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Monday, November 28, 2011

How Not to Change Christmas Ornaments

I decided to change some ornaments from purple to white.  Sounded simple, I planned it to be simple.  It wasn't simple.  Learn from my mistakes.

Here is the perfectly good, purple ornament.  These were large ornaments from the church tree of several years back and needed (in my mind) a color change.  Simple enough in concept...


Because I like to tinker and wanted save money, I decided to reuse them in an altered state.  I wanted them to be white (my favorite color) and thought spray paint would be the cure.  You know, spritz, spritz, done!  Wrong prescription.   Here's the result of that.


Not exactly white or the effect I wanted.  I grabbed the primer spray paint, which I should have used in the first place, but the weather wasn't going to cooperate, so I needed another plan.  Here's my little buddy....the killer.


I painted them with something I knew would kill the color and here is that step in this process.



I hung them from the chandelier to work on them and let them dry.

Now they were simple and stunning (at least in my favorite-white-color mind), but why leave them at that?  I decided to "Mod Podge" them with old music from hymnals and here is the result.  I love them and wanted to keep them, but I did them for the church tree and to the church they went along with 96 white doves. 



It was a fun project that required a change of course to get the desired result and sometimes I just love a good challenge (like getting my teeth drilled).  I learned a little bit about spray paint on plastic (I know why they have special spray paints for that now) but was glad an old buddy (Kilz) was up for the challenge.

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16 comments:

  1. Jennifer @ Bleu PomNovember 28, 2011 at 12:32 AM

    I love Kilz!

    This seriously turned out gorgeous. I bet everyone at church will love them!! If not, they have a good home with you! So maybe we should hope they don't like them?! ;o)

    Found you via link party.

    http://justagurlintheworld.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-make-custom-wall-art.html

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  2. Cottage and BroomeNovember 28, 2011 at 4:47 AM

    They came out great, I am sure they will be a hit! Laura

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  3. WendyNovember 28, 2011 at 5:48 AM

    Using the old hymnals makes these ornaments especially meaningful. Nice job!

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  4. Jane@Cottage at the CrossroadsNovember 28, 2011 at 4:05 PM

    The ornaments are just beautiful! I'm glad to know that Kilz works on plastic. I recently spray painted some plastic chargers. BIG mistake!!!

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  5. UnknownNovember 28, 2011 at 4:14 PM

    I think these are really cute. I've been wanting to do something similar. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. Betsy@My Salvaged TreasuresNovember 28, 2011 at 4:35 PM

    Thanks for the warning:-) Kilz is the best stuff, isn't it? I'll never forget (many moons ago) the first time I used spray paint on a styrofoam Christmas tree. I watch it disintegrate before my eyes. Live and learn. Your ornaments turned out lovely in the end.

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  7. Jo @ Let's Face the MusicNovember 28, 2011 at 5:49 PM

    I love to learn from your mistake (usually I'm busy making plenty of my own). The ornaments are excellent: perfect for Christmas, perfect for church. I may use the music theme for our Christmas this year. Thanks for the inspiration. Jo @ Let's Face the Music

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  8. Irma@CosasBellasNovember 28, 2011 at 10:24 PM

    Your hard work and perseverance paid of Robin.
    The ornaments are absolutely gorgeous! And there's no better feeling than having re-purposed.

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  9. Lauren @ My Wonderfully MadeNovember 29, 2011 at 7:00 AM

    LOL - glad you kept going! There's always a product out there to solve our craft problems! Love what you did with these!

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  10. Kati @ Housewife_SwaggerNovember 29, 2011 at 10:03 AM

    so glad you continued to work on it!! They look great!

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  11. Chubby ChiequeNovember 29, 2011 at 3:24 PM

    Absolutely, good idea to reuse old things.

    Very smart! Thank you so much for sharing your inspiration.

    Greetings from chilly Stockholm,
    /chie

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  12. JudyNovember 29, 2011 at 7:35 PM

    You KNOW I'm loving those sheet music ornaments. I laughed when I saw your purple ornaments turned white (before Kilz) because the same thing happened to me last summer when I sprayed an old gazing ball...I was trying to make it look like mercury glass but it just looked like cheap aluminum! I had to go a different route too.

    Judy

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  13. UnknownNovember 30, 2011 at 7:53 PM

    The end results...amazing...great job and worth all the errors..
    Have a fun week...
    ~Shirley

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  14. DoneneNovember 30, 2011 at 10:36 PM

    Love the music paper on them! They are great!

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  15. very merry vintage styleDecember 6, 2011 at 4:34 PM

    The hymns are a perfect addition to the church tree. Loved hearing about your creative process. Thanks so much for linking up to Share the Love Wednesday!
    Mary

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  16. DiannDecember 7, 2011 at 1:40 PM

    Love it! And now I gotta feature it on this week's TTF party! Thank you for joining TTF and have a great day!

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