Spray paint. Gone. Wrong.

I was excited to try my hand at spray painting.  I searched Hobby Lobby clearance racks, Goodwill, and my previous finds to find the perfect subject to test my skills on.  Then everything went bad.

Well, not everything.  However when a can of spray paint says florescent orange, it means FLORESCENT ORANGE!

Ha, well at least I got a good laugh out of it!   So, after this mess I decided to try to right my wrong.  I used the same gripper primer I use to repaint my microwave cart.  Then, I took him outside with about 10 others things (yesterday was the first day it was/will be below 90 basically this entire summer so I tried to get as much done as possible).  I can report, he is doing much better now.  Still not sure if I really like him, I was originally looking for a smooth ceramic animal, but this guy cost a buck, so I thought I'd give it a try.  He is now sitting in our bathroom, guarding my husband's toiletries.

Doesn't he look so much happier bright and white?

Two other items that got a makeover were these two Hobby Lobby finds.  They started out a brown/goldish hue that looked too old lady for me.  I started out with a grey primer, and decided I liked the grey so I finished them off with a little acrylic top coat.

These two are sitting on a bookshelf in the bedroom which I just rearranged yesterday.  I'm thinking of dying the curtains and the walls are definitely getting painted, so they should fit in better (hopefully) soon!

A few bits of advice I have for spray painting:

• Make sure you have a wide open area to spray paint.  I really think this should only be done outdoors.
• Don't worry about covering everything the first time.  It took me about 10 very light coats to finish these guys.  However, it only took a few minutes for each coat to dry, so it went by quickly.
• Keep moving!  Don't stay on one spot.  If the paint is coming out, your arm should be moving!
• Let them dry before you bring them inside!  I had to leave after I finished up, so I brought them into our laundry room without opening the windows.  It was pretty fumy in there when we got back!
• Also, don't spray paint when it's windy.  I think a few of my pieces got a little dust blown onto them and now they're looking a little funky.