Glitter Gone Wrong

I had a vision, this fabulous idea. And...it didn't go quite as planned. Most of blogland is {conveyed as} unicorns, rainbows, and the perfect white picket place. Not so. After several hours of mental planning and problem solving I attempted to make a lovely, glitzy holiday sign for our mantel.

I started with a leftover Ikea tabletop piece. It's been in the garage for three years and I finally found a spark to upcycle.

BEFORE

I started by cleaning, lightly sanding, and spraying with Valspar Satin Spray Paint in Churchill Hotel Vanilla. I applied three coats and let it dry completely overnight. The finish was fairly bubbly and rough after drying. I sanded out all imperfections in the texture and applied one last coat. It was beautiful!!

I was excited to use a stencil to apply a fancy phrase in silver glitter. Subtle contrast, but with some glitz to add a classic holiday sparkle. I don't own a Silhouette or other equipment {although after this project, I am convinced I need one}. My bright idea was to design, print, and cut out the graphic to create my stencil. It took a lot of time, but the stencil turned out great!

Time to paint with glitter! I have heard rave reviews of the new Krylon Glitter Blast spray paint and was excited to try it. Unfortunately, Hobby Lobby did not have the 'Blast' version so I bought the other glitter spray paint from Krylon. I applied my stencil using a light adhesive spray and masked the remainder of my sign.

I applied three light coats of the glitter paint. Contrary to what I had read, the glitter spray did not do so well. It is more liquid than normal spray paint and soaked through my cardstock stencil. The residue ate away at my gorgeous sign finish leaving an ugly looking residue. Grrr!

AFTER ONE COAT

So, I am on to plan B...sadly. I am hoping to use a vinyl transfer in order to achieve my original vision. So off to go sand and refinish.

As you can see, projects don't always go as planned...just like life. But in the end there is always a solution or a way out. Hopefully I will be able to share a lovely, sparkly new sign soon!!

Don't forget to grab some great discounted Etsy goodies at Cake Ink and Annie42 !!