How to Decorate with Children's Items

Decorating with children's cast-off items can add a cute touch of whimsy to your home. Nostalgic pieces from your own childhood or saved souvenirs from your children can provide wonderful memories of days gone by.

Planters

Whether dug out from your attic, discovered at a garage sale, or purchased new, many toys lend themselves nicely to being filled with flowers. Dump trucks, wagons, and sand pails are just a few toys that make good flower planters. Placing the plants in a thin plastic pot and setting into the toy extends the number of choices.

Around a pool setting, sand pails and shovels make cute center pieces on the patio table. Poke holes in the bottom of cheap, brightly colored pails and fill with bright flowers. The shovel can be poked in the dirt or left hanging from the pail handle. Pinwheels can be added to the bucket planters for an extra touch of fun.

I love to fill the wagon of my son's old tractor and wagon set with easy growing salvia or violas. I set it by the front door with the old beat up red tractor and it reminds me of the endless summer hours my boy would spend playing in his "dirt hole". He used to say his dirt hole was the best thing about home! This planter always brings a smile to my face.

In the spring, when I am busy planting my garden and annual flowers, I use my kid's old red wagon to hold seedlings and garden supplies. For months it is parked in front of my house with a changing palette of vegetables and flowers waiting to be planted. When the planting is done, I stick a few potted plants and flowers and an old watering can in the wagon.

Christmas finery

My favorite Christmas decorations are my kids' old mittens. One Christmas, many years ago, I was cleaning out the mitten basket after decorating the staircase and had a great idea. I took all of the outgrown and mismatched gloves and mittens and added them to the evergreen garland. Now, every Christmas season, I wrap the banister with garland, add bows, white crocheted snowflakes and cast off mittens. There are my daughter's tiny blue gloves and son's gray dinosaur mittens. So, if your kids lose a mitten, don't fret, just throw the remaining one in with your Christmas decorations. They are adorable decorating a garland or wreath.

More ideas

There are many opportunities to use children's items for decorating accents around your home; these are few ideas from my home. My husband's old teddy bear sits in Grandma's old child size chair, during the Christmas season he wears a Santa hat, Easter finds him with a basket of bright plastic eggs, and during summer months he holds an old ball bat and glove. I have an old school desk which has served as an end-table and is currently in use as a plant stand, the cubby hole on the side stores a watering can. I also enjoy setting stacks of old children's books on the coffee table, for example during the Christmas holidays I put out "Twas the Night Before Christmas". Of course, the simplest idea is to frame artwork. Framing colorful art your children created adds a homey touch anywhere.

Using children's cast-off items to decorate is a fun, cheap, and easy way to add warmth to your home.