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home decor 2

Not my thing

So I’ve had these three green baskets since Kenny and I got married. Lately I’ve been using them for one of my “house stations” along with a couple of other black baskets I have. It was bugging me that the baskets were different colors and not looking cohesive so I thought to myself… “hmmm — I’ll just spray paint the green baskets black. A project. Fun! I’ve always wanted to do a little spray painting.”

Three weeks later. 4 trips to the paint store. More time wasted than I actually want to admit. Two more smaller baskets thrown in for good measure. One trashed basket I ran over with my car. One trashed garage floor. One annoyed husband. And an ever so lovely set of black fingernails.

Yeah… don’t think spray painting is my thing. Especially spray painting baskets. Too many nooks and crannies for my perfectionist nature to handle.

Finally finished them today and then spent my precious “baby is napping” time mopping the garage floor.

Next time I’ll do what I usually do. I’ll do what I’m good at.

Next time I’ll shop for new baskets.
xoxo, Erin
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23 thoughts on “Not my thing

  1. That’s too funny Erin! I had a feeling how this post was going to end :) I feel the same way about lots of things, mostly crafty stuff. Sometimes it’s so worth the money to just go buy the darn thing !!

    Can’t help but notice how clean that garage is!

  2. HILARIOUS!!! You didn’t tell me you ran one over with your car!!!!!!! Oh my gosh Erin, what were you thinking trying to paint these things!!!???

    I can only imagine what Carly must be thinking/saying right now…..

    But since I’m your friend I should try to point out the positive….

    Um…your garage floor is as clean?

    And oh yes…the baskets look great!

  3. Oh, no! You picked something really hard for your first spray painting project. Let me let you in on a secret that is coming to you too late: surgical gloves. You know the latex gloves that the doctor always puts on? You can buy boxes of them at the pharmacy. They are the best things to wear for messy projects….including touching raw meat. I always throw on my surgical gloves when I’m cooking raw meat, which my husband thinks is hilarious.

  4. Erin..I had the exact same thing happen with some bamboo patio chairs I painted. I spent so much time and money and had the black fingernails AND most likely black lungs, and a couple months later the paint looked all cheapy and gross anyways. Should have just tossed those chairs and did the same thing you said…WENT SHOPPING.

  5. This reminded me why I always have “ideas” for projects and then never go through with them. They turn out so easy. Right now the project is paint the moldings in the upstairs… but that sounds like alot of precious nap time wasted on like… labor.

  6. That’s so funny- everywhere you read about all these crafty people just spray painting things. Yea, I tried it too, not as easy as it looks. I don’t think I will be doing much of it in the future either. So much easier to buy new.

  7. Wow, I am surprised you found something craft like that you weren’t loving. They did turn out cute, but ya, I agree after my DI project of Madi’s bed, I realized- spray painting is a lot harder than it looks!!!

  8. LOL!!! I had a terrible time when I decided to spray paint the girls bunk bed ladder. It looked so easy. WHAT A MESS!
    The baskets look good though. Can’t say the same for the girls ladder.

  9. Ruth stole my tip…I use surgical gloves for raw meat…and painting. You can buy them pretty cheap at costco and they say safe for food prep right on them.

  10. Cute post Erin. I too learned the hard way that painting baskets is no easy task!

    However, I recently painted a frame and an easel to put a picture frame on and that was rather simple! No crazy grooves and missed spots. And I used an off white paint, so no black nails. :)

    Bummer to spend your baby is napping time mopping! Now you know.

    PS- loved your comment on my blog. wouldn’t that just be hilarious if we bumped into each other in a Target one day?!

  11. :-))
    Erin, very funny, as usual!
    Everybody should do only what they are good at. You just learned you are not good at painting baskets. Or you are good (baskets look great), but the effort is not worthy.
    In our house my husband tries to be crafty (and sometimes he’s not). Once, he started to brick our balcony. I think he was putting 5-6 bricks / day! Christmas was coming and the wall was not finished. Finally I’ve convinced him it was time to pay somebody to finish.
    That’s what happens when you are trying to steal somebody’s job :-)

  12. This is classic! I am the same way! I read how people are so crafty and can transform anything with a can of paint. That is SOOO not me!! However, the baskets look great!

  13. This is exactly how all my spray painting projects turn out. Why can’t they just turn out so pretty like Becky Higgin’s projects? ;) I always end up covered in spray paint, and my hubby takes over half way through and complains the whole time.

    Practice makes perfect, maybe?

    Have a great, great weekend!

  14. Erin,
    It’s 3 in the morning and I can’t sleep. Just got back from Israel and I’m not quite adjusted to the time…. Trip was amazing!!
    I thought I’d come in and get caught up on your blog. I SO loved the post about your girls. That was precious. And by the way, you look AWESOME. Side view or not, you look so skinny. Way to go Erin. Those pics. of Kole by the pumpkins are So stinkin cute too. Fancy Smanshy dinner??? This is a good thing YES? I am counting down the days till Thanksgiving. Your house is so over the top organized Erin. You amaze me. By the way, do you have Kenny’s work shirts professionally cleaned or do you scrub out the collars? If so, what cleaner do you use, mine works great but the edges are starting to fray from all the scrubbing. Do you have any secrets in this department? I love your new hair cut, super cute. Love you!

  15. HA HA! Hilarious and so true. I told Matt that I’m just going to carefully arrange some tape on my fingers and hopefully I’ll get a decent manicure while I’m spraying my projects.

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