I found this cute guy at HomeGoods for $12, but he was not so cute when I found him. I quickly dubbed him Mr. Fugly. This poor guy was some sort of brown stone/ceramic with a yucky green glaze. But I saw past his flaws to what he could be. I thought to myself, “nothing a little spray paint can’t fix.” His texture and diamond pattern were interesting. His round, rotund shape was appealing.
I coated this guy with at least six coats of white gloss spray paint. I used a lot of coats because his texture was difficult to cover and I wanted him to be a crisp white. Lots of thin coats also helps avoid drips. Note: The drips you do see on him, like around his eyes, was actually part of the original glaze, not my paint job.
With so many different angles, I tipped this guy on his head after the first three coats. On the third upright coat I got the top of his head really good. Then when he was upside down I did the last three coats. This helped get maximum even coverage from all angles. This way if I perched him on a high shelf you wouldn’t see a still fugly underbelly. Thankfully I did this, because I of course perched him up high on the built-ins in our family room.
He turned out so cute! Ever since I saw these cute owls at West Elm, I have been a little obsessed with having a white ceramic owl of my own. Unfortunately the owls from West Elm were too small for me. Their largest owl is just over 9 inches high and six inches wide. I knew I could find a larger owl and make it work. My HomeGoods find is about 12″ all-around. I much prefer the round, plump look for optimal owl cuteness.
Springtime is great for finding these garden statues to transform into home decor. Sometimes you just have to look past the color and trust me…nothing a little spray paint can’t fix. Mr. Fugly proved me right. Crisp gloss white just seems to be the ultimate for transformations. It gives whatever you are painting an immediate, fresh facelift. And white pretty much fits in any home decor. White will never go out of style.
I linked to this post on these great blogs:
That turned out very cute. So Creative!
this is sooo cute! i LOVE it in glossy white!
This is so cute! I have one almost exactly like it, but it has little vent type holes in it to put a candle behind it. I LOVE yours, darling idea to paint it white! Found ya from Dittle Dattle, have a happy Monday!
Love this idea. Would be fab if you’d consider linking up to my 20 minute tuesday party!
It’s for ideas just like this. Quick and inexpensive yet-amazing!
It starts tonight at 730CT.
Thanks ;)
Tina
http://www.sweetfloweret.com
i love him! owls are one of my faves! spray paint can fix anything, can’t it? i would love it if you would link this up to my tip-toe thru tuesday party!
http://crayonfreckles.blogspot.com/2011/06/tip-toe-thru-tuesday-4.html
I love him. You make me want to go out and find something fugly to spray white :)
Lainie, Do it! Almost anything looks better in glossy white :)
LOVE this!!! I actually just purchased some fugly owls from and estate sale and a clearance rack with the intention of painting them off white and antique glazing…may have to change to white after seeing this! Thanks for the inspiration!
This morning I curated a “DIY Ceramic Animal Hall of Fame” collection (obviously, just my humble opinions) and this made the list! Obviously, not everything on the list is very “ceramic-y” but they are all adorable. This owl is one of my favs, too – it ended up looking so perfectly West Elm! The post is here: http://paintingsunny.com/2013/06/21/diy-ceramic-animal-hall-of-fame/
Thank you go including my owl. Great roundup!