Week 27: Spray-Painting Ugly Animals

I have these wonderful friends. Who both have birthdays in July.  They also are both obsessed with a blog called Young House Love. And they force me to be obsessed also.  (Ok ok... no body is forcing anything on me.)  This blog features a super crafty couple, and all of the home improvement projects they tackle themselves.  The wife in this bloggy-duo is particularly obsessed with ceramic animals, and spray painting them bold colors. Like this aubergine rooster, this white frog, and these yellow horse heads.

So for their birthday this year Alan and I hunted through antique shops (my FAVORITE thing) for some animals that they might love. 

We chose these wise and studious owls for her...

And this playful, and dander-free dog for him...

And we picked up some super thrifty spray-paint at ReStore, (a Habitat for Humanity store).

Not only were the animals pretty ugly, but they were also quite dirty. Check out that dirty-birdy-booty.  Then try to say it ten times fast. 

I started with light layers of paint. 

It was difficult to spray so lightly, but according to YHL, a heavy layer leads to puddling and other gross things. 

But after multiple light layers, the owls turned out adorable...

And this glossy, blue dog looks so proud of his new coat. 

Happy birthdays D and B! Can't wait to see you!