Sunday, January 22, 2012

Jan. 22nd - crib rail blanket rack

As I was redoing the closet yesterday I decided that even if the closet only had blankets in it, it still looked messy. I decided that I was going to buy an old ladder to hang the blankets on by leaning against a wall. Antique ladders are wildly popular right now because of the fun craft people are using them for. Since I don't have or want to spend $100 on a ladder I decided to use our boys old crib. 
It seems like everyone either has or knows someone who has an old crib. Ours has been sitting on the side of our house waiting to be put in the trash for 5 years! I started with one side of the crib and decided I would mount it on the wall. That idea fizzled out and as I was trying to think of other ideas my Hubby came to the rescue. He had the great idea that adding the other side of the crib, a few screws and using a few spindles that we had taken off of one side and adding them to the other side would make a fun hanging rack. I must say I was impressed with his idea and I am thrilled with the final outcome. It took us about 2 hours with build and paint time and the cost was free! Can't beat free. So, here is the breakdown if you want to make one. The best part is the memory of my children's crib is in the house again and in use. Even more fun because the tooth marks of the teething days are still on it. That part kind of melted my heart a bit. 
The starting point. 2 crib sides. We decided that to be able to fit the blankets we would cut out every other spindle .
the saw we used to cut the spindles off. 
The dirty removed spindles. What craft can I make with these? I saved them for something fun. 
We added these little brackets with 2 screws at the top to secure the top. We screwed two of the cut off spindles to the bottom for support. Super easy. It looked dirty and gross so we lightly sanded the old varnish off and got it ready to paint. 
Fresh coat of black paint. 

All loaded up with blankets and ready to use. 
We hung the blankets like you would a towel on a towel rack. It fit them all perfectly and they are off the floor. 

2 comments:

  1. Great make!

    Funnily enough, my father-not-in-law was telling me yesterday about how he's made two of these of the years - he's done the panels side-by-side with a leather hinge in the middle but I think yours looks more stable.

    As for what to do with the dirty spindles, how about a muddy boot stand? Something like this - http://ebid.s3.amazonaws.com/upload_big/8/6/1/1305542241-5622-0.jpg

    I made one from random square wood poles a few years ago but have said next time, I'll use spindles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a Great DIY project
    Something like this would also be great to use out by a swimming pool to hang wet towels on, etc.
    ColleenB.

    ReplyDelete