Thrifted Crib Sides = Chalkboard and Dry Erase Art Station !!!

I had planned to just wait until our littlest munchkin was out of her crib to make one of these crib side chalkboards, but when I saw these crib side at a thrift store recently my impatience got the best of me!!!  These were missing the rails and some of the hardware so they were a whopping $4, which was perfect for me because I didn't need those pieces.  

Once I got these beauties home I took off the hardware that was on it, filled those holes, sanded everything and then painted it all this great bright red.

Then I taped off the one side I wanted to be a chalkboard and sprayed on three coats of chalkboard paint.

You could do chalkboard paint on both side, but I wanted to make mine a little different and decided to make this an art station... one side chalk one side dry erase.  So I found this large magnetic dry erase board at Walmart for around $6 and used the adhesive pads that came with it to stick it to the other crib side.

Next I added two hinges to the top.

Then I used inexpensive cup hooks and some chain on each side for a little more stability.

For trays I took dollar store wire utensil baskets and spray painted them red, then used adhesive hooks to attach to the board on both sides.

Since the dry erase board is also magnetic I used a few left-over magnets and glued those to the back of the other eraser just to help keep track of it.  I know with my two little artists... this stuff will likely go "missing" not long after they get it  :)

It was a pretty simple project and I'm really happy with the way it turned out!

I think the kids are really going to love it.

I love that there are two different sides, one for each kid and if they get bored they can trade sides and thanks to the magnets they could also color on paper as well :)  Plus, it folds flat and can be leaned against a wall or in a closet when they aren't using it to save space.

Sorry no "artist in action" photos just yet!  For now this is hiding in my laundry room waiting for Santa :)  Hope you like my latest late night project.  If you decide to try one, let me know what you come up with!

Good Luck, Lindsey :)