Reality Daydream

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DIY Baseball Bat Crib Tutorial

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Follow our tutorial to build this darling baseball bat crib for your little slugger using real wood baseball bats and a few slabs of pine. Read on for the full tutorial and building plans!

FUN THINGS happening here today sweet friends. Remember my brother Caleb and how he secretly flew to Spain to propose to Laura (she said yes). Blah blah blah they got married… and now let me introduce to you the adorable result of that beautiful union: Roland (Rollie) Paul.

Caleb and Rollie Paul

Would you look at that warm slab of cute? ^^

We were surprised by his gender, surprised by his dark hair… and surprised to learn of Caleb’s mad building skills. He designed this baseball bat crib completely out of his noggin:

DIY Baby Crib... With BASEBALL BATS as the rungs! (Reality Daydream)

When Caleb told me he was building his baby a baseball bat crib, (without knowing ANY details), I half-joked… ‘you should take pictures along the way and do a tutorial on my blog!’  Knowing how much work goes into photographing/documenting a project of this size, I doubted it would happen.

But lo and behold, brother Caleb is pulling through with a kick-A tutorial so that you too can build a baseball bat crib for the little slugger in your life.

Three cheers!

Take it away Caleb!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beth’s brother here! I am very excited to be a dad and extremely excited to have a son.  When we found out the gender, I immediately began thinking of ways I could make his nursery unique and fun.  I pondered the idea of building a crib but I was unsure of a design. People I mentioned it to said how hard it would be, and then there was the fact that we live in a 2 bedroom apartment with no access to any such workshop or building space.  No, building a crib would be nearly impossible in our current state.

Weeks went by and I couldn’t shake the desire to build a crib.  One day I was pulling stuff out of our cluttered closet when my old wooden baseball bat fell out from the corner… cue light bulb!  I immediately had my crib design and the motivation!  The next couple days I spent sketching and researching safety standards.  I had the basic design I wanted and found several DIY cribs on Google that gave me the confidence to proceed with this baseball bat crib!  

First, I finalized a rough sketch and then I made a list of what I would need to accomplish this feat. 

details on building a baby crib with baseball bats on the sides {Sawdust and Embryos}

DIY Baseball Bat Crib Tutorial

List of supplies needed:

  • 5 – 1x6x8 boards
  • 8 – 1x3x8 boards
  • 2 – 2x2x8 boards
  • 2 – 2x4x8 boards
  • 2 – 4x4x8 boards
  • 24 – wood baseball bats  
  • 24 – .25” wood pegs                                                             
  • 6” screws
  • 3.5” screws
  • 1.5” screws
  • Large & small L-brackets
  • Wood glue
  • Sand paper
  • Wood stain
  • Wood wax

I originally wanted to use a nice hard wood to build this crib so that it would essentially last forever.  Alas, a nice hardwood is expensive and we are by no means monetarily well off.  I ended up just settling with a pine wood and deciding to find a fun color stain to use.

After many hours of scouring Google, we placed the order for our 24 baseball bats at a blemished bats factory (here) for $3.50 per bat.  Believe me when I say this is an absolute steal when you look at a normal sports shop and see the cheapest wood baseball bat is $29.99.  These “blemish” bats are 100% solid and only have small cosmetic defects that are truly hard to even find.  I was ecstatic when the bats arrived.  Baseball and I are best friends, so opening up a box of 2 dozen wood bats was like opening presents on Christmas morning.  They were exactly what I envisioned.

We loaded up the little man, and made a trip to Menards to acquire some lumber for our baseball bat crib!  

Build your own baby crib WITH BASEBALL BATS! {Sawdust and Embryos}

Let’s do this

Normal people that pick up a load of lumber would just throw it in the back of their truck and be on their way.  We are city folk and find ways to make due.  Several onlookers gave me the “this guy’s crazy” look as I strapped the load to the roof of our hatchback.  This is how we roll.

Gather some wood to make your baby a BASEBALL BAT CRIB! {Sawdust and Embryos}

After passing the boards, one by one, through our apartment window to my 8 month pregnant wife, I amassed a stock pile in our spare bathroom, now my workshop.

Details on how to build a BASEBALL BAT BABY CRIB! {Sawdust and Embryos}

Cutting all the boards to size

Over the next week or so, I cut all boards to desired lengths (loosely followed plans from this website) and began sanding, sanding, and sanding some more.  I would occasionally move my workshop from the bathroom to our living room so I could be entertained while I worked.  My wife was okay with this until our entire apartment was covered in saw dust.  Oops, my bad!

Building a BASEBALL CRIB in your little apartment {Sawdust and Embryos}

We hammered out the two sides which actually came together with very few “uh oh’s”.  Please bear in mind that my wife was a rock star through this whole process.  She was always there to help, even when I was perturbed about a board being warped or what have you.  Also, I came to the very unwelcome reality that boards that say they are 1”x6” are actually more like .75”x5.5”.  Rookie mistake!  

Sides of the Baseball Bat Crib {Sawdust and Embryos}

The most tedious and time consuming part of the whole project was assembling the crib slates, or in my case the crib bats.  With a detailed description of the most recent “CPSC Crib Safety Standards” I slowly pieced together each side, bat by bat.  The space between each slat is no more than 2 3/8” apart, no loose or improperly installed hardware was used, no cutouts on the headboard, a firm mattress support, no splinters or rough edges, and no lead paint (cause everyone still uses lead based paint). 

Use baseball bats on the crib sides! {Sawdust and Embryos}

Staining

Once I had all the all the sides and the support base complete, I began staining.  We went with a dark color stain for the majority of the crib and just a clear gloss for the baseball bats.  I used a water based stain to avoid all the chemicals found in oil based stains.  After everything was properly cured, this will be perfectly safe for gnawing, chewing or whatever else our little guy wants to do with his jail cell over the next few years. 

Details on how to build a BASEBALL BAT BABY CRIB! {Sawdust & Embryos}

Finally, we assembled the beast!  I wanted to put everything together and make sure it was PERFECT.  We were very happy with how our baseball bat crib was looking. 

Build your own baby crib WITH BASEBALL BATS! {Sawdust & Embryos}

Baseball Bat Crib Finishing

It was time to take it all apart and went over every square inch with ultra-fine steel wool which gave the wood a super smooth finish.  The last step was applying a finishing paste wax to seal everything up.  Once that was finished, we hauled all the pieces into the nursery for final assembly.  This room may be small but the crib is grand!  We put a lot of work into this project over the past month and are very excited for our little MVP to enjoy the spoils. 

Details on building a BASEBALL BAT CRIB for your little baseball fan! {Sawdust and Embryos}

Details on building a BASEBALL BAT CRIB for your little baseball fan! {Sawdust & Embryos}

DIY Baby Crib with BAEBALL BATS as the sides! {Sawdust and Embryos}

Baseball Bat Crib-making facts;

  • There were 8 separate Home Depot/Menards trips taken during this process
  • Crib cost was under $200, not including tools 😉
  • 100% of this was completed in a 734 sq ft apartment
  • It took 50 hours of work
  • 8.5 month pregnant wife wielded a power drill for the first time in her life
  • House cleaning took 7 hours and was completed the night before an apartment inspection by the fire marshal. 
  • Spare bathroom (workshop) during construction VS spare bathroom before & after construction. 

Process photo... building a baseball bat crib {Reality Daydream}

Beth here again… Didn’t Caleb and Laura knock this nursery OUT OF THE PARK?! (I’m so punny!)

Build a Baseball-themed crib for your little slugger... using ACTUAL BASEBALL BATS as the rungs! {Reality Daydream}

DIY Baby Crib... With BASEBALL BATS as the rungs! (Reality Daydream)

I’m so proud of Caleb and the building skills I didn’t know he had. And I’m also sooooo glad that he took the time to document this whole process to share with the world. The baseball bat rungs are just so genius.

In case you were wondering how little Rollie feels about his sleeping arrangement…

Rollie Paul

Lookie there… you got your baby fix AND a load of DIY inspiration all in one post with this baseball bat crib tutorial. Who’s ready for baseball season?!

Beth @ Reality Daydream

Huge thanks to Caleb for sharing this tutorial with us! You’re easily in my top 5 favorite brothers!

As always, thanks for pinning!

Build a Baseball Bat crib for your little slugger... useing ACTUAL BASEBALL BATS as the rungs!!! {Reality Daydream}

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Comments

  1. 36

    HEY GREAT JOB. OUR DAUGHTER IS GOING TO HAVE A BABY ONE AROUND APRIL, I SEEN YOUR POST AND SHE LOVE IT. IM GOING TO ADD ANOTHER PART TO IT, WHEN ITS AL DONE I WIL SEND YOU THE 2 PICS OF IT. MY QUESUTION IS HOW DID FIT THE SIDES TO THE END PIECS. THAT WOULD HELP ME OUT ALOT. THANKS. AND YOU HAVE A GOOD LOOKING SON.

    Reply
    • 37

      I will ask my brother! They’re due with ANOTHER baby in the next week or two, so I’m not sure how fast he’ll get back to me. Would love to see pictures when you’re done!! COngrats on your grandbaby!

      Reply
  2. 38

    We just made this crib and it turned out amazing!!!!
    We tweeked it a little bit, taking the decorate side pieces off, and only doing bats on the front side with a solid back.
    Thank you so much for sharing this; we can’t wait for our little man to arrive and use it!!

    Reply
  3. 40

    I want to do a very similar design….the link to the place you got the blemished bats does not work. Do you remember the name of the place you ordered these from as I’m not looking to spend an arm and a leg either? Thanks!!

    Reply
    • 41

      Oh man, I’m not sure. If I were you I would just do some googling and see if there are other places that are selling blemished bats for cheap!

      Reply
    • 45

      He used long screws in the bottom.
      On the top railing, he drilled into the bats and the top railing board. Then cut wood pegs and pounded them together with wood glue. That way there arent any screws showing in the top of the railings.

      Reply
  8. 49

    Question – The post states the bats from the link are $3.50 each. When you click the link, they are $3.00 each, but shipping for 24 shows nearly $70 dollars. I emailed them, and they do not provide quantity discounts or other shipping options. Can you ask your brother how he was able to get them for only $3.50 each? Or, did that not include the cost of shipping?

    Also, what exactly did he order? Type of wood and sizing?

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • 50

      I forwarded your question to my brother, and his response is as follows >>

      I had a somewhat unique experience with Blembats. I was originally going to order the 29″ youth two-tone bats through their website, but it would not allow me to do so because of quantity issues with that selection. I did have an email conversation with the company and it was determined that the 29″ craft bats were the best option for what I wanted. I did not order through the website as I had direct communication with someone who placed the order via email. I believe they did give me a deal on shipping as they didn’t have what I originally asked for. I believe shipping for me was around $40 instead of the $70 it should have been. So yes, I forgot to state the shipping cost in the blog. Even with shipping rates at $70 and 24 bats @ $3 the total per bat is around $5.75, which is better than anywhere you will find for solid wood bats. Unless you live near the blembats warehouse where it could be picked up instead of shipped. Sorry for the misleading info, I didn’t mean to deceive anybody.

      Reply
      • 51

        I’m so sorry if I sounded grumpy. I wasn’t! I just couldn’t find a way to make it close to $3.50, or even $4.00 per bat. They have craft bats listed as $6.00 with shipping, which is cheaper than elsewhere, but wasn’t quite as nice as the pricing you mentioned. When I emailed before my post, they stated they don’t offer any kind of shipping discount, even if it is a larger quantity. Again, sorry for I sounded grumpy. We just couldn’t figure out what we were calculating incorrectly!

        Reply
  9. 52

    Caleb is such a cutie! LOVE all the dark hair! Your brother has an heirloom with the crib! Nice work and very creative. Love it!

    Reply
  10. 53

    I’ll say it here as well, I love it! Definitely some creative bones in your family tree. I’m also glad to see no trolls made it over to your blog…lol

    Reply
  12. 57

    Wow. Caleb, this is just the start of what you will do for your child(ren). I bet you didn’t know your heart could hold so much love for that “little man”. And Beth, I see the creative gene is rampant in your family. 🙂

    Reply
  13. 59

    What an adorable baby bed! It turned out looking great. I am new to your blog and am excited to check out some more of your posts!

    Reply
  14. 61

    That is the most adorable crib, story and of course baby! Great work and design Caleb. This is such a special gift to your son, and a beautiful family heirloom…

    Reply
  15. 63

    Holy smokes – that is amazing! Not only did he build an awesome baseball baby bed but he did it in a little apartment! (I would have killed him for getting sawdust all over. You can tell they are newly married!) Kudos to your brother for have the skills to dream this up and to finish his plan to the end! You two must be related or something! Lots of talent in those brains!

    Reply
  16. 65

    What an amazing, one-of-a-kind crib. Your new son is so lucky to have a dad that cares so much. Great job to your brother Beth!

    Reply

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Attention: Almost any do-it-yourself project involves risk of some sort. Your tools, materials, and skills will vary, as will the conditions at your project site. Reality Daydream has made every effort to be complete and accurate in the instructions of the plans on this website. Reality Daydream will not assume any responsibility or liability for damages or losses sustained or incurred in the course of your project or in the use of the item you create. Always follow the manufacturer’s operating instructions in the use of tools, check and follow your local building codes, and observe all commonly accepted safety precautions.