Reinventit Reinvent It to keep it out of the landfill
Reinventit Reinvent It to keep it out of the landfill. I don’t bother painting my kids toys anymore… Honestly, I am too busy for that. But I interchange the parts, or I just use the colors that are with it…..
I like to design things around what is given to me. So my son LOVES Scooby, and we have an older blue Little Tikes Cozy Coupe II Patrol Car, and I just made him some stickers. No paint involved. He’s happy, and I can use it for a Police car again in the future.
Even some of the more popular mods, you could just buy two cars, and swap out the parts to get different color schemes.
For example the Little Tikes 30th Anniversary police car, with the red 30th Anniversary Cozy Coupe. Then you would have two yellow columns, yellow roof, grey columns, and a white roof, and a red body, and a black body. So you would have yellow and black for one car, and red, grey and white for the other…. Minnie mouse? Batman? Princess? VW? The possibilites are endless… And they would be brand new. You could resell them, without wasting anything. Or mixing these parts with older coupes, and making them new again… #outofthelandfill.
#reinvent I like that… I want my customers to be able to sell their toys again after their kids are done with them. I want families, to pass these toys on to the next generation. I am tired of wasting, I am tired off seeing things thrown away, because we had too much.
I will try to add posts, where I change around my kids toys, without painting. I got a lot of them…..
DIY Kids Play Kitchen using a Plastic Tote. For a quick and simple play kitchen, try using a plastic tote, along with some decals. We have decals to make a regular Plastic tote into a child’s play kitchen with room to store all the food, dishes and pans. All you have to do is peel and stick. Custom sizes are available, just email for details. You can also use these for entertainment unit and cupboard remakes. Any thrift store find can be converted into a play kitchen using paint, and some decals.
DIY Kids Play Kitchen using a Plastic Tote: Decal Sets
Our decals have a strong adhesion, so they will stick to most surfaces, including wood, plastic, and metal. Even painted plastic surfaces, just be sure the paint adheres to the plastic. Most paint that is intended for plastic will adhere strong enough.
DIY Kids Play Kitchen using a Plastic Tote
This set, which consists of four burners, can be found here:
There is two 3 3/4 inch burners, and two 5 inch burners with this set, plus a dial decal, and an oven panel. All are high quality decals, along with high quality graphics.
There are many more designs to come. All the colors can be changed, and all the decals can be resized. This service is only available if we have the time, and a fee may apply. As the size increases, so will the price. Please email us for further information.
I am happy to announce that we are offering our products on Amazon. If you have Amazon Prime membership you will also be able to get free shipping as well on most of the products I have offered.
Most of the products in my online store, and with my shopify store, will also link to Amazon, so you can be assured that you will get fast professional shipping with your Amazon prime membership.
The Toy Restore is now on Amazon : Contact Me for Special Requests.
The Toy Restore is now on Amazon. If you are looking for a specific item, please feel free to contact me to see if I can add it to Amazon. I will be adding more and more products to my stores over the next few months, but if you are looking for something in particular I will do my best to help you out.
The Toy Restore is now on Amazon : Custom Orders will be Available Soon.
The Toy Restore is now on Amazon. I will also be able to offer custom designs in the future, on Amazon. I currently offer custom license plates on Ebay, and Etsy, in your child’s name sized for most of the popular ride-on toys available. If I don’t have your child’s toy listed, I can easily resize any of my custom license plates to fit your toy. Just send me an email with the needed size. Here is one of my custom plates you can order on Amazon:
Upcycling: Ice Cream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover. What kids doesn’t love icecream, and what kids doesn’t love the idea of driving thier own car! Put those two ideas together and you have the Icecream Cozy Coupe Truck. For this Cozy Coupe Redo I used a Princess model of the Cozy Coupe II, so I didn’t have to paint it.
Upcycling: Ice Cream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover: Find a Second Hand Coupe
An Icecream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover: Remove the Old Decal, and Throughly Wash it.
An Icecream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover: Remove the Old Decal, and Throughly Wash it.
Removing the old decals is a bit of work, but well worth the effort. I have a more detailed instructions on removing decals here. Once the old ones are going you can do so much to change the car. You can repaint it, or add new decals. I sell new decals for most of the Little Tikes foot to floor cars on Ebay, and Etsy. For this particular Cozy Coupe Makeover, I used my set here. But I have lots of other styles that would look nice on this cozy coupe without having to repaint it.
Upcycling: Ice Cream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover : Apply the New Decals
Upcycling: Ice Cream Truck Cozy Coupe Makeover : Apply the New Decals
My kits contain everything that you need to make your coupe look like an ice cream truck. The front grill, the license plate, the dash, mirror, tail lights, door logos, front logo, and 2 logos for the back pillars, and some extra ice cream decals.
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Steering Wheel Replacement
How to Fix Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Steering Wheel
Here is a quick overview of how to replace a steering wheel on the Little Tikes Cozy Coupes. For the purposes of this post, I am using a 1990s Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. I will add measurements in the future to be sure that this can be used for other car replacments.
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Steering Wheel Replacement 2
The basic set-up is simple. There is the steering wheel, a washer, and a steering wheel clip. All your car needs is the right size of hole, both in diameter, and in depth. I am pretty sure you could modify the replacement parts to fit different dimensions though. That will have to wait for another post. 🙂
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Steering Wheel Replacement 4
So the steering wheel clip slides into the bottom of the steering wheel, with the “Y” end up. Push it up until the clip ends pop out of the holes in the tube.
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Steering Wheel Replacement Title
Put the steering wheel into the hole, and underneath, before it goes through the other side, hold the washer on the underside of the hole, and thread the washer and the otherside of the hole onto the bottom tube of the steering wheel. The washer will slide upwards and over the two nobs that are expsoed from the steering wheel clip inside the steering wheel. If you need to take it off again, push in the two exposed clips and let the washer slide back down the tube again.
Little Tikes Steering wheel underneath
I will get the dimensions and add to this post as soon as I can.
What child doesn’t like to fill up their car with gas? Usually when I find a vintage Little Tikes ride on the first thing gone is the gas cap. Here’s how I fix the gas cap on these toys. They originally had flimsy plastic tabs to hold the top of the gas cap on, and they broke off over the years. With design changes, the newer Little Tikes replacement parts don’t fit the older ones anymore, but you can easily make them fit, by drilling a hole.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : Each Project is Different
As with any case of modifying new replacement parts to fit older toys, these instructions will vary depending on future design changes on the gas cap. In this case, I used a replacement part from a 1990s version Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, on a vintage Little Tikes petal tractor. I believe the 30th Anniversary model is the same basic design as well, but I have to double-check my measurements on that, and I will update this post when I do.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap :
Find the Replacement Part
Call the 1-800 number on your toy, or visit the Little Tikes website to see if they offer replacement gas caps. If not you can easily find sellers on Ebay who will offer them. If I have any available you can order them HERE.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap :
Remove the Old One
Pry off the old one, and clean the plastic.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : Replacing an old style Little Tikes gas petro cap with a new one
When you compare the vintage style to the newer style, you will note that the vintage one has a larger diameter then the newer one. Luckily there is a smaller plastic column in the newer one to help hold it in place, otherwise the newer gas cap would just fall out.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : A comparison of an early 1990s vintage gas / petrol cap versus a newer late 1990s – early 2000s Little Tikes Cozy Coupe gas cap.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap :
Measure
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : Measure out there to drill the smaller hole for the Little Tikes Ride-On
Just for when the design changes, you should double-check to see where to drill your hole. When I first did this, I didn’t measure a thing, I just eye-balled it all. I marked the place to drill the hole, in the above photo, and I eye-balled the drill bit size, as in the next photo.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : Find the right grill bit. You can eye-ball the size by placing the bit in front of the plastic column. If you should barely be able to see it on each side.
When eyeballing things, you want the drill bit to be the same size or slightly smaller. So place the grill bit in front of the plastic column, if you can slightly see the plastic column on each side of the grill bit, then you have a good size. You don’t want it too small, or too large. If you make it too small you can re-drill it with a larger grill bit, or crave it larger with a box cutter. I measured the plastic column for the newer replacement part and it is 6.3mm, so 6 mm grill bit would work fine. I will add the equivalent imperial measurement when I find my imperial drill bits, or my scientific calculator.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap :
Drill the Hole
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : For my example, using a 1990s version replacement gas / petrol cap on a vintage Little TIkes petal tractor, I drilled the hole 10mm from the outside edge of the large hole, to the center of the smaller hole.
Drill your hole, and push in the new cap. Hopefully it all fits snuggly, if not, you could thicken the larger column of plastic on the replacement cap with electrical or duct tape to make a snug fit. But I have never had to resort to that, the drilling always seems to work out fine for me. You could also choose to turn the cap a different direction and drill again. The first hole would be hidden behind the cap.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap :
Pop it in
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : New gas / petrol cap for your vintage little Tikes ride on.
How To Fix Vintage Cozy Coupe Gas Cap : New gas / petrol cap for your vintage little Tikes ride on.
Please feel free to ask me questions, I will gladly update this file as I can.
How To Restore a Little Tikes Football Toy Box : Replacement stickers or decals to fix up your Little Tikes Football Toy Box.
How To Restore a Little Tikes Football Toy Box. These have been around since the 1970s, and are still going strong. Usually the only thing missing is the decals to restore them to like new condition. I sell replacement decals for it (HERE), and here are some tips on applying them.
How To Restore a Little Tikes Football Toy Box:
Remove the Old Decals First
How To Restore a Little Tikes Football Toy Box : Rubbing Alcohol
First remove the old decals, by pulling them off, as much as possible. Then you can use rubbing alcohol to move all the glue residue. If you leave some of the residue on, it will show underneath as lumps. Also be sure to wash off the rubbing alcohol before applying as it will weaken the adhesive.
How To Restore a Little Tikes Football Toy Box:
Apply The New Decals
Once it is clean, dry and smooth, apply the stripe decals, starting from the front, lining them up to the front outside indent. And removing the backing as you move from the front to the back, smoothing out the creases, and any air bubbles as you go along.
How To Restore a Little Tikes Football Toy Box : Apply the new decals
These are made from a strong material that won’t rip or tear, but it can stretch, so be sure to place them properly first before pressing down and smoothing out.
How To Restore a Little Tikes Football Toy Box:
Yes, I can Customize it
How To Restore a Little Tikes Football Toy Box : Replacement decals for Little Tikes Football Toy Box, customized replacment logo plate.
Yes, I can customize the logo plate. I can put your favorite team, family name, your child’s name. The colors can change, and the font can change. I just don’t have the Original Little Tikes Logo in stock.
Arg… spelling is not my strong suit, so please bear with me. I love to fix up older good quality toys, and I have designed lots of replacement decals for them. I use the best quality waterproof decals, possible, they are 100% waterproof, and quite UV resistant. I find it very sad when a large plastic toy is thrown out into our landfills, when all they need is a little TLC. Usually they only need new stickers. Why not make new stickers for them? If you are looking for a particular one, send me an email. I just might have it, or I can custom design it for you.
I also have some great ideas on how to make these toys look new again, and I will be adding to this blog as often as possible.
