Pages


Tuesday, June 8, 2010

A Vase Re-Face

I'm in love.
She's the object of my affection. I've been looking for her for awhile now. And finally, while perusing the shelves at Goodwill, there she was. For 30% off. What? You don't see it? Her curves, her height, she's a solid 8.5. (inside joke.)

I've been looking for a large vase to put on the tall chest, right near where I hung my first piece from the Amber Original collection.  She was it.

I've never painted on glass before. Well, nothing beyond "stained glass" in 3rd grade Sunday School.  So, I did a little research.  This is what I found. See how she used a nice bright color to bring new life to her lamp? Plus, she fixed all her mistakes and wrote about them, so that we don't make them as well. Bonus.

I first sanded down my vase. Make it a habit to sand down whatever it is you're painting.  It makes for smoother paint jobs, and in cases like the vase, it gives the paint something to hold onto.  I then used spray primer to even out her skin tone.
Once the primer dried, I gave her a VERY light sanding using FINE sandpaper. You could probably skip this step, I just wanted to insure a smooth surface to work with.  Then I painted the middle of her using leftover paint from our master bath, Behr's Plum Raisin.  We colored it to match our curtains, so it matches our master bedroom, as well.  After the paint set, I wrapped ribbon around using just a teensy bit of tacky glue to keep it in place. I didn't use tacky glue directly on the vase, only on the ribbon itself.
Then I took her outside for a silvery spray tan!
One thing I noticed- wherever I had painted the plum, small brush strokes show through, like brushed nickel. I like that affect and wish I had painted all over.  You don't notice from further away, but a close admirer might see the difference.

THIS JUST IN! Literally as I was spell checking this post, Will walked in and saw our new bedroom decor, and I quote, "That actually looks pretty good." Could it be? Is Our House-Divided becoming...... United?!

1 comment:

  1. Very cool - I'm so inspired but too tired to do anything about it just yet...

    ReplyDelete