{Faux Metal Figures} i try diy

Today’s DIY takes us way, way back to the good ‘ole days where the biggest stress in life was deciding what toy to bring with you on a long car ride.

Pinterest is FLOODED with this veryyyyy easy dIY project, so I thought I’d give it a shot. This is prefect if you enjoy adding quirky elements to your home decor. Ideal for bookshelves or accent pieces on coffee tables. The best part is that your list of materials is SO small, its almost a joke: spray paint, toys & time.

Since I don’t have small siblings or children, I picked up some toys at Goodwill. Drawn to their fun shapes and sizes, I ended up with a plastic horse and a rubber dinosaur. Both pretty classic if you ask me! Total cost: $4

I chose the metallic route for this particular project but I see how this could also work well in solid white or even a bright color like neon pink and orange.

Alright let’s get started…

The original toys were surprisingly in pretty good condition. I would even go ahead and say the horse would look great as a shelf accent in its original state above. But that would kind of kiiiind of ruin the point of this entire project so on with the paint!

I already had the silver metallic paint in my craft supply collection but I found the gold metallic at Michaels, along with the Mod Podge acrylic sealer… which I also needed for a future I TRY DIY post 😉

You don’t NEED the acrylic sealer for this, but it adds a nice finish and works best if you plan on displaying your pieces outside as it makes them waterproof.

I laid out some scrap paper outside (please don’t spray paint indoors) and covered the entire figure with one coat. Let dry, another coat, let dry, and rinse and repeat a few more times until I was happy with the coverage and intensity of the paint.