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Goodwill Toy Upcycle with Paint and Paper

Grab a Goodwill find and turn it into something awesome again. That’s exactly what we did with this fun toy upcycle! It’s easy to do with Mod Podge.

Upcycled toy from the Goodwill using paint and Mod Podge

I like to give myself little challenges now and again. That means going into the Goodwill sometimes and finding stuff that I can revamp! On a related note: when I was little, I used to assign feelings to toys.

Is that weird? I would worry about my dolls getting cold, so I would cover them up with a blanket. What can I say – I wanted them to be comfortable.

That desire to make sure my toys were “comfortable” has shifted to my adult life. When I go to the Goodwill these days, the first place I go is to the kids section, looking for whatever toy upcycle I can complete with Mod Podge.

Not so long ago I was browsing the shelves and came upon this weird wooden toy wrapped in cellophane:

Unfinished wood toy wrapped in plastic from the Goodwill

It was wood so I know it had possibilities, plus it was cheap. I know this would be the toy revamp that I would do, all with scrapbook paper and Mod Podge!

Oh, and when I opened the package, I discovered something really cool about this toy. I’ll show you at the end of the post. Here’s how I revamped my wooden toy.

Goodwill Toy Craft

Gather These Supplies

Wood blocks removed from the wood toy

The first step with any wood craft is to unwrap and clean if necessary. My blocks weren’t very dirty so I didn’t really have to do anything (especially since I was painting over them).

If you are going to leave part of your toy unfinished, I do recommend washing it with mild soap and water (even wood!).

Piece of scrapbook paper with a cassette tape pattern

Next, select your paper for decoupage. I used a Crate Paper “Boys Rule” pad (6″ x 6″) with some fun patterns. I feel like I always do girly things so I wanted to make this a little more masculine. As masculine as a small toy can be, anyway!

I chose four papers since I had four wood blocks. Each block only needed five small squares cut out since the blocks mounted to the base on the bottom.

Marking paper with a ruler and a pencil

Measure and mark with a pencil. . .

Cutting scrapbook paper with a ruler and craft knife

. . . then cut.

Measuring and marking the back of scrapbook paper with a pencil

Then measure and mark again. It takes a minute, but I like to do all of my paper cutting up first. Set aside.

Painting a wood block with gray craft paint

Paint your wooden toy. The FolkArt Multisurface paint is nice because it’s really thick, the colors are vibrant, and it’s durable.

If I choose to give my toy to a child, I know it will hold up.

I painted two blocks gray, one block a warm white and the other with turner’s yellow.

Painting the base of the wood toy with navy craft paint

Then I painted the base with navy. I also painted a wood bead (already had a hole in it) with gray. I decided to add the wood bead since it didn’t come with one.

Let your paint dry – then finish by decoupaging the paper to the wood blocks with Mod Podge Satin. Let dry and then you can reassemble your toy and use it.

DIY upcycled toy

I absolutely love my finished toy upcycle!

Wooden toy craft with paint and Mod Podge

And aren’t the papers so cute?!

Oh – and one last thing . . . are you ready to see the toy in action? It’s so cool what it does when you pull it along . . .


If you liked this Goodwill revamp, I’d love for you to check out these other related projects:

Sarah

Sunday 12th of June 2016

I'm glad I read to the end and watched the video! The spinning blocks really made me smile. Both my son and daughter would have LOVED this toy, especially with your paint and decoupage re-do.

Amy

Sunday 12th of June 2016

Thank you Sarah! It was such a fun discovery! It tickled me :0

Rita

Wednesday 1st of June 2016

Hi Amy, Which is the better Mod Podge to use for paper and give a coat to protect and have a good finish to covers book?

Jo Johnston

Thursday 26th of May 2016

This is terrific. Love the basic toy and the re-do!

Amy

Thursday 26th of May 2016

Thank you so much Jo - it was fun!

Bobbi Convery

Thursday 26th of May 2016

This is so cute, and I love that you try to upscycle as much as possible.

Amy

Thursday 26th of May 2016

Thank you Bobbi! I need to make another trip to the Goodwill!

Katiebolinger

Wednesday 25th of May 2016

What a great find. I've never seen anything cool at our local goodwill.

Amy

Thursday 26th of May 2016

I feel like I got lucky with it! In Atlanta, the Goodwills are pretty picked through if you don't go every day :0