Pinterest DIY Fail

Well it was bound to happen. I attempted another DIY project inspired by Pinterest and it was a flop. I saw these cute painted vases and jars on Pinterest a few months ago, and after my success with the twine wrapped vases I was was keen for more cute vases. And I had heaps of paint left in the sample pots from the previous DIY project.

So I gathered together a few vessels of varying sizes - a vegemite jar, a pasta sauce jar, a wine bottle. And I set to work swirling paint around in the jars and setting them to rest. They looked spectacular.



 

However, this is when I encountered my first problem - 2 days later the jars were still wet. And the paint appeared to be sliding down the glass and leaving large streaks. So I re-swirled and set them to dry again. 

Fast forward 2 days - same problem. So I examined the "pins" which had inspired me and read a little more about what others had done. The first set of instructions - which I had followed suggested it was as easy as "pouring a dollop of paint into the bottle gradually rotate/swirl the paint inside until the paint coats the entire interior. Some may need two coats. Dry on a damp or plastic dropsheet. And voila! "

This however was not the consensus with the other pins. There were suggestions of surface conditioner, draining the vases upside-down on damp paper towel for a few hours before turning them on their sides to dry for 48 hours. Well it was too late for surface conditioner but I did drain the vases upside down and then turn them onto their sides to dry. This method at least got the paint to dry, but it did not solve my problem of streaks.

None-the-less it was time for my sister's baby shower and I wanted to use the jars as vases. They looked cute, even with the streaks. But after the shower had finished I ran into my final problem. The paint had bubbled off the glass completely and was floating in the water. The flowers were looking a little worse for wear. Thats when I read the final piece of advise from the "pins" I had seen on Pinterest. "Remember these are only for DECOR. Don't drink out of them, heck... I wouldn't even put water in mine. I'm simply sitting them on the shelf."



But it was not a complete failure. The vases did look cute for the baby shower even if I had to throw them out at the end. They attracted a few comments and praise - though the twine-wrapped-vases were the real stars. 





[I have to say that I clearly didn't take any photos which showed up the streaks and flaws in the little jar-vases - they still look pretty cute in all these photos.]

What DIY failures have you encountered?

One Persons Trash...

...Is Another Persons Treasure!

Whilst I recently read an article about the "crazy phenomenon [that]... devoted mothers get on Pinterest" and how really all our children want is for us to be present and loving. I totally agree.

But I also know I am a Pinterest-addict. And every now and then I find something amongst the 1000's of items I "pin" which gives me an activity to share with my family. So yes, once again Pinterest has given me craft-inspiration. Of course, I saw this idea months ago, but I finally took action a few weeks ago and tackled this project. All that I needed was some empty bottles, kitchen string, PVC glue, and some sample pots of paint which I picked up at the Hardware. The best part of the project, was having my little helper paint the bottles!

I used a wine bottle, a beer bottle and an olive oil bottle so that I had "vases" of varying sizes and shapes. And I chose to paint them in 3 different colours as I was thinking about using them for my sister's baby sprinkle next month.

It was a quick and easy project (though truthfully I stretched it out over a number of weeks, as I took awhile to visit the hardware and then actually paint the vases). The flowers I bought to display in the vases when they were completed are cheap carnations - a flower I usually ignore and avoid, but once again Pinterest showed me they are an often overlooked flower (and so cheap!).

What do you think about the role social-media, such as Pinterest, play in our roles as Mothers? Do they make us feel inadequate because we aren't living up to the ideals we see there? Or are you a fan/addict?





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