You made over a Bucket?

Yep. I sure did.

Remember this guy from a few weeks ago? This is how I found him out thrifting. Dirty, beat up, and a bad sponge paint job. He was so in need of some love. 

I started by cleaning the bucket really well. I used a scrub brush to get all the mud off first. Washed with a good cleaner, rinsed really well, and let dry in the sun. 

I then tried a tiny bit of stripper to take the paint off. Just to see if I could get it back to the galvanized metal. That was a fail, that paint was really on there. Now what?

Move on to Plan B.

One can of gray spray primer later. I wanted to make sure the green and gold sponge paint was covered before I moved on. I had planned on using a dark gray hammered spray paint, but I was loving the gray primer color. It is very similar to a galvanized metal color, the color this bucket should have always been.

But gray primer is a bit flat and boring. So, I decided I would paint stripes on the raised and recessed bands already on the bucket.

Using painters tape I taped off the raised stripe first. Pressing down the edges really well.

I used a craft paint brush and paint I already had on hand.

Two coats of paint. I love this blue, it has a bit of gray in it.

Took the tape off, and had nice clean lines. Always take the tape off while paint is still wet if you can, it helps make sure there is no peeling up of the base paint. I then let the paint dry overnight. For the recessed stripe, the tape will have to go over the raised stripe.

 Again I made sure to press down the edges really well. But if you look at the tape for the bottom of the stripe, it is a bit loose. I didn’t want to press the tape too hard on the already painted raised stripe. Just in case it took any of the paint off.

Again craft paint and brush. Two coats of a creamy white.

 I really love how well these stripes turned out. Crisp, clean lines. 

The stripes are a bit preppy, but classic.

A close up of the raised and recessed stripes of the bucket. I love taking a little detail like this and making it special.

Here it is after two coats of an outdoor sealer. I love how a sealer can darken colors, and add a bit of shine too. Isn’t he handsome?

This is where the bucket now lives. It houses the garden hose on the front of the house.

A lot of work to make over a bucket? Yes and no. I took something that was ugly and gave it a new life. I worked on it over two days, while working on other projects as well. 

I invested very little money into this project. I paid $2 for the bucket, $3.50 for a can of primer, I had the craft paint, and used up a half can of sealer leftover from another project. So, maybe $7 total.

What do you think about my Bucket make over?

Worth the time and money?