spray paint

I’m sure you know those cute yellow flower balls I’m talking about. They’re everywhere lately, and for good reason. Except in the state of Montana. Seriously, I have yet to see these guys anywhere.

{photo via Flored Del Sol}

I’ve got plenty of cute vases. Though most, okay, all, are empty. While decorating the entertainment center for fall, I decided that had to change. A simple, modern shape and bright color would be perfect. Billy buttons, that’s what I needed. So I set out to make my own. I’ll let you judge how realistic/cute they are after the tutorial.

Using small foam balls (from Dollar Tree), green floral wire, paper clips (not pictured), and sunny yellow spray paint, I got to work.

First I skewered each ball with a straightened paper clip and stuck it in a piece of scrap foam. If you don’t have foam, you could stick these in a pile of small rocks or even hold at the end. Then I spritzed each sphere with the yellow paint and let it dry.

Once the balls dried, I cut pieces of floral wire to length and pushed the balls on. Voila, faux billy buttons.

Looking back at the thicker painted yellow paper clips, I might like that better. But I’m happy with my two dollar ‘flowers.’ Ben thinks they look like cheese balls stuck on wire.

{photo via}

Though if you ask me, I think cheese balls are more orange. I suppose if you have cheese balls in your pantry, you could give ’em a shot.

Rather than tucking these cuties on the shelf, I plopped them on the bar cart turned side table for a pop of color.

So, what’s the verdict? Cheap and cute? Or cheesy? Literally. Where do/have you found billy buttons?

Sometimes, projects we tackle are big. Others are little and not worthy of an individual blog post. Today, you get a two for one. One part side-splitting, one part skinny dipping. One of our map cut out frames took a spill while I was in Minnesota. Somehow (Ben still isn’t giving full details) the frame fell, but he caught it before the glass shattered.

But he didn’t catch the frame before the right corner hit the floor, splitting and denting the joint.

After living with the broken frame on my desktop for a month and a half, I finally got annoyed enough to fix it. I dug around in the garage to find the staple gun and staples. That’s all it took to fix the frame. So, I took out the metal pieces that held the frame together before.

And put five staples in the corner. Sure, it looks like Frankenstein’s monster, but it works.

Then I sprayed the dented corner with a little white paint.

Good as new(ish) back up on the wall, thus concluding today’s side-splitting segment.

Now to the skinny dipping segment. I’ve wanted to dip furniture legs for a while now. I love the look and the bit of fun dipped legs add. While making our bed one morning, I realized the boring white Ikea Lindved tables we’re using as night stands could use some fun.

Using a ruler, I measured five inches on each leg, made a mark with a pencil, and taped off each leg.

Outside, I gave each leg a coat of gold spray paint.

Ten minutes later, I gave the legs another coat and left the tables to dry. Outside, I loved how the legs looked. But when I brought them inside, not so much.

The gold paint blended in with the wood floors. Boo. But, I had a can of silver spray paint left over from another project. Why not try it? After taping off the legs and spraying the legs a few time, I’m much happier with the results.

More fun than the boring white tables, but still simple. Who knows, when we decide on a color scheme for the room, I might change it up again. Perhaps a fun teal? Or kelly green? I don’t know, but the possibilities are endless.

How do you fix picture frames? Does it take you a month and a half to get around to a simple fix? Maybe you’ve dip painted furniture legs?