Creating a Pirate's Room Without Paying a Kings Ransom...

Now, folks who know me, know my middle name is "bargain" so creating my son's room was no different. I was bound and determined that I would make as much as possible, for the least amount of money as I could finagle...and only purchase that which I couldn't figure out how to construct.

When you see a pirate ship, you see a lot of wood accessories, so that's where I began. HOBBY LOBBY has a great selection of unfinished wooden items and if you watch, they often go on sale for 30, 40 or even 50% off the regular price which makes them a real bargain!

I purchased the following for my son's room all at 50% off...(the prices listed are regular list price)

Small wooden chest with 9 small drawers.... $5.99
Small size tray.....$1.67
Medium size tray (same design as small one only one size larger).........$1.99
Wooden tissue box (cube size) .....$3.99
A can of black spray paint..... at WAL MART is about 99 cents or at HOBBY LOBBY for a better grade of paint is around $3.00. I personally like the Hobby Lobby brand as I don't think it has the tendency to run the way Wal Mart's does, but that's to each his own.

The trays and chest were spray painted black, using several coats to completely cover the wood. I chose NOT to sand the wood between coats as the wood was pretty smooth, but you may need to even out the rough edges depending on the wood item you find. Fine sandpaper or even steel wool works well for smoothing the finish.

Centered on each tray I painted a small skull and crossbones design and the top edge of the tray was outlined in white for contrast. These patterns can be found on various websites but if you have problems locating them, feel free to send me a message and I'll share my patterns.

The drawers of the chest had tiny knobs. On each knob I painted a teeny tiny skull. This was actually a lot easier than it sounds although I suggest trying it on scrap paper before painting on the knobs. The inside of the skulls eyes and mouth were painted with black sharpie marker after the white paint was dry. All of these items were then sealed with a clear spray sealant to finish the pieces.

I also painted a door knob hanger that stated "Pirates only, Enter at your own risk!" This had a black background and simple white lettering & skull and crossbones.

The tissue box, the clock, a wooden tray and the light switch cover were the next project. All were either painted flat black or covered with paper. The creative avenues with these two are limited only by imagination.

The clock was an inexpensive model at TARGET for about $4.00. I chose a small model but the sky is the limit as to size and price...it's your decision.
The light switch cover was a simple 39 cent plastic model and the tray was in the dollar section at TARGET as well.

All four of the above mentioned items were covered with wrapping paper of "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme which I attached with Mod Podge. A medium size bottle of Mod Podge at HOBBY LOBBY, is priced at about $5.99, but if you watch, they often go on sale too or you can use one of HOBBY LOBBY'S famous 40% off ANYTHING coupons to bring down the price.

Using several coats of Mod Podge, and letting each coat dry well in between, this was a long process, but the finished products were well worth the time spent waiting for it to dry. One word of caution here. Be sure to use Mod Podge when it is dry outside. If there is too much moisture in the air, the finish can take a lot of time to dry or can sometimes not dry at all, leaving a sticky finish.