Spray Paint Party!

 

Well hello there Squeezies! Are you ready to kick off spring…errr, summer with some fun linky parties? :)

The temps are getting warmer (although they’ve dropped about 40 degrees here again this week – boo!) – and warmer temps mean ONE THING.

It’s spray paint season!!

WHOO! :)

I have a fun little project to show you and then we’ll get on with the party!

I’ve had this metal fork and spoon set in the basement foreva:

Serious – I think it’s been more than a year. I can’t even remember where I got them. I think it was a thrift store? Anyhoo, I’ve had a plan for them for all that time, and I finally finished it up.

They were OK in black, but really, who wants to use (giant) black utensils? Not me. And the black finish was in bad shape, so they needed a new coat of paint.

Because I wanted them to look like real (ginormous) silverware, I picked up a can of silver spray paint. I did one quick coat of grey primer first, just to make sure the surface was uniform and ready for the paint.

It took about three coats, but they turned out JUST how I envisioned:

I hung them above our pantry door, and I just think they are the cauuutest (monster) utensils I ever did see!:

I shared some spray paint tips back on this post, but here are a few of my top tips:

1. Prep well – you don’t have to sand, but at the very least, clean the item. I don’t use primer every time – it depends on what I’m spraying. Sometimes with metal I find it covers better with primer, but as long as you’ve got a few good coats of paint on the item, it should hold up fine.

2. Speaking of coats -- use a light hand when spray painting! Don’t get too trigger happy. ;) You’ll do much better with four or five light coats (use short sprays, back and forth across the item) than with soaking the item with one or two coats.

3. If you get drips, wipe them when wet and spray over. If needed you can sand them down after and repaint. If you get crackle, it usually means you didn’t prep well enough, but it could also be due the temperature. When I get the dreaded crackle, I know it’s because I didn’t clean the item well,  didn’t sand and should have, or I’m spraying in really high temps. You can get rid of the crackle by sanding well after it dries and spraying again.

4. Spray paint is stinky and not exactly good for you – it’s best to wear a mask when spraying. You never know which direction the wind will take the paint. Believe me. :)

I am constantly amazed at the power of spray paint! It is truly the DIYer’s BFF. ;)

And now I have a mongo fork and spoon to toss my next salad:

(Just kidding – don’t eat off of spray painted items. For reals.)

So…let’s see your transformations!! (I’ll leave this linky open for a week so you have plenty of time to link up!)

And make sure to check out Kate’s Outdoor Ideas Linky on Thursday this week, and Rhoda and Layla’s parties next week!

When you link up, please use the link to your post, not your blog. (Those will be deleted.) And I would love it if you would use this pretty button and link back here! (I don’t think I have code for it, but you can copy and paste it into your post.)

HAVE FUN!