paint

Creepy Guy by the Water Cooler

~ joelshaw@sbcglobal.net ~ 1 Comment

You know that creepy guy at work that is always hanging out by the water cooler? Well, I have been working from home quite a bit, and I have a water cooler. By default, that made me the creepy guy by the water cooler. Notice, I said “made” and not “makes”. I have the problem solved! Now there is the pictured creepster to take my place.

I also always wanted an aquarium. However, I didn’t want to worry about keeping up with it, figuring out what kinds of fish get along, deciding on salt water vs fresh water… you get the point. Now there is no need. I have a maintenance free aquarium!

All joking aside, it is always fun to play around with paint. What started as a face drawn with a Sharpie turned into various attempts with paint. If you want to play around with this, I have a few suggestions:

  • Roughen the surface: the aquarium jug images rubbed off fairly easily when transported for refill, so I lightly sanded next jug and it was much more durable.
  • Acrylic paint seems to work fine. I used the cheap acrylic paint from Wal-Mart.
  • If you are going to look through the jug at the painted images, be sure to think it out and paint in reverse order. For instance, paint the things that will be in the foreground before the things in the background.
  • On the fish tank, my wonderful wife had the idea of drawing the outline of everything in black and then filling in the color. I think it turned out great that way. You don’t even have to be careful to keep inside of the outlines because you won’t be able to see it!

This wasn’t the most intricate DIY project in the world, but I thought it was fun and added some color to the pantry. I can’t wait until I break one of these jugs so we can paint another!

If you try it, you can celebrate with some good old fashioned fire water when you finish!

Hot Paint On a Cool Chair

~ joelshaw@sbcglobal.net ~ Leave a comment

After one of my frequent plunges to the depths of the the internet, I returned with a neat idea. It began with the plan to update an outdated couch that my friend (now wife) gave me from her church. While it ended with no changes to that couch, the plunge down that particular rabbit hole yielded a fun project:

  • Started searching for appropriate fabrics to reupholster the couch.
  • Found out that I can have custom fabric printed with my face on it!!!
  • I didn’t want to wait for custom fabric, so I researched the types of ink that they used.
  • Found out fabric paint exists.
  • Decided the fabric paint is too expensive for the size of project I wanted to do.
  • Found something called Textile Medium that changes acrylic paint into fabric paint.
  • Calculated the number of little acrylic paint containers needed for the size of my project and got frustrated.
  • Discovered Latex paint is acrylic paint.
  • Lost interest in the couch and decided I wanted a wing back chair with flames.
  • Purchased a wing back chair (my mom actually got it from Goodwill).
  • Purchased Latex Paint and Textile Medium.
  • “Commissioned” my mother and beautiful wife to paint the chair (my artistic talents are somewhat lacking).
  • Enjoyed my Flaming Chair!!!

I was kind of surprised with how well the chair turned out, so I want to quickly post some things I learned. It might help the next person with some project, but it will definitely help me remember when I will get back to that couch someday.

  1. I am not sure the Textile Medium is necessary. We used it on parts of the chair but not other parts. Next time, I probably won’t mess with it.
  2. The fabric should be lightly sanded with fine grit sandpaper before painting and between coats to improve pliability and adherence.
  3. Latex paint from the hardware store seems to work fine.
  4. Plan on multiple coats.
  5. Plan on it taking a LONG time to dry.
  6. Let it dry between coats as much as your patience will allow.
  7. The final surface of this project is not what I would call “plush” or “soft”. It is not advisable to scrape newborns against the painted fabric surface.
  8. Sanding at the end might offer a softer feel, but it also might dull the colors and require another thin coat to bring them back. Some experimentation is in order.
  9. Due to the non-plush texture of the final product, I am looking at alternate options for my Flaming Underwear project.

As always, please comment if you have any ideas or suggestions. I am always anxious to learn from the experience and ideas of others.