Paint Pointers
Why do you end up with more paint on yourself than you do on the brush or your projects? Throughout my nearly 50 years of life, that always seems to be the case. Today was no exception.
My goal was to paint the checkerboard pieces and my mother's address plaque. I achieved that, but it took longer than it should have and was messier than it should have been.
First, the leftover paint I took from my mother's house turned out to be useless. The painter had not secured the lid well (thank goodness it didn't come open in my car trunk!), so there was a lot of dirt and residue floating in there. I was fresh out of paint strainers, so I ended up using some leftover paint we had here. It won't match her siding, but it should look ok.
Then I began painting the checkerboard pieces. I had leftover black paint here to use for half of them, but I had to buy a small can of red from Home Depot. I thought I would roll the paint on both colors for speed and ease, but that didn't work because I only had one roller handle to fit the small covers. And I didn't want to change covers mid-stream because I needed to complete two coats. So I used a small paint brush for the black and the roller for the red.
I almost forgot that I needed to paint the fat dowel, from which the checkers themselves will be sliced. I had originally planned to drill a hole in one end and screw a hook there so I could hang the dowel and paint it completely around in one step. But I realized that I would end up with a hole in two of the checkers, so I dropped that idea.
I had painted one long black stripe on half of the dowel when I realized that this, too, wasn't a good idea. If I painted the whole piece black, how would I be able to mark and see my cutting measurements? So I decided to cut the dowels first, then spray paint the checkers. Now that means I have to buy red spray paint to (hopefully) match the can of red I used for the board.
The pieces are probably dry by now, and I really should go back in the garage to glue them so they can set overnight. I might even be able to put the second coat of black on the routed edge of the address plaque. That is, if I can get up the energy to move. The youth group just left, and I'm rather enjoying the quiet house. A crackling fire is in the fireplace, my husband is grilling salmon, and I hear Barry Manilow singing Christmas tunes on the stereo. It's hard to compete against all that!
My goal was to paint the checkerboard pieces and my mother's address plaque. I achieved that, but it took longer than it should have and was messier than it should have been.
First, the leftover paint I took from my mother's house turned out to be useless. The painter had not secured the lid well (thank goodness it didn't come open in my car trunk!), so there was a lot of dirt and residue floating in there. I was fresh out of paint strainers, so I ended up using some leftover paint we had here. It won't match her siding, but it should look ok.
Then I began painting the checkerboard pieces. I had leftover black paint here to use for half of them, but I had to buy a small can of red from Home Depot. I thought I would roll the paint on both colors for speed and ease, but that didn't work because I only had one roller handle to fit the small covers. And I didn't want to change covers mid-stream because I needed to complete two coats. So I used a small paint brush for the black and the roller for the red.
I almost forgot that I needed to paint the fat dowel, from which the checkers themselves will be sliced. I had originally planned to drill a hole in one end and screw a hook there so I could hang the dowel and paint it completely around in one step. But I realized that I would end up with a hole in two of the checkers, so I dropped that idea.
I had painted one long black stripe on half of the dowel when I realized that this, too, wasn't a good idea. If I painted the whole piece black, how would I be able to mark and see my cutting measurements? So I decided to cut the dowels first, then spray paint the checkers. Now that means I have to buy red spray paint to (hopefully) match the can of red I used for the board.
The pieces are probably dry by now, and I really should go back in the garage to glue them so they can set overnight. I might even be able to put the second coat of black on the routed edge of the address plaque. That is, if I can get up the energy to move. The youth group just left, and I'm rather enjoying the quiet house. A crackling fire is in the fireplace, my husband is grilling salmon, and I hear Barry Manilow singing Christmas tunes on the stereo. It's hard to compete against all that!
posted by Tif at 6:30 PM
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