DIY Christmas Ornament 8: Spray Painted

After yesterday’s post about No Mess Glitter Ornaments, I decided to do a few more. I also tried to add glitter to an older ornament.

However, the older ornament was dirty inside and the baby oil didn’t stick in some places. Unfortunately this meant that the ornaments were only partially sparkly.

Then I tried to make another glitter ornament and ran into a similar problem. I was bummed and thought I’d just have to throw them out, chalk it up to a good idea gone wrong.

Stay with me…and don’t toss those ornaments just yet.

If you tried the No Mess Glitter project and it didn’t work out as well as you hoped, you still have a great option.

Step 1:

Collect your supplies.

• Glittered Ornaments (see tutorial here)
• Painters Tape (or Masking Tape)
• Spray Paint

Step 2:

Remove ornament caps.

Cut strips of painters tape and apply to the ornament. Make sure to leave any glitter-less areas uncovered so that the spray paint can cover them. The aqua ornament in the back was one of my old ornaments. The inside was dirty and the glitter only stuck to the bottom half.

Step 3:

Spray paint the ornaments with your choice of color. Oh, the possibilities.

Step 4:

Remove the tape and revel in the beauty.

This one was fun because I can actually see the etchings now.

Tip: If any of the spray paint has seeped under the tape, use a blade (like X-acto) to remove. It will scratch off quite easily.

Tip: If you are concerned about scratches, I recommend spraying the ornaments with an acrylic sealer (you can buy in any art/craft store).

Project Cost Breakdown (per ornament):

Glittered Ornaments (Already Owned) = $0

Painters Tape (Already Owned) = $0

Spray Paint (Already Owned) = $0

Total Project Cost: $0

SHOWING THE LOVE:

Linking To: Centsational Girl, Craft-O-Maniac, Funky Junk Interiors, Between Naps On The Porch, Craft-O-Maniac, Making The World Cuter, Today’s Creative Blog, Not JUST A Housewife, Ginger Snap Crafts, Blue Cricket Design, Very Merry Vintage Style, Savvy Southern Style

Painting Fireplace Screen Doors For Under $5

I’ll say right up front that this project has been a little hit or miss. I say this specifically because I’m anxious to redo the entire fireplace NOW. However, I need to keep in mind that this is just the first part of the project.

This is my current fireplace.

This is my inspiration.

Source: armellejewelry.blogspot.com via Addison on Pinterest

The first part of the project was to paint the fireplace screen doors. If you read this post, you know my feelings about brass. To catch you up…

…it’s UGLY!

Since it’s a working fireplace, I picked up a can of High Heat Matte Black Spray Paint and started taping everything in sight.

Since I couldn’t be sure the black spray paint would match the existing black, I decided to paint all the black. So I only papered off the wall and tile, leaving all brass and black visible. This would also be a good time to sand the finish if necessary.

After this, I took a short break to get my dog into the backyard. He jumped around in his kiddie pool and realized that he was now locked out.

“Mom, I love you…”

“…please let me back inside.” Sorry Bubba!

I left him out to dry while I inhaled paint fumes sprayed 2 coats of paint on the fireplace screen doors.

The above picture is when I had already taken some of the paper off the glass to see how much brass you could still see, but the black was still drying. These doors were tricky to paint because there is brass on the outside and inside. I can’t figure out how to access the inside of the doors so there is still some brass visible. I popped the doors open so the paint didn’t dry them shut and left everything this way overnight.

Luckily everything evened out as it dried, but if you do this yourself with the spray paint, be very light handed. This paint was very tough to spray evenly and it was frustrating to say the least.

After 24 hours I took the rest of the paper and tape down.

You may be wondering why one of the handles is a different color. It’s not really, they are both wood and unpainted. I removed the painters tape from one, and have left it on the other one so it’s easier to do some touch ups. Yes, I also got paint on the tile on the right. I figured this would happen, and even though it’s a bummer, I’m okay with it since tile removal is next on the list to be done.

One last look…Before.

…and After (so much better)

Next Steps for the project:

• Remove Tile
• Install step (not sure about this yet)
• Install New Tile
• Install Mantle and Surround

Painting the Fireplace Screen Doors Project Costs:

High Heat Matte Black Spray Paint: $4

Tape/Paper/Fans: $0 (already owned)

Total Cost: $4

SHOWING THE LOVE!!

Linking to: Remodelaholic, Addicted 2 Decorating, Keeping It Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Savvy Southern Style, Blue Cricket Design, Very Merry Vintage Style, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Beyond The Picket Fence, The Crafty Nest, The Shabby Nest, French Country Cottage, Funky Junk Interiors

Brass to Bronze

Gold is not my favorite color, or maybe I should say, Builder Brass is not my favorite color. It’s a common color of accessories/fixtures in many builder grade homes. Even though I didn’t purchase my home brand new, many of the builder grade amenities were still in place. The previous owner didn’t do many any upgrades.

When I moved in, one of the first projects I completed was to change out all the interior and exterior door knobs. They were a hideous mix of gold, brass, and silver. In fact there was a weird mix of indoor and outdoor knobs throughout the house. One of the bedroom had a key lock door knob on the inside of the room, it was strange. So my dad purchased a house full of door knobs as a housewarming gift and I spent the next week re-knobbing 15+ doors. I picked the oil rubbed bronze knobs and it looks incredible. Such a small difference gave the house a whole new fresh look. I only wish I had a picture of the ugly doorknobs so you could see the difference. I only have a picture of new knobs, which in my opinion, is a much better look.

(Yes, that is green carpet. Also a gift from the previous owner. Hopefully I can change it out in the next year)

Now the doors look great, but all the closets still have shiny gold/brass, and it makes me sad.

First step was to tape off the area. I didn’t want bronze closet doors or walls. I used this tutorial for taping around curved items, it’s genius!

  

Then added some Kraft paper to block off the rest of the area, since I sometimes go a little wild with spray paint. Now, I know I could have removed both closet doors, taken them down the backyard and painted them outside, which is always preferable with spray paint. However, all the doors are on the 3rd floor and getting through the narrow circular staircase was going to be a challenge, not impossible, but very difficult since I’m doing this project on my own. I really just needed a second person if I was going to take everything downstairs. So I opened up all the windows in the bedroom, kicked the dog downstairs, and grabbed a big fan to help with ventilation.

 

After two coats of paint, I am no longer sad. The oil rubbed bronze is beautiful!

 

Sometimes it’s the littlest things that makes the biggest impact.