Posts Tagged ‘spray paint

My fireplace mantle has gone through several transformations since we moved in.

First we had this…

…which isn’t even decorated at.all.

I set the Rodney White artwork on the mantle while we were moving in so it didn’t get ruined and it just kinda ended up staying there.

I hung the artwork and added a few accessories, but the overall look just wasn’t working.

This setup is a FAIL!

I LOVE my art and I LOVE bright bold color, but after a month or so it just started to hurt my eyes.

I need my family room to be more subtle and relaxing so I took down the art and added a mirror that I’ve had for at least 15 years.

I also swapped out some of the accessories for a more Fall look.

In addition I took the candlesticks and gave them a new coat of spray paint and added gourds on top.

The colors are Rustoleum Nutmeg and Heirloom White.

But the black frame was still too harsh for me. I want this room bright, white, and soothing.

So I painted the frame white.

I’m already loving it so.much.more.

This is my “almost finished” decorated Fall mantle.

I’m going to add some fall leaves and maybe a few nuts to give it more texture, but I think so far it’s coming together nicely.

The ceramic pumpkins are from Dollar Tree. I can’t believe I found something ceramic at Dollar Tree that I don’t want to spray paint.

The pumpkins and gourds are real. I purchased them from the grocery store.

Also, the glass hurricane I bought in Los Angeles at Goodwill. You might recognize it from this post:

(New Life for an Old Shelf)

I like it much better with bright orange pumpkins and gourds in it!

So, in the past two months my mantle has morphed from this:

to this:

Now I just need to PAINT already!

Oh, and did you notice the crappy newel on the left of the fireplace hearth?

I got it free from a guy who was throwing it away while we were snowboarding last winter in California.

(Yes, the same trip that I broke my rib on…)

Anyway, this newel is eventually going to turn into a candlestick. Eventually.

Happy Fall, y’all!

~**~**~ Dollar Store Frame ~**~**~

(Can I get any more unoriginal than that?!)

Call me Captain Obvious, but just in case you still aren’t sure, this frame came from the Dollar Store.

It’s plastic. Srsly. I know! I was as shocked as you.

It’s cheap alright – 2 frames for 99 cents? But don’t try to tell me it looks like thin flimsy plastic. ‘Cause I ain’t listenin’.

I like the detail on it, but the color? Do you think it could scream “I’m from the Dollar Store” any more than it already does?

Yes, it’s getting a make-over. But honestly, I don’t think there are many things in my house that are safe from me and my spray paint.

What is my boy doing in this picture?! But I look good not horrible so it’s stayin’!

Five – minutes – later… (spoken in the “Bueller?… Bueller?… Bueller?…” voice.)

Green! And you know what, plz don’t hate on me, but I’ve already packed my spray paint so I have no clue what this color is called.

BUT, I do know it is NOT spray paint for plastic. AND… I forgot to prime it first with spray paint for plastic… Whoops. My bad.

But like anyone’s even going to be touching it, so if I am really careful with it I think it will be a-okay.

And now I’m sending subliminal messages to read my blog. Do you like my very subliminal HoH plug here?

Kinda trippy. You are reading House of Hepworths right.now while reading House of Hepworths. Like, Whoa.

And just to reiterate, my HoH Rules to Live By:
1. Buy crap
2. Spray paint it
3. DONE

Eleven years ago my hubbs and I were given a cooler for a wedding gift. It is definitely in the “top 5 best wedding gifts” category. It has gone camping, on road trips, to football tailgating parties, kids’ soccer games, and the lake. It has even traveled with us around the entire USA while we made road trips from Texas to new homes in New Jersey and California.

Unfortunately our cooler is now old and faded. A shell of what it once was. It is so sun damaged and scuffed up, but it is such a great cooler that I couldn’t bare to part with it and buy a new one. No use throwing away a perfectly useful item.

Poor thing has seen better days.

So what is a crafty girl to do? I can’t be seen with such an awful looking cooler. I do have a reputation to uphold here.

After almost a week of drama with this cute little thing, here she is now. Brand new and better than ever.

Adorable.

Here’s how she came to be…

I started with this. Pretty faded and gross.

Definitely in need of a good makeover. I can’t be seen on the soccer field with this atrocity.

First thing I did was taped the entire inside of the cooler with paper and tape. I didn’t want any paint getting on the inside. Then I took spray paint primer for plastic and primed the entire cooler really well.

Once the primer was dry I took white spray paint for plastic and gave the top several coats. I wanted the top really bright white.

When that was dry I covered and taped the top really tightly. It’s now time to paint the body of the cooler.

And this is where my trouble begins…

I had visions of a tangerine and white cooler. You know I love orange. And I could just see this beautiful orange cooler at all the soccer games. In my mind, it was beautiful.

I could totally picture it full of bags of oranges like the ones Michael Scott stole from the baseball game.

In reality, it looked like something you’d see at a construction site.

Not exactly what I’d had in mind…

Back to the drawing board.

This go-round I decided on Rust-oleum’s Spa Blue spray paint.

I can live with this.

Stencil time! I was originally going to make a stencil and just spray paint over it.

I used Freezer Paper and cut out a stencil. However, after some thought I realized that with all the texture on the cooler the paint would most likely bleed under the stencil and get ruined.

I still used the stencil, but instead of attaching it and painting, I just attached it and traced my image with a pencil.

And now for the really fun tedious part. Hand painting.

Yup, I’m a lefty. My big claim-to-fame.

After one coat, it looked pretty pathetic.

But after FOUR very tedious time consuming testing-every-last-drop-of-patience-I-have coats, it is done.

And I love it.

But it’s missing *something*.

As if hand-painting four coats of “Hepworth” wasn’t torture enough, I decided it needed some racer stripes.

I taped off my stripes, painted one coat, and peeled the tape off. It bled pretty bad, so I had to hand-paint the remaining three coats and do some touching up.

About five seconds after I started the stripes I made the decision that they would look great on the front only. They were a major PITA to paint!

I think the only thing missing now are the tube socks.

Before & After

Fall soccer season, Bring It!

I’m entering this paint project into The CSI Project competition.

PS Some of my bloggy friends and I have teamed up to create a joint pinterest board! It's really awesome and I think you should come follow it!!

xoxo, Allison

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Sometimes I participate in these parties: The DIY Showoff, Skip To My Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick, C.R.A.F.T., Tip Junkie, Today's Creative Blog, Blue Cricket Design, Home Stories A to Z, Someday Crafts, House of Hepworths, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Miss Mustard Seed, One Project Closer, Under The Table and Dreaming, Positively Splendid

Tags : accessories, before and After, camping, cooler, ice chest, splash of color, spray paint