I found 3 plates at Goodwill for $.50 a piece. I liked the detail on the edges and thought with a little white spray paint, I might be able to come up with a cute holiday piece for cheap. I had stencils already, as well as the acrylic paint for the letters, so the only other thing I bought was a can of Rustoleum Semi-Gloss Pure White Paint (hint - I buy the 2x cover spray paint, because the trigger is fat and you don't get spray paint all over your fingers!)
I started by sanding lightly and then applying 3 coats of spray paint. All was going well until I checked the final coat this morning and here's what I found....
I don't know if it was the cold temperature (they were drying in the garage) but I ended up with this weird crackle effect. Never a quitter, I just "went with it". I experimented with some black & brown acrylic paint (mixed together, cuz that's what I had in the paint box).
I liked the way the dark really gathers in all the crackle and makes them look a little "grungey".
I had originally planned to stencil "wish", "peace" and "joy" but it wouldn't fit on the plate. So then I thought, "I have 3 plates. HO HO HO". Decision made. I used the same black/brown paint mixture to paint the stenciled letters and then went back over with a dry brush to smudge it a little, since I seemed to be going for a "rustic, french, cottagey" look (yeah, I make up design styles as I go along!)
This is the finished product...
Okay, I know the plate on the left is a little lopsided, but I was in such a hurry to get some pictures up, since I've been such a blog slacker lately.
It's either really cute or it's butt ugly. I have a different opinion of it everytime I look at it. Right now I've got them leaning up against the backsplash in the kitchen, but I'll probably hang them and run a wide satin ribbon behind them tied with a floppy bow at the top, just to dress it up a bit.
What do you think? TELL THE TRUTH! I've got company coming next week and I don't want to be laughed at! Okay, really my company wouldn't laugh at me. They would just smile and say "Oh, that's nice!"
I've got exactly $5.00 invested in this project ($1.50 in plates, $3.50 in spray paint) so if it's meant to go to the decorating graveyard, it won't be the end of the world!
Let me hear from you!
Coming soon....
I'm working on a furniture trash to treasure project right now, so I'm sanding & priming my little fingers off! Will post that one soon. Hope I don't have any more disasters!
4 comments:
Looks more Halloweeny than Christmasy. :)
Now help me with my wreath problem...take a look at my blog, please!
-S
Sorry - just saw that you gave me a great suggestion for my hot mess. Thank you!!!!
Yeah, I thought about that too. I wanted non-traditional colors (we don't do a red & green Christmas at the Walters house. It's usually blue & chocolate) It is a little Fall-ish. Maybe I'll re-stencil BOO and use it next year! Thanks for the comment. How's the wreath coming?
these look really cool! I love the way it looks, I wouldn't use them for christmas however I think you can find another way to use them.
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