Friday, February 19, 2010

Crown me Queen

...of spray paint that is.  Along with three projects I've completed on this fabulous long weekend (and it's not even over yet!) I'm also going to share two incredibly handy devices that make your like easier.  Well, one will only make your life easier if you have the unending desire to spray paint everything that I do.

First project is one that's been going on in the back yard for some time.  We started with six of this bad boy:

and no, that's not someone's failed attempt at making it to the bathroom on time, that the tannin from the grapefruit tree's leaves that fall year round staining our white rubbermaid chairs inherited from my parents.  While I've seen the coolest patio furniture EVER this week I'm glad we aren't sending these babies into the landfill for a couple more years.  They are pretty much indestructible and not recyclable yet so I can't happily shuttle them off to a place where they'll take up space till my grand children's, grand children's, grand children invent a way to make garbage melt away cleanly and greenly.  So I found this paint (sprayable of course) at the ol' HD that allows one to paint on plastic leaving a smooth and colorful finish.  Very cool but at about 4.99 a bottle, kinda pricey.  However, the chairs were free and I rationalized that 5 bucks a pop for patio chairs was still cheaper than going out and looking for them.  For the six chairs it actually took 7 bottles of the stuff but if I did it again it would probably be less considered I'm a far better sprayer than I was when I started this project.  Here they are in all their $35 dollar glory.
 
  
 


Last post, I left with the absolutely adorable retro chandelier (I was right, Matt said "hideous") that I bought in New Port Richey, FL from "Donna" who was a hoot.  She kept saying, "I can't believe you wanted this."   I almost painted it a glossy red like I'd seen in countless blogs last week, but decided on black on a whim.  The cylinders that contain the wiring were rotted when I bought it so I threw them out thinking I'd just buy some pvc pipe and spray it whatever color the lamp was.  Just to see how it'd look I used a black paint chip I had on hand to cover up the wiring and it looked great so I picked up three more at Home Depot and used double sided tape to make it smooth.   Easy and free.  The lamp was $25 and the black paint I used was $3 bucks.  It took the entire can.  I just bought a brass chandelier on ebay today so after I get done with the mega project I'm working on tomorrow I'll start whipping that into shape.  I love chandeliers!
 
 


This was a little "on a whim" craft that took about 5 minutes.  I was getting bored since I've already packed and I'm still waiting for some stuff on ebay to make its way South.  Somewhere in the course of Matt and I getting our house ready, we acquired this little gem.


I'm pretty sure it came from Matt's aunt and he loves it.  I knew he be bummed if I donated it so I found the remnants of a little can of green spray paint and while I think it'd look dynomite in orange, I worked what I had.  Here is the spunky new lamp, and you can definitely tell there's an elephant in the room.  Such a punster.  It kind of reminds me of those Buddha bookends that I love so much but am not Buddhist.  All the punchy color without the religion. 

Onto the incredible new gadgets I found that I'm sure the rest of the world has already embraced and is frequently using but I just discovered.  I'll start with the problems.  We own the most wonderful faux feather (I'm allergic) plush duvet insert that my dad's wonderful secretaries at work got Matt and I for my wedding.  We love it......however we hate duvets.  Like a giant pillow case that never seems to settle just right where you get the insert and not just bunches of duvet fabric, we can't stand messing with it each night.  Enter in....duvet clips.  $5.99 for a pack of 4 and so worth it.  If I'd had a 20% coupon to Bed Bath & Beyond they'd be even cheaper but I'd pay double.  There were two brands and the woman helping me said this one was the best (they were the same price).  You need these.

The second little gaget comes from my willingness to spray paint everything.  In the past month I sprayed six patio chairs and four dining room chairs.  I had two calluses on my index fingers from the nozzle and a right thumb that continues to cramp when I turn a door handle.  After finishing the chairs, I still had the base of the table to spray and couldn't even will myself to buy the paint.  If I had the paint waiting to be used I might feel guiltier about not spraying them but oh the pain.  So finally I dragged myself to Lowes to finish the project I'd started and like a spotlight from heaven I saw this little guy.  Not only does it completely erase spraying discomfort, it allows the painter more control, thus use paint more productively.  It only took two cans of paint for the base and I'm willing to bet it's because I was able to spray more evenly.  Even for one project, this was worth it.  You need this too.

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