Cozy Coupe Makeover

Charlotte loves her a play car. Anytime we take her out and they have a play car, you can guarantee she will be in and out of it 100 times. My kid also LOVES the mouse... especially Minnie! I had seen some really cute "Cozy Coupe" upgrades on Pinterest. I wasn't actively looking for one but one Saturday we stopped at a local shop, Reruns for Little Ones, so I can try out a toddler sized Tula. As we were walking up, we spotted a used Cozy Coupe for $15. Charlotte immediately started saying "my car" so we knew it had to come home with us!

We decided to go with the Minnie Mouse theme. I went to Lowe's to pick up some plastic outdoor spray paint. They were out of white so I picked up red and black only. I read a lot of reviews online and no one mentioned primer. However, the guy at Lowe's was adamant about us priming first. So I also picked up one can of primer.

Back at home, Tim literally set up a car wash station for the coupe. After everything was cleaned off we took it apart. We actually used WD-40 to remove any stickers/residue.

Since I am pregnant, Tim had to do all the spray painting. Even though the body of the car was already red, we gave it a coat of primer and two coats of red paint. A lot of the tutorials I read said to sand the car. We had several rough spots so we did attempt this however they are visible through the paint. I would skip the sanding and opt for the primer. All the yellow parts got a coat of primer and two coats of black paint.

We gave it a good 48-hours to dry before re-assembling the car. Once it was re-assembled, we applied two thin coats of Rustoleum's plastic sealant. Then came the fun part... deciding how we wanted to finish it. I originally was planning on spray painting on white dots with a stencil and having my dad cut out the ears/bow from wood. I read about being using foam or cardboard for the ears but that didn't seem too sturdy. I actually found a lady on Etsy who makes a "kit". I was planning on just purchasing the vinyl dots but then decided to go with the whole kit even though it was more than I originally wanted to spend. Jamie, the shop owner, was super sweet and got my items to me out FAST despite being ready to have a baby any day. I ordered on a Sunday and had everything by Wednesday!

I worked on the applying the vinyl dots and nameplate that evening. Tim was able to apply the mouse ears as well. Unfortunately, Charlotte was already in bed by the time we got done but we were able to show her the final product the following morning. She LOVES it and I have to admit I love the way it turned out too.