What a Hoot

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Last month, I went to NYC  to visit my sister-in-law and drag her around antiquing/thrifting.  It was a learning process, so I didn't come home with the thrifted gold I was hoping, but I did get a few neat items.  One item that I adopted is this cute little owl votive holder.

I left him untouched by my DIY wand for a few weeks, but after much internal debate, I decided he needed bit of pizzazz.  Whenever I looked at him, I couldn't help thinking of these guys from West Elm.  (I may be irrationally drawn to owls lately, seems to be a common ailment though...)

Now I obviously couldn't turn him into mercury glass, but I started experimenting.  I had been wanting to try silver leaf for a while, so that's what I did.  My little orangey-brown owl got a coat of spray adhesive then I used a paint brush to apply the silver leaf.  It was kind of a big mess, so I'm glad I did it outside.  I was on the fence if the finish was worth the time and mess, and I may have ruined the finish a bit when I finished him with a matte finishing spray (live and learn).  He sort of looks like I spray painted him silver, though.

Despite my incompetence with silver leaf, I still like the outcome- he's fancy.

Isn't he snazzy?  I think so.

Even though he came out different than planned, I'm really glad he's not orangey-brown anymore.  I'm not giving up on silver leaf altogether, but I think next time needs to be more strategic and researched for the best techniques.

Have you had any projects lately that didn't quite end up as planned but still had a positive outcome?  Do you have any silver leaf tips?