (back) until we remove it when he's ready for the toddler bed (I know drop sides are not recomended anymore, but I think since he's almost 11 months he'll be okay). So, that meant I had to switch the drawer around in order for that to work. that was easier than I thought. I just switched the rails, and the holes matched up. I love it when things work out.

This was the orginal crib. That tiny mattress is still around, but I don't want Dom in it. I like the one I picked out a lot more, AND it supposedly is also okay for toddlers.

Looks like Dom is ready for his new digs!