My first spray painting project...sprayed again!

Greetings!  I hope you enjoyed your weekend.

A couple of weeks ago I spoke of some spray painting that I did.  Well the fun didn't stop with just the pots.  I actually sprayed four things that day...two pots, a side table and a lamp.  Today I'm going to talk about the side table.

This side table was the first piece of furniture that I ever spray painted.  I did it when I was 18 and updating my room since I was out of high school and thought I was grown :)  The table was one that my Mom had and wasn't using so I asked if I could have it and she said sure.  The legs on the table were originally brass, but at that time of my life I loved silver, so that's what I sprayed it.  There it is on the right of the picture.

Here's a close up right before I got to work on it.

I had a fresh bottle of gold spray paint that was ready to go!  I love how it turned out.

Those images were taken out on the patio right after it finished drying.  I loved how it looked on the rug out there, but its home is inside.  Here it is in its normal location.

The gold pops out so much better especially since it's against a grey background.  The silver blended right in with the couch, so it was barely noticeable.

What was your first spray painting project and do you still have it?  If so, has it undergone another transformation?

A Green Thumb Kinda Day

Yesterday I mentioned getting my green thumb on over the weekend.  On Saturday I got the urge to buy succulents, basil and house plants (probably because I still had gift cards for Lowe's).  Last year I got some succulents and somehow managed to kill them all :(  I was also growing basil, mint and oregano last year.  The basil did great, the oregano survived the winter and is thriving now, and the mint...well, I managed to kill that, too.

I needed more pots, so I bought a few from Lowe's and spray painted them.  I love spray paint if you haven't noticed :)

Here are all of the plants and pots-

 

Here's the oregano last month (I'm still shocked that it made it through the winter!).

Here it is now after a little (a lot of) TLC.

I am especially loving the house plants.  When I saw the pink on the leaves I had to get them!  Right now the gold and black pot resides on my desk in my office and the pink and gold pot resides in the great room.  It's nice having plants indoors.  The best thing about that plant is that it requires little light and little water...perfect!  I have a feeling that I might become addicted to house plants really soon especially since they're so inexpensive.

How about you?  Any plans on doing some spring "gardening"?

A Spray Paint Fail

Hi guys!  I have been a little MIA due to the impending re-branding of my business.  Only a week and a half to go!

A couple of weekends ago I got a huge energy burst and ended up doing a few quickie craft projects.  One of them was the chalkboard wine glasses.  Another was spray painting a clock to go into my office.  It started out like this-

I've had this clock for well over eight years now, and I haven't used it in probably about five or six years since I never replaced the battery.  I figured a little spray paint in the soon to be colors of my office wouldn't hurt.

A few coats of gold spray paint and clear gloss spray paint later and it turned into this-

After it dried I studied it for a while.  I asked Simon what he thought of it.  He said that he didn't like the form of the clock in the first place (how does that saying go?  Putting lipstick on a pig?).  I thought about spraying it a different color, but in the end I trashed it.  Something just didn't feel or look right about it.  Oh well!  All of our crafty/DIY projects don't always come out looking great.  Have you worked on something lately that you had high hopes for and it turned into a flop?

Dining Room Updates

November was a pretty busy month full of all sorts of DIY projects.  I'm going to cover two of them tonight.  The first is dining room no-sew curtains, and the second a little spray paint to a tray (you knew spray paint was going to be in this post somewhere, didn't ya?).

As you may know, we made LONGGG curtains for our great room earlier this year (check it out here if you haven't seen them).  It took a while and was our first time making them, so we figure we're veterans now when it comes to making smaller ones.  I went to the same fabric store from before and got the fabric for $3.99 a yard (that's the regular price of all fabric in the store!).  I found this fabric and really liked it because it would blend well with the other curtains but still have it's own personality.

I ended up making these by myself, and it only took about three hours (much better than the three days it took us to make the other ones).

Just to remind you, here are some before pictures of the Dining Room.

Shortly after moving in.

A few months after moving in.

The day before the curtains went up.

Another angle.

And this is the end result

I plan on keeping the curtains open and replacing the shades with a pair that have a thermal lining so that it will help to keep the room warm.

The second project that I completed was changing the color of the tray that our liquor bottles are on.  You may remember the tray from this post.  I had been contemplating if I wanted to keep it the jade color that it was or spray it a different color.  I decided to spray the inside gold and keep the outside jade.

I enjoy the result!

Pinterest Challenge- Autumn Edition

It's definitely autumn people.  What better way to embrace it than a little Pinterest challenge?

If you are an avid reader of the Young House Love and/or Bower Power blogs, you probably have already caught wind of this.  If not, let me explain...

To sum it up, Pinterest is a site where you can pin inspiring images, recipes, cleaning ideas, clothes, color schemes, hair styles (pretty much anything that makes you go nutzo) to boards that you create.  For the challenge, you were to find something that you have pinned and DIY your own version of it.

My Inspiration Photos                                     

credits 1 2

I have seen these types of images all over pinterest and since I am working on a secret project (to be revealed in a few weeks!), I decided to create my own version for this room.

The Process                                                

1. I decided to do a multi-canvas art piece.  To start, I wanted the edges of both canvases gold, so I sprayed them.

2. Next, I taped the two canvases together and continued spraying them gold (this is my favorite spray paint color at the moment btw).

 

3. I wanted smaller lines, so next I cut the art tape in half using an x-acto blade.

 
4. After about 10 minutes I stuck the tape onto the canvases in a pattern that I enjoyed.

5.  Because of my indecisive nature, I have lots of sample paints.  I decided to use a dark gray paint as the background color.  I painted all over the canvas after taping the edges off because I still wanted those gold edges.

6.  After a little time I peeled the tape off.  Did it bleed?  Yes, in some spots.  Patooey!  For the spots that bled I simply touched the edges up with a small paint brush.

The Outcome                                              

I rather enjoy the outcome.  Unfortunately the tape that I used wasn't the best which was the cause for the bleeding.  Next time I'll use painters tape!

So after this was complete I got a little spray paint happy.  Blame it on the fresh, crisp autumn air...or the paint fumes.  I ended up spraying some natural elements that I'm going to be using for my tablescape for Thanksgiving (more on that later) and I found myself hunting around the house for things to spray.  I ended up finding this-

Guess what happened...

Extra Credit!                                                

I haven't quite decided on a layout for these items, but here they are together

...although I also like this for the plate

I'll figure it out (one day)!

For more Pinterest Challenge fun, check out the ladies that are heading this thing up!

Sherry: Young House Love
Katie: Bower Power
Ana: Ana-White
Erin: House of Earnest

*addition: Morgan at Mrs. Priss is also heading up a pinterest challenge!  Check it out and link up here!

Have you worked on any fun DIY projects lately?  Please share!