What's old is new again...

This is Chelsey and I's old toybox. It has been well loved...as evidenced by the scrapes, dents, paint chipping and someone (definitely not me...ahem, Chels!) drawing all over it with red permanent marker. I have moved that thing over a dozen times through the years and when Samara came along, it became our 2nd toybox in the basement. I've always wanted to do something with it and with another baby coming and even more toys, now was the time. It was a joint project between Shawn and I...he handled sanding down the box and inhaling the most likely toxic lead dust and fumes, we both painted the base, I painted stencils on it and then Shawn added a safety hinge to protect little fingers.We are attempting to spend less money on new, plastic, disposable things (including toys) and opt for handmade things that I make myself or find on Etsy, things that we can refinish to give a new life or just plain old secondhand things that still have life to them. Most of our Christmas presents to the kids have followed that. It's a hard habit to break but hopefully we'll have more things in our house that have real meaning to them and can be passed down.