Painted Vases

I am loving this Summery weather! Somehow Summer just brings on a more relaxed state of mind. The longer days, the BBQ's, the beautiful green that surrounds you. I like something about every season, but Summer is probably my favorite season. I was so busy yesterday, that I never got a chance to actually go out IN the sun. So when the hubby came home last night I insisted that we eat dinner outside. We set out the picnic blanket and laid in the grass while we watched Princess blow bubbles (one of her favorite outdoor activities and she is actually pretty good at it) while Peanut giggled at her big sister. I love those moments. They always seem to fly by though, which is the scary part. Princess had her hair in pigtails yesterday and for some reason it made her look so old! I said to my husband, "She looks like a GIRL now. She's not a baby anymore." Time flies too quickly. It so hard to believe (not to mention accept) that your baby will be a child and then an adult one day. One that you have the responsibility to nurture and protect and ensure that they grow into a truly GOOD person. Not sure how I got off on this direction....I guess what I am trying to say, is that Summer gives us a chance and maybe a little more time (because of the longer days) to soak it all in and appreciate our amazing little treasures. Our sweet, innocent little sparks of joy. They give us so much happiness and they don't even realize it. Our children.

So I have been working on this project for the last few days. I may have been a little paint crazy, and that may have caused one or two problems....but after giving it a few tries, I think I finally got it down. It looks so easy on the tutorials! I found this tutorial here. I love the colors she used on hers. The Micheal's I go to didn't have a very big selection of colors, but I did manage to get a couple that worked for me. I have been wanting a large white vase for a while now and I am super into Robin's Egg Blue lately.

A few things to keep in mind (that I learned this week through trials):
*You cannot use "flat" finish spray paint....it will not be shiny when it dries. You can use either "gloss", "high gloss" or even "satin", but NOT flat. Oops.
*Less is more. I was all finished with one of the vases and I decided to give it another quick coat, just to really make it perfect......then it started to wrinkle up and I think it was because I put too much paint on it. Oops again.
*Wear gloves. I did half the time and when I thought to myself, "I don't need to wear them this time, I will be careful", I would still get paint all over my hands. I still have white paint lingering on my fingernails and hands. Cute. Triple oops.

What you will need:
*Old vases that you don't care about or mason jars...any type of glass really. (I know its horribly un-green of me, but you know those cheap vases you get in floral arrangements sometimes? I usually throw them away.....gasp! I know, don't tell Sophie Uliano. But I thought this was a perfect way to re-use them and turn them into something new that you actually want to keep!)
*Spray paint in any color (Gold is cool, white, blue, green or coral)
*Gloves (very important)
*Newspaper (to line the space where you are painting)
*Clear shine finishing spray (it really gives it that extra shine)

1. Start by lining your painting area with lots of newspapers. We get ads in the mail every Tuesday. So I use those. You know the grocery store ones? Put the gloves ON!

2. Spray away, but not too much, or they will get wrinkly like mine. When its all covered. Stop! I did 2-3 coats. Make sure you dry between coats. Then, after it is DRY, you can do a quick coat with the finishing spray.

3. Then you're done! Place in fresh cut Summer flowers and enjoy!

Before:

After:

With our early Summer flower (or weed) finds:

And then Princess got some flowers for her room as well. :)