Fall Festival – Week #1

I’m opening The DIY Show Off Fall Festival tonight. I hope you’ll join me and that I’m not the only one! I’ll list my 2 previous projects to use as an example.

Edit: We interrupt this blog post for a very important message. For MORE links to awesome blog parties see the end of this post. Now back to the Fall Festival:

What is it?

  • A blog party on Mondays for Sept., Oct. & Nov.
  • Autumn/Fall inspired DIY projects

How can I join?

  • Create a blog post about an Autumn/Fall project that you’ve done
  • Add your blog name and project to Mcklinky (example: The DIY Show off – House # Pumpkins)
  • Type in the permalink address, not your basic blog address. A permalink is the address that links directly to your specific post. (example: http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/2009/08/house-number-pumpkins)

Other info:

  • This is my first party so I’m new to Mcklinky and giving instructions so if you experience any problems – please let me know.
  • I’ll be posting The DIY Show Off Fall Festival on Mondays and try to start the party sometime on the prior Sunday evening.
  • Although a tutorial is helpful, it’s not required. Anything autumn related and DIY is permitted.
  • If you’ve been inspired by something you see here – show us what you did too!
  • Please use The DIY Show Off Fall Festival button and link back to The DIY Show Off Fall Festival post that you’re participating in. 🙂
  • This week’s link to cut/paste is: http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/2009/09/week-1-diy-show-off-fall-festival.html
  • Enjoy and be inspired!

Here is my project:

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Faux Mercury Glass Pumpkins

I love these mercury glass pumpkins from Pottery Barn.
But….

  1. On back order
  2. $24 for one 6″ pumpkin
  3. Mr. DIY + glass = “oops” & sad me
Pottery Barn image

So, I made my own with more of this type of mercury-glass look:

Ballard Design image

Materials:

  • 1 funkin (faux pumpkin). I bought 3 different sized white ones at Michaels with a 40% off coupon for the large one. The orange would be okay too. Gourds would be a fun twist.
  • 1 can of Metallic Finish spray paint (Mine was from WalMart – Rust-oleum Bright Coat/silver). It takes way less than a full can.
  • 1 nearly empty can of Rust-oleum Universal Satin in Brown Hammered (or see instructions for another option).

Tutorial:

I sprayed my pumpins with the silver paint. Spray generously. If there are drips, they’re unseen and towards the bottom.

Do not let silver dry – go directly to next step. My can of metallic brown was nearly empty, so it was sputtering which was perfect. I spritzed “spots” on top of the generous wet silver paint. So, both paints sort of blended. Let dry. All done! (Email me pictures! I’d love to do a slide show!)

(Note: I also tried white paint instead of the brown hammered, but it didn’t give me enough contrast or the look that I wanted. If you can’t “spritz/sputter” the brown…maybe try splattering with a toothbrush and metallic brown craft paint. You will have tons of paint so experiment to see what works best to achieve the look you like).

End Result:

I love my shiny faux mercury glass pumpkins. They change in different lighting. It’s so easy! Let me know if you give it a shot! I’d love to see how yours turned out!









What do you think?

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Hopefully you had a chance to DIY something fun this weekend! Please join me Mondays!

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