This week I’ve been getting back on track after having Amanda home for spring break, my parents were in town and Travis had a few days off. I’m sure I’m not the only one that gets completely thrown off schedule when people visit during the week. I worked on an art project and failed miserably. Tweaked it…and failed miserably. But did I let that stop me? Yes. Yes, I did. I finally figured that if I was going to have anything else to write about this week I’d better do something that I knew would work. And baking is out because well, my jeans threatened to quit if I made anymore baked goods. So I went with spray paint instead.

I started with some candle holders that I’ve had for quite a while but quit using them. They’ve been in storage in the laundry room since we moved here over five years ago. They’d gotten a bit rusty because the laundry room is connected to the bathroom-you have to walk through the bathroom to get to the laundry room- so there’s a lot of humidity in there.

This is from my college days. I don’t remember where I bought it or when but I do remember it was sitting on the coffee table in my first rental house with a 3-wick burgundy candle sitting on top. Remember when burgundy and forest green was all the rage? Oh yeah.

That candle holder also has a taller, slimmer friend that I’m pretty sure sat on top of my piano.

Yes, that is a plastic Dora the Explorer table cover. Why do you ask? Both of my girls have outgrown Dora so I found a use for some leftover table covers.

I’m using apple green paint by Rust-Oleum. To prep I used my handy-dandy mouse sander to take off the rust. I also washed them in warm, soapy water and wiped them down really well. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to matter how thorough I think I’ve been, I always end up with missed spots of lint or, even worse, rust. Of course, I am the Mom that wore her shirt backwards to her daughter’s first day of college so, you know, I miss stuff.  I’m going to be a very funny old woman.

This is about what the first coat of paint should look like. I sanded the rust smooth but didn’t sand it all the way to bare metal so you can still see where it is. It doesn’t really affect the finished product.

Thin, even coats are the name of the game here. Trying to cover it all at once increases the chance of drips. The thin coats dry quickly and are quick to do so it doesn’t really take all that long. I lost count of the coats since I had to do the top and bottom at different times. It took at least 3 coats but you could expect to do some touch ups with something that has a lot of curvy spots like these do.

I love the green, especially since I’ve got so much blue going on. Of course, this looks tall and awkward sitting on the table. So I moved it to the piano where one could expect to find something tall like this.

The other one looks nice on the table with a vintage table cover that’s part of the 25 cent lot I bought last fall. This  one is much smaller and I honestly don’t know what it was used for. Maybe to sit on top of another tablecloth? This cloth is much more dainty and I love it very much.

There’s a little green-on-green action going on here because I realized that I didn’t have anymore white candles. I guess it’s time to replenish my stash. Target and Wal-Mart both sell packs of inexpensive white pillars that I like to keep on hand. You never know when you’re going to need one.

There you have it. From antique, rusty white to fun apple green in just a couple of days and with zero dollars spent since I reused my candle holders and had the spray paint on hand. So, how about you? Do you have any small projects like this that you’d like to do? Share it in the comments, I’d love to hear about it.