One Girl Creative: 2014

i love spray painting. i love upcycling everyday regular household items. including an old polaroid camera that i bought for my daughter 6 years ago. because it was a Barbie® polaroid camera, she clearly grew out of it. so what to do? i tried selling it on eBay, only to have it go unsold for over a month. so i tried something else, i spray painted it yellow. well, after that, i became hooked! once i saw how cool it looked, sitting on my stack of IKEA shelves, i knew this was my "calling."

after that, i scoured the local goodwill stores and eco thrifts, looking for anything i could get my hands on and spray paint. i have even spray painted bronze candlesticks, bust statues and old retro sports trophies. then, an idea came over me. why not try to sell these upcycled products in my Etsy shop. what did i have to lose? the "overhead" cost was hardly anything since i was purchasing the original, unpainted products from secondhand stores, so it was a win-win situation.

although i haven't struck it rich (yet), i enjoy doing it. the downside is keeping these items stocked away somewhere in my home. i don't have a garage, but only a 4th bedroom that my husband uses for his computer—and our foosball table recently purchased at our local eco thrift. so for now, they're tucked underneath the unplayed foosball table in dusty old milk crates.

i have personally displayed a lot of these objects throughout my home, but have decided to sell most of them (to not junk it all up), but now i have a new hobby to collect and spray paint which keeps me busy (and keeps me away from my addiction of my favorite video game). my favorite? i love old bust statues. i take an old traditional bust statue (such as mozart, beethoven, et al) and paint them bright lime green, red, yellow or any color that suits me at that moment, and display them proudly. it really does create such an eclectic display comingled with any sort of decor. additionally, you're able to feel like you've become a part of the recycling/upcycling movement.

so why not? you should try it. go out and scour the thrift shops and see what you can find and spray paint yourself. almost anything can work if you put your imagination to use. maybe try to sell it. either way, it's kind of fun.

for me, the hard part is deciding what color to use.