Junk to Gems - A Valentine Surprise

Thanks for stopping by today! Welcome to the my very first "Junk to Gems". I am really excited about making "J to G" a weekly segment. Many of my new friends in "Bloggyville" will agree that one of the greatest pleasures is when you can find something ugly, broken and dirty and pick it up, clean it up, repair the brokenness and restore its original beauty. That's kind of what God does for us! :) Last week I was walking between a couple of houses in my neighborhood and suddenly spied an object of interest laying on top of a pile of brush and yard clippings. I had been out taking photos for a future blog so I had my "blog-cam" handy. What I found was a poor, dirty, tired and worn Cherub who had seen much better days.

Upon a closer inspection I found that it was a garden planter. It had been weathered to say the least. It was covered in dirt and mildew. The rim around the planter was chipped and pitted. Hey, other than that, it didn't look to bad. LOL!

So I quickly shot a couple of pictures thinking, "This might make a Junk to Gem project in the New Year". So trying to pick it up without touching anything to slimy - Ooo yuck - I carried it inside and went to work. The first order of business was to kill that mildew! So out comes my trusted friend - CLOROX - after spraying down the planter (thanks, honey) with a solution of bleach and water, I let it set overnight to give the solution time to kill whatever was lurking on the surface.

The next morning, I was ready to wash and clean it up with laundry soap and warm water. After allowing the planter to air dry for several hours, I was set to try my hand at restoring it's beauty. At first I thought about spray painting the entire planter gold but after some consideration I decided to use a pewter paint instead. It took roughly three coats of paint for adequate coverage but 1 can of spray paint was more than enough.

After the pewter paint dried, I went back with a small hobby-sized paint brush and painted the hair and drape metallic gold. I wanted just enough gold accent so that where ever I decided to use it, it would blend with other accents.

My next task was deciding what to do with the planter. At first I thought about using it as a candle holder, but because the planter had been weathered and pitted, a candle would not sit level. So my next option was to fill the recess with textured orbs as a decorative touch. Didn't like that either. There just wasn't enough color. So finally I pulled out materials to design a floral arrangement with in the planter. Since it's still winter, I wasn't ready for a spring floral mix so I opted for English Ivy and Red Roses with a few green and white pepper-berry floral picks. To finish the look, I used some twigs I had spray painted white last year at Christmas and just tucked a few in randomly.

I am pretty happy with the way this project turned out. Once I had completed the arrangement I began to think of what possibilities were available to use this little guy in my winter decor. It suddenly hit me that he would be the perfect centerpiece for my Valentine's table. Without wasting a minute, I began pulling dishes and linens out of storage and contemplating a Valentine Dinner Tablescape. I'll share just a peek today but if you want to see the final table, you will have to visit again next Tuesday!

Other than a can of spray paint and my time, this project cost virtually nothing and the result is a beautiful centerpiece that can be used many times over. Tomorrow I plan to post some tips and tricks for Magnificent Mantles. I hope you will stop by.