Like New Flower Pots

When we bought our house last year, the previous owners left a few flower pots in the shed.  They weren't anything special.  Just those plastic pots that were meant to look like terracotta.  They were in pretty rough shape; faded and scratch from years of abuse.  I was going to just toss them, but thought it was a little bit of a waste since they were still perfectly functional flower pots.

So I decided I would make them over in one way or another.

 
Here is what they looked like before I dressed them up.  Pretty sun faded and not the prettiest things to look at.  But that's all going to change.

Here is my weapon of choice.  Krylon for plastic.  This one was hammered copper finish.  Oh yes please.  I love Krylon paints.  I know a lot of people are loyal to other brands, but I have had the best luck with Krylon.  J always tells me that all the street artists use Krylon for a reason, it's the best spray paint around.

I first washed the pots with a little soapy water to get the years of dirt and grime off of them.  Then I wiped them down with alcohol to remove any built up oils.  They dried in the sun for a few hours.

Then I went to town painting them.

Here is what it looked like after one very light coat of paint.  I had to be very careful with this one because I had parsley growing (from last year) in it.  I covered all the soil and the little plant with a few layers of paper so no paint would get on it.  The other pot I painted was empty, so it was a lot easier to do.

And a few layers later (you only have to wait a few minutes between coats with Krylon) and a 24 hrs of drying time, I had this.

They look so much better.  J actually thought I had gone and bought a few of the metal pots they have for sale at Menards.  Nope, just a little bit of elbow grease and some spay paint. 

I planted some of my birthday flowers in this one and put it next to the garage.  The other pot has parsley and dill planted in it.  They both look so nice.

I love simple projects like these.  Just an hour or two of my time and it's finished.  Now if only all of our projects could be this easy.

In other news, I've been summoned for jury duty again.  This will be the third time in three years.  All I want is time when I'm not on that list to be summoned.  I know that it is my civic duty to go, but come on, why am I summoned every year and others are never, ever called?  And why can't they take the people that want to do it or love to do it first?  Then ask the rest of us to go.  I am just worried that my 3 second attention span will hinder my ability to sit through a trial.  I'm sure I won't need to go, because I believe you only have to do it once in a four year time span, but I'm still annoyed with all the letters I get.  And if I have to go, I'll go and do my duty as a citizen.  I just won't be extremely happy to be there.

And for good news, J is done with class for the semester.  That means he's on summer vacation, sort of.  He still has to work, but no classes, no meetings, no homework.  Yay!  He made it through another semester.  Only three more years to go.  But I know he can do it.  He's a smarty pants.  Now to plan some fun things this summer to help him unwind.  Any suggestions?