The Miracle of Spraypaint- a desk, suitcase, and flatware?!

Give a woman a can of spray paint and she can change the world. Isn't that how the saying goes? Maybe that's just the way I feel about it. My grandma Tommy used to say that nothing was so bad it couldn't be made better with paint. I've always agreed. And spray paint is like cheating by virtue of being so fast and fun, and it comes in eyepoppingly luscious shades. Are you a convert yet? Well, read on, my dear little skeptic. 

#1 project on my list was my desk. I bought this 1930's waterfall vanity with mirror and matching highboy dresser for $25 when I was pregnant with my first baby. That was a couple decades ago. My dear pop painted it cream with gold details and added handles that I picked out of his box of antique dresser pulls. And for all this time I have loved it as my desk...even as it began to yellow. And get terribly scraped. And just look sad.

 Don't look at the mess on my desk- this is real life, people! But you can look at my chipmunk screensaver and say, "Aww!" Do you see how I painted that one drawer to see if I liked it? I wasn't too sure, but any change was better than nothing.

 So on went the Krylon paint in Ballet Slipper. I know, I know, just the name is enough to make you throw up in your beak. I had a moment there where I wanted to put my hair in a ponytail and snap my gum.

But then it was done and back in place. It even made me clean out all the drawers. Goodwill got enough stationary and cards to send a letter to every person on earth, and twice to some folks. Now when I walk by my desk I have conflicting emotions: it's so very pink that it makes me want to giggle like a five year old, or it's so very pink that it makes me gag a bit. It's an interesting situation and I'm just rolling with it.

#2 project was supposed to be completed before I went to Paris in May. I was taking my adorable red vintage suitcase and I needed a rolling case to bring that was also stout enough to be thrown under the plane, if need be. This Coleman from Wal-mart fit the bill- it was the exact measurements specified by American Airlines, and it was a good price compared to anywhere else. But did it have to be a hideous burnt orange?? I was so busy before my trip that the painting didn't happen. In my pictures I am dragging the ugly thing behind me like a big wart. But since then I've had the painting bug.

Note the blue painter's tape. I wrapped the wheels especially well, plus the pull-up handle, other handles, and the zippers on all sides. This was the most time consuming part, but I wanted it to actually look nice, as well as be usable. Then I turned it every which way but loose to get all the nooks and crannies painted.

And now I love it! It is so shiny, so cherry red, it's like the racy convertible of carry-ons! Next trip I take, it will be best friends with my little vintage cases instead of the odd man out.

#3 Project...hmmm, I have all this paint out. What else can I do?

Ever had one of those days when you just thought- I believe I'll paint my forks? Me neither. But then I saw an article in one of moma's British Country Living magazines. It was about painting ugly flatware with spray paint to give it a bit of a perk-up. I kept flipping back to that page.

Turns out I had all the components- ugly flatware, pretty spray paint, burning desire. As in, the burning desire to do anything but can the baskets of green beans overflowing onto my floor. Me: What? I can paint my already perfectly serviceable (but ugly) flatware? I'll do that instead of preserving food for my family, because it sounds like an incredibly worthwhile use of my time. Hey, why not? Those beans weren't going anywhere.

So I taped little newspaper caps over the tines, making sure that my tape was actually a straight line where the paint would stop. I know this is a silly project, but at least the paint should be even. Then I sprayed one thin coat and waited 10 minutes. I sprayed a second thin coat and they were nicely covered.

I waited a couple of hours before I turned them over to paint the other side, because they stay tacky a long while. (Okay, these may be "tacky" forever- ha!)  I let them sit for the rest of the afternoon to cure before I ripped the tape off like a band-aid!

And there you have it. It's still ugly flatware, but now it's happy ugly flatware. Big difference in my opinion. 

And when you put them with a cheery tablecloth, some little cross-eyed pig shakers, and maybe even a Scotty dog napkin holder, you have a heckuva lot of happy. That, in my book, is a good thing. 

*Note- since the integration of the "happy flatware" into my life, I have discovered that it flakes off like a hippo with a sunburn when you put it in the dishwasher. The direction didn't say anything about not putting it in there! I mean, if you have flatware so ugly that you are willing to paint it, are you really going to hand-wash it? I don't thing so! Hubby looked at the fork he had been given at supper the other night and sighed. "Moma's gone and ruined the silverware," he winked at my youngest. "It's not ruined if it can still put food in your mouth," was my tart reply.

Sigh. Well, Dear Reader, two outta three ain't bad.