Vase Redo

I love a simple classic white vase. It comes in such a wide variety of shapes and sizes and I really love the textured vases you often see in stores and DIY blogs. I shopped on line and decided why spend $50 bucks for a new one when I can take something I already own and update it. 

Pottery Barn

I have had this red vase for about ten years. It's a good size and shape but I am bored with the color. A quick update with a coat of white paint will do the trick. 

Before painting I had to rough it up a bit with sand paper because it has a glossy finish. As always, I then added a coat of primer. If I don't prime, I don't paint. Your finish coat will just scratch off.

I couldn't decide if I wanted a creamy white or a pure white but opted for the pure white.

 I have to tell you that when the primer dried it looked so good I decided to paint it a matte white instead of the gloss.

I put two coats of matte spray paint and a coat of matte sealer and I was good to go.

 

Cost of updating a an old vase? $3 for the primer and $3 for the paint. Good deal.

I like this much better.

Thriftstore Thursday

I went on my weekly hunt for bargains at the thrift store and came across this beautiful ice blue antique bubble glass bottle for $6.95. Often I will spot something unique but may walk around and think if I should really buy it. Not this time. I immediately decided this beauty was coming home with me having no idea what to do with it. It stands about 22" tall with the stopper and is about 5" in diameter. It does not have any markings on it so I would love to learn the history of these types of bottles. 

For now I'll just set it on the table and let it look pretty.

I love my weekly trips to the thrift store because you just never know what you will come across. 

Thriftstore Thursday - 9.6.12

Here is the latest treasure trove from the local thriftstore. They were having another 25% off accessories sale so I picked up a few things. All of these items totaled less than $10. They just needed a bit of cleaning up. 

I also found these two metal bowls. I think would look great on a table but would they be better silver?

I also found this large pink picture. This is a big oops. Trust me, it was bright pink, kind of like Pepto Bismol, but I painted it before I shot it.

I have plans for these pieces but I haven't quite figured out how to make it happen so I can't share what I want to do with them just yet. Need to give it a little more thought. 

Stay tuned.

Hammered Silver

I love the look of hammered metal especially silver. Serving bowls, vases, candle sticks, platters I love it all. I even love hammered silver jewelry. The texture and brightness of the metal adds elegance to any room and is much brighter than plain polished pieces. Silver is a highly reflective metal anyway but when it's hammered you get a faceted surface like a diamond which reflects more light and adds even more sparkle and shine. I have a couple of small hammered pieces but am keeping my eye open for a silver bowl for my dining room buffet or living room. The other day I picked up a stunning hammered silver bowl at TJ Maxx but immediately set it down when I saw the price. Way too rich for my blood but it was beautiful. I'll keep looking for something in my price range which is as always, $0 or next to nothing. Here are a few beauties to dream about.

                    

1. Lamps Plus

2. West Elm

3. Godinger.com

4. Godinger.com

5. The Sterling Hut

6. Lanina International

7. Crescent Furnishing

8. The Sterling Hut

   
                                                           
                                      

Textured White Vases

I’ve seen a number of pretty, textured white vases around the Internet like these from West Elm. 

West Elm

It looked like an easy craft project I could do myself and I was right. Enter Puffy paint. I know I’m a little late to the dance but I love this stuff. It's versatile, fun and so easy to use. It comes in bottles with a small applicator tip so you can make designs with it on many surfaces like fabric and glass. Totally Eileen used it to re-purpose these glass bottles. 

Totally Eileen

And these are from Design Sponge

Design Sponge

To be honest, to make designs on glass you can use puffy paint or even glue since when it dries it will leave a raised mark that will show up well under paint. Kate at Centsational Girl used glue to get this look. 

Centsational Girl

I still want to try the puffy paint. It may be because I 

just like saying it. Such a fun word. Anyway, I don’t 

often buy things that are new for a project like this in 

case I screw it up. I decided to use a small glass vase 

with baby's breath that was sitting on top of my hutch collecting dust. The stuff most people use as a filler, I was using as a floral arrangement. Sad. I tried it out first on a sheet of paper to see what it would do. I’m glad I did because it took longer to dry than I expected. Before I began I washed the vase with soap and water then used a piece of sandpaper to rough it up a bit. It’s always good to give a glassy surface some texture as it makes the paint adhere better. 

Next I drew my image on a sheet of 8 x 10 paper and taped it to the inside so it wouldn’t move. Then I traced the image with the puffy paint shifting the paper around as needed until I got the desired look. The puffy paint stayed tacky and soft so I let it dry for several days before touching it. Next I took it outside and painted a coat of primer followed by 3 coats of white spray paint. I let it dry for a couple of days before touching. Depending on the temperature, it may take a while to truly dry and you don’t want fingerprints. When it’s dry, you will have a beautiful, one of a kind vase that you made yourself. 

I love it so much I’ve got to do it again.