Friday, August 20, 2010

No. 438

I love anything with numbers and letters!

Today I was thinking about what to do with a few pieces I got at different sales in the last few weeks, two galvanized buckets and a nice big galvanized tub. They were in good shape, but not too pretty or interesting on their own.






I painted the outside of them in a soft blue from Sherwin Williams called Blue Heron. I did not paint the handles or the top rim. Next up, some easy stenciling. I wanted to play with No. 438, the address of the house for our upcoming Tag Sale.






I first traced the stencil on paper just to get an idea of spacing. When I was ready to paint, I positioned the stencil with painter's tape. I poured a bit of paint on a Chinet paper plate. They just seem to work really well for blotting. I dipped a foam stencil sponge in the paint very lightly, then dabbed the excess on the plate to blot. Less is definitely better when stenciling. Then I used a dabbing motion to apply the paint to the buckets and carefully removed the stencil. Here I used a nice dark blue. I did this project in assembly line fashion - the N on all three pieces first, then each following letter or number. By the time I got back to the first piece, the paint was dry enough that it didn't smear and I could stencil the next letter. I painted the base color the day before and the stenciling project took under an hour.






I'm going to use one of the buckets for a trash can in our bathroom.



I painted a little shelf the very same light blue color. Here's the before - yuk.





And the after - pretty. ... I think they will look great together in the bathroom.











And the tub is perfect for on the front porch, filled with flowers of course. Our Tag Sale is in September, so maybe some chrysanthemums.








I think these pieces are cool, super functional and now have some real personality!





An update since this post was originally written - My daughter Megan noticed that my blog suddenly got really popular in Utah. She did a little checking and discovered that Salt Lake City news station Studio 5 did a story on curb appeal and included a link to this post! You can read the story here. Not sure how they ever found me, but I am really flattered and very excited! If you are a reader from Utah, thanks so much for stopping by!

I'm linking to...

Make it Yours @ My Backyard Eden

mmm button All Thingz Related  http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/




UndertheTableandDreaming


Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special


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30 comments:

Amy Kinser said...

I love what you did with these buckets. Great job! I'm with you on numbers and letters. Have them everywhere.

Partying with you at Donna's. Stop by for a quick visit if you have a chance.

Cassie Bustamante said...

those buckets are adorable! they would look fab filled with towels in a bathroom, or books on a child's nightstand.
i am hoping to make it to your sale, but my husband is away that weekend so i am not sure i can. i'll try!

A Whole Lotta Magic said...

Very cute!

Sue
xo

Erin said...

Terrific, I love the buckets and think it's something I could do!

B said...

I love the numbers! Looks great.

Linda@Coastal Charm said...

Sharon,
I sooooo LOVE your buckets...they are just too stinkin cute!

Blessings,
Linda

Get Nestled In said...

I love that you used the numbered bucket as a planter on your porch! Looks so very nice!

Sassy Sites! said...

Great Job! I love your blog! Come by Sassy Sites and say HI!

Marni @ Sassy Sites
www.sassysites.blogspot.com

Jess said...

You always do the cutest/prettiest things! These look SO good. Thanks for linknig to FTF!

Unknown said...

Great project...I LOVE galvanized buckets :)

Blessings!
Gail

W-S Wanderings said...

These are fabulous! I *love* how multi-functional it becomes when you add the house number on it. The prettiest house number display I've seen :-)

annies home said...

very cool I like it a lot love the idea for the mums in the fall and the address

Its So Very Cheri said...

Love them. want them, now I've gotta make some.

Cheri

Unknown said...

WOW! love this :) come on over and link up to MMM!

cindy said...

Love. Simple and beautiful. Thanks for the stencil tute too....

Glad you could Mi4M!

Unknown said...

Here from Met Monday. Love those planter buckets!

~The Speckled Dog

Cindy (Applestone Cottage) said...

those are so charming and could be used in so many different ways!
Great Job~
Cindy

René said...

Very cute! You are right, they would look great in a bathroom.

-Rene

AliceAnderson said...

I love these! I'm going to have to see what I have in the basement that I can redo. One thing I've been doing lately is wooden signs. One side will say something like Happy Halloween and the other side will say Happy Thanksgiving. I like using both sides, that way I'm saving on wood and it's way easier to flip a sign over than go find another one. If I do these bucket designs I think I'll put something different on the back... perhaps Boo or Merry Christmas, etc. That way I can just turn them around for something a little more festive. Can't wait to see what you do with them this autumn!

raggygirlvintage said...

Wow, quite the transformation! Now you've got me thinking about painting my tubs!
Tracey

Unknown said...

They look great! I love that little shelf too! Thank you for joining us this week for Anything Related!
{Rebekah}

Megan Gunyan said...

I love it! Amazing what paint can do (to the shelf) and the buckets are so cute! You're going to have a lot of different uses for them, I'm sure!

I'm having a Target giveaway at my blog! Love it if you could stop by. alittleknickknack.blogspot.com

Amanda said...

I just wanted to stop by and let you know that I linked to this post today from the new Home & Garden channel at Craft Gossip. :) My hope is to share many of the fabulous projects I see everyday with the vast CG audience. I hope you will not only stop by and subscribe to CG, but will tell your friends about the new category! Hope you see some traffic from it!

Your feature will appear in the main Craft Gossip RSS feed, on the main home page and can be found directly here
http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/4-cool-number-projects/

If you would like a "featured by" button, you can grab one here!
http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/grab-a-craft-gossip-button/

Rosa B. said...

Love your project! I shared it on my blog... http://capturethelittlethingsathome.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-ideas-for-monday.html

Noble Vintage said...

I am such a sucker for anything with numbers or letters too! It looks great :)

Vicki said...

This looks great! So nice to meet you. I'm over from SNS. I grew up in MD. I lived outside of Annapolis for 24 years.

Vicki at Rusty Rooster Vintage

Anonymous said...

Those buckets are very cute! I especially like how you put flowers in them. That one looks great by your front door!

Funky Junk Interiors said...

VERY pretty! They look like you found them at a high end trinket place. LOVE the plant in that bucket. Gosh.. your whole entire front door area is gorgeous! Puts mine to shame... eeep.

Donna

Laura Everyday Edits said...

LOVE THE TUBS! I HAVE A FEW SITTING AROUND TOO.
WHERE DO I FIND THE BEST SELECTION OF STENCILS??

Laurel Stephens said...

Loved your house numbers planter tub so much I featured it on my blog today. Thanks for sharing it with us, and have a great weekend!