Remodeled Pitcher

When we moved in, our super awesome landlord let us keep a few items that she had left here.  Among them, this pitcher.  

I really liked it for some reason, but definitely not a fan of the J&B Scotch Whisky advertisement!! 

I wanted to update it, change it, paint it, but I liked the yellow/green color of it ~it doesn't look so appealing in these pictures, but it's actually one of my favorite greens~.  I decided to make something else of what was inside of the white frame, only.



I started with some blue paint as a base...

I taped all around the square to make sure I would not go over and make it messy!

Painting time...!  Woohoo!!   Bye Bye J&B!!

After 2 coats of paint, and a lot of drying time, I used a box cutter to sort of separate the paint on the tape from the paint on the pitcher!  

I always get nervous that the paint will come off as I remove the tape, but this technique enabled me to take the tape right off without issues.

Tada!!  Nice blue square!  :)
Then, I painted the semi circle to mask "Justerini" obviously!!!

Now for the design...

Since we've visited New Orleans last year, I've become obsessed with the Fleur-de-Lys.  Not only because it was all over town, as it is the symbol of the New Orleans Saints, but more so because it is the emblem of French Royalty!  After our trip there, I realized how many objects in stores had this flower on them ~or maybe it just became a trend at the same time as I started looking for it~ so I like to put some Fleur-de-Lys items around the house as a pretty reminder of where I am from.  

~ No, Mom and Dad, no worries, I haven't forgotten where I'm from, yet...!  ;)  It just makes me smile to have French stuff around here! ~

Oh and, um, also "Fleur-de-Lys" means "Flower of Lily"... Go figure, maybe that's just why I like it! Because it's the flower of our fur baby!! Hahaha! Just kidding!!  :D

But anyhow, I love that flower, I choose to paint it on the pitcher, and here is how I did it:

I got a piece of paper, folded it in half, measured the frame on the pitcher and drew it on the paper ~to have the right limits for the flower~ and while looking at a model on the web, I draw a half of mine.

**I sketched only half, because I knew the second half would never be symmetrical if I kept drawing!! 

Then, snip snip we went, and there was my perfect Fleur-de-Lys!

I put the stencil down on the pitcher, passed my pencil around it, and painted the flower with gold metallic gloss enamel.

One side is gold, the other is pink. 

I kinda just wanted to try something two-faced like!     

After 3 layers of paint and letting it dry throughout the night, I applied a nice coat of Mod Podge to protect the paint from peeling.  Honestly, this was my first time using Mod Podge.  I've heard so much about it, lots of crafters use this 3 in 1 product: glue, sealant and finish!  I wasn't sure it would be appropriate to use on top of paint, but since I needed to seal and protect everything and that was all I had, I figured why not try it...  And well, it looks and feels really fine.  I actually like it a lot!!

Now, for the Before and After pictures!

What do you guys think?? Cute no?

**What about you?? Have you ever modified something to make it more useful or simply more "good-lookin'"?!**