How to Spray Paint a Thrifted Owl Figurine

So I met this little guy in a Goodwill in East Tennessee over Christmas. (You may remember him from my Instagram picture “Mr. Hoo” post a few days ago.) Not only had he been cast off once–but twice. He was sitting behind the check-out counter, where somebody had rejected him yet again.

Poor little sad owl.

I had been getting something else at the checkout counter, but I asked the sales lady about him and if he was for sale or was being processed and she told me somebody had decided against buying him, so yes, he was still for sale. I scooped him up for A DOLLAH.

He came home with me, and this weekend I gave him a little owly makeover and thought I’d show you how to do the same thing to a thrift store owl. Funny how things that were all the rage in the 1970s can come back reincarnated as hip 2012 tchotchkes!

Here’s what you need:

Here’s what you do:

1. Make sure your temperature is acceptable for spraying. I think I just barely cheated on this one. The bottle said to use at 65 degrees Fahrenheit or above. I’m pretty sure by the time I got to spraying him over the weekend that the temperature was barely that. Our mild Tennessee weather has been weird lately, and it felt more like spring, so I thought I’d risk it.
2. Take the owl figurine, cardboard, and spray paint outside. Safety first! You don’t want to be breathing those paint fumes.
3. Place your owl on the cardboard box (or newspaper) to protect your grass or other ground surface.
4. Shake the spray can thoroughly. My can recommended 2 minutes.
5. Spray 8-10 inches away from your owl, in even strokes. Don’t worry if it isn’t 100% covered on the first go-round. It took me two heavy coats.
6. Let your owl dry between coats. My can said I could recoat after just a few minutes and he’d be touch-dry in 40, so I gave him 45 minutes after each coat before handling it again, just to be safe. I used my microwave timer to let me know when to go outside and spray again.
7. After two even coats, your owl should be ready to go!
8. Let him dry for 45-60 minutes before handling. I made the mistake of getting a smudge on his belly. I rubbed it down with some water on my finger and it seemed to go mostly away. It was like I had just gotten a manicure and then smudged a finger on the way out the door. So close, and so frustrating!
9. Ta-da! You have a rejuvenated owl figurine to display.

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I love my little guy. He’s so darn cute. I used glossy white Valspar spray paint on him and I’m pleased with the result.

Side note: the entire time I was working on this project, Daniel and I kept making “rotate your owl” references. I couldn’t help it. So, hey, I hope this little how-to post helps you spraaaaay-paint / spray-paint your owl /spray-paint your owl for sciiiiennnce!

But back to the “how-to” part … I learned a few things during this his transformation.

First, take the wind into account when you decide where to paint. I had to hold down the box with a heavy object while he dried, so the cardboard wouldn’t be lifted up by the wind and topple him over. I also had to pick out a couple of dry pine needles the wind had blown on him while he dried. Second, after he was done, I read that I probably should have coated him with a primer spray first. Oops! We’ll see how his paint holds up on his ceramic base. I suspect he was one of those homemade ceramic pieces that were so popular years ago. Or he could be younger than 30-something. Who knows. All I know is he’s a handsome little devil now.

Happy Monday!

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