Upcycled Wood Challenge for the Week

C. D. Scallan
by C. D. Scallan
4 Materials
$10
5 Hours
Easy
Before I begin this tutorial, I really must give props to my nine year old son for being my (at first) reluctant photographer, then enthusiastic muse. As the project progressed, he gave me so many great ideas, that he may now permanently fill the position of photog, and we will be posting some more projects that we came up with together soon.
This week's challenge was to work with wood and I found these funky old salt and pepper grinders at an antique shop in Washington, LA this weekend. I got the inspiration from Pinterest to turn them into characters of sorts so I started off by washing them really well.
Then I let them dry in the sun


Next I sanded them down and then wiped all the dust off of them.
Next, I sprayed on a primer. I've never used a spray on primer before and I don't know if they all do this or if it was just this particular brand but had a flocking effect, like fake snow. It worked in my favor since the characters Matt and I decided to create are snowmen. We let the primer dry in the sun for about an hour.
Then I followed up with a coat of white satin spray paint.
After letting the paint dry for an hour or so, we brought them inside to create the faces. I used a black Sharpie to color a white twist tie that came with the garbage bags to make the mouths. I cut off the tips of some old toy traffic cones for the noses and used E6000 to glue them all onto the faces . I used a black paint pen to paint on the eyes and the buttons.
I tied some old leftover wire form plaid ribbon on for the scarves.
And Mr. and Mrs. Frosty are complete! I don't decorate for the Christmas season until after Thanksgiving, but that doesn't mean I can't start making things now! What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Suggested materials:
  • Old salt and pepper grinders   (Antique store)
  • Spray paint and primer   (Dollar General)
  • Paint pen   (Had it)
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Frequently asked questions
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  2 questions
  • Jody Bilyeu Wright Jody Bilyeu Wright on Oct 22, 2017

    I love love love your up cycled snowmen. Have you thought about using orange wire nuts for snowman noses?

  • Linda Linda on Nov 12, 2017

    Any way to make the snowman usable? I would to make the salt and pepper usable, and I am not sure spray paint is good

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