Guest Post: DIY Painted Vases

Good Sunday morning readers,

As your eyes scroll across the words typed on this page, I will be on a plane to my week long honeymoon with my new husband! I've scheduled a few posts for all of your while I'm away, but I promise to share wedding pictures soon.

So today's guest post is made by a friend of a friend of mine. I never knew that Alissa was so crafty but after reading her post....well...I'll let her work speak for herself!

Hello, friends! I'd first just like to say how excited I am to be a part of Craft Month on Brittney's blog today. I ramble blog over at The Illiterate Author and have recently gotten my feet wet in the world of DIYand am absolutely loving it! I've been following Brittany's blog for quite a while now, and have loved seeing all of her crafty creations. I especially love that her posts are actually doable. You don't need a masters degree in modern art to be able to follow along, and I for one appreciate that.

And speaking of crafty creations--while browsing Pintrest recently (I'm addicted), I came across this pin:

Photo courtesy of Indulgy.com

The caption simply said "Wine bottle, tape design, spray paint!" Since I don't drink, I don't have any wine bottles laying around, but I loved the possibilities this idea opened for artsy vases. I love quick, easy projects, so I decided to give it a try. I ended up loving how it turned out!

Here's what you'll need to create your own:

A can of spray paint. I used white because I had it on hand, but it could also be fun to try this in other colors.

Masking tape.

A jar/vase/container of your choosing. I used what I'm pretty sure was supposed to be a pasta jar I picked up from a tag sale for $.50. You've got to love crafting on the cheap!

Wax paper.

Once you've gathered your supplies, you can start taping off your design. Really, your creativity is the limit on the designs you can come up with. I chose to do three lines that decreased in width by overlapping two pieces, using a single piece in the middle, and trimming a piece for the top.

Now that your design is taped off, you're ready to get painting. If you can, do this step outside as the fumes are quite strong. Since I brilliantly chose to do this project on the hottest day of the summer, I ended up in the bathroom with newspaper and the bathroom fan on. If you do have to do it inside, be sure to lay down plenty of paper.

Oh, and here's where the wax paper comes in. Place a sheet of wax paper beneath the vase before you begin painting to avoid the vase sticking to the newspaper. I learned this the hard way.

Now spray her up! To avoid drips, hold the can around a foot away from your container and apply a thin, even coat. In my experience with spray paint, you're a lot better off doing two or three light coats than one heavy coat.

Don't forget the bottom! Make sure all the sides are dry before flipping it over to avoid finger prints or smudges

Allow the vase to completely dry, and then peel off the masking tape. You now have a fabulous, up-cycled vase! Fill it with whatever makes you happy, place it somewhere prominent, and wal-la! You're an artist!

What-cha think? I love the way it turned out, and think I might experiment with containers of different sizes and shapes.

Happy Crafting!

~Alissa from The Illiterate Author