I saw a mailbox painted up with flames like a hotrod once. Dude must get some badass mail.

I'd recommend sign painter 1-Shot paint. Very light-fast and won't need a clear coat (although you could put one on).

You are the coolest mother EVAH!

Aw shucks, thanks iconomy. *blushes*

That paint would be perfect, doctor_negative, but I'm worried that it contains lead. I don't want to give her or Mr. Baby the brain damage.

I don't have any paint tips, but it's be cool if the lid/flap/door was the dino's face and the inside of the mail box was painted like the inside of the mouth with teeth and stuff.

I kind of don't think regular paint is going to stick too well to that metallic stuff. Maybe like enamel of some kind or model paint? Me, I'd use sharpies and then paint over it with polyurethane. You do the poly painting - and don't use the spray kind! It's evil! - so the kids won't get horrible brain damage from the fumes.

Guerrilla parenting tip: Make sure Mr. Baby does not eat the sharpies but if he does, be sure to nudge big sister and say, "Aren't babies dumb?" This kind of splitting up the siblings under the guise of bonding pays off big dividends in the teen years when it becomes painfully easy to get them to rat each other out.

Actually, looking at the material, the NazDar enamel they link to might be a better bet (I don't know how flexible the 1Shot is). If this is going to be applied by kids, it's pretty messy permanent stuff to work with; gloves and an outdoor or really well ventilated area are required. But hey, my grandmother showed me how to oil paint when I was 7 or so and I lived to tell about it, this isn't much worse.

MGL, you are my role-model. Divide and conquer it is.

And that would be awesome, goml. It would also be totally cool to make it roar whenever opened, but I don't think our mail carrier would appreciate it.

I think we'll try out some enamel paint and see how it works out. We'll paint outside in old clothes. If it doesn't work out, we'll try something else. Trial and error is my favorite method of doing things anyway.

Thanks!

Assuming a standard mailbox, you might want to try something like this:
≡ Click to see image ≡
If you have access to a sabre saw or a jig saw, this is easy work.

Make posterboard or oaktag patterns first so that the legs fit exactly around the mailbox and the body is the overall length of the mailbox. Trace the pattern on 3/4" pine. The cut out notches should be as wide as the 3/4" pine is thick and the height of the body notches should match the remaining wood under the notch in the legs. Trace onto pine, cut, glue the legs to the body, and then comes the fun painting part. It will sit right on top of the mailbox.

Plinth, pop a breath mint 'cuz I'm gonna KISS YOU ON THE MOUTH! That's awesome. My father in law is an expert carpenter. He can crank that out in no time.

The only thing we have to take into account is the flag on the side of the mailbox. Maybe if we spread the legs out farther...

You need to make a chickenwire frame and add concrete to make a brontosaurus whose mouth is a mailbox.

A neighbor of mine has a whole family of brontosaurus-types on his front lawn, the largest of which is maybe 8' - 10' high. Pictures may follow.