The greek urn first created and used 1000-450 BCE still can be the highlight of your home decor repetoire. Having a variety of uses from lighting and storage to the steps of the parthenon. I want to make this greek style urn an exotic highlight for my pool entry. Stick with me as I go step-by-step to turn this space from simple to lavish.
This piece was purchased in Greenwood, Indiana and had been sitting out in the "elements" for quite sometime. Lets begin with Step 1.) and clean this piece up, giving it a light sanding to remove what has built up on this piece over time. For this I used 3M- 80 grit sandpaper. You can get this relatively cheap at your local hardware store. This is good to use on this particular piece because it is made with a plastic material. You want to make sure that you are just giving it enough of a sanding to remove the build up that's on it. You don't want to sand it to where the details are being removed.
Once we have gotten the build up of debris removed from the urn, we are now ready to move on to Step 2.) adding a coat of primer. This is an important step that I see so many folks skip. Skipping this step causes multiple layers to be put on which makes the cost twice as heavy. It is also important because it seals the original material. In doing this the new paint that you put on won't soak into it. Putting primer on will allow you to get to the fun details faster. You want to make sure that you get around the entire urn and all of its hard to reach places. For this I used a relatively in-expensive spray paint primer by Gardner found at your local hardware store.
OK Step 3.) Lets put on the base color. I have chosen black as the base color for the urn itself, and grey cement for the base. I add silver later on to the rim because I want there to be another layer to the project not just a basic black. 3.1) You want to make sure that you get underneath everything. This may involve turning the urn upside down to get all of the areas. 3.2) Make sure to paint the rim in black before painting the silver on it as well. This will give us the effect of a tarnished silver look in the next step.
Now its time to Step 4.) put on the silver accents to the project. So far I have yet to pick up a paint brush. In this step I'm going to use a sponge brush that is no more than a dollar at any store that carries art supply. I take a paper plate and some silver accent paint I found for under a dollar. 4.1) Using my sponge brush long strokes from the inside of the urn to the outside edge. I want to make sure that all the way around the rim that my paint strokes are the same. As you can see the black will come through in streaks. This is the effect that we want to have giving our urn a tarnished silver look to it.
4.2) Lets take a look at the base of our urn. I have taken the same sponge brush and I want to paint the corners of the urns base making the base look a tad worn. This adds just another layer to our project. And to finalize the artistic portion of our project Step 5.) Take Rust-Oleum's clear coat and cover the entire urn to help protect our work from the "elements."
Before we give the green light on this project Step 6.) lets add some plants to our project. For this project I have chosen to use Creeping Jenny, and Angelonia. Both Plants found at a local hardware store.
Thanks for reading Point B's Blog- X Marks The Spot: Turn the Urn. I hope you enjoy the final project.
