Tutorial: Outdoor Toy Bin

For the first time in his little life, Atti actually has a tan. He’s been playing outside so much that he’s turning a beautiful golden brown despite my diligent sunblocking. And during all that time outside, he is making a MESS. Water and sand and dirt and leaves and diapers around his knees. Which for this Obsessive Compulsive mama, is a serious challenge. Plus, outdoor toys are extremely enticing to the lovable monster Boo-Boo Doggie. His toys needed safety, and I needed cleanliness, so I came up with this toy bin for all the messy fun.

Any large container will do, as in all organization you really just need a place to stick stuff. I chose a giant plastic flower pot because it was cheap, durable, and because it has drainage holes. I’ll never need to worry about toys moldering in an inch of stagnant water since the water has someplace to go without me ever dealing with it.

I spray painted the inside and wrapped around to the rim so I’d have a pretty little contrast going on. Just make sure your spray paint is suitable for plastic.

Even with spray paint meant for plastic I was having a hard time masking anything with tape and not having the paint rip off. If I was willing to wait a few days for it to cure I would have had different results, but that was just not going to happen. So I bunched the drop cloth around the pot to cover anything I didn’t want covered with the next color of paint.

Which was blue. It took a little caution, but I managed to keep the blue where I wanted it and save myself a few days drying time.

A spray painted flower pot wasn’t special enough for me, so I brought it inside and pulled out the acrylic paints for a little more decoration. Organization efforts really only work if everyone in the family knows what goes where, so I figured I wouldn’t beat around the bush. If outdoor toys or dirty shoes find their way in the house now, Atti and Bear have no excuses.

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