March 13, 2012

March Copy Cat Challenge


The magazine photo that I copied for this
was even featured on the cover.
It is the March 2012 issue of "Woman's Day" magazine.

The article on the inside instructs how to make
vases from objects that you might normally throw away.

There were a couple of other crafty ways to cover
jars and cans but I like the "Simply White" one.

I had saved some drink containers that I thought shape-wise
looked somewhat like older milk bottles.  Even though they
are not glass like the instructions specify, I decided to give
the puff paint and spray paint technique a try in, hopefully,
 giving these plastic bottles a vintage milk bottle look.

Hobby Lobby did not have any puffy paint and
I only found a couple of types at Walmart.
 Jo Ann's had the best selection of puffy paints....just FYI.

The instructions for the magazine vases used more of a
free hand style of putting the puff paint on. 
Free hand lettering is not one of my strong suits so I
printed some fonts off of my computer to use.

To transfer the letters onto the bottles I blackend the
area behind the letters on backside of the paper with
a pencil.  Then I used the pencil to trace around the
letters while holding the paper on the bottle.

The lines were faint (I wished I had had good old
carbon paper for "such a time as this") but good enough
to fill in the lettered area with puff paint.

When I was doing a some computer research to see/remember
what glass milk bottles look like exactly, I also saw small cream
bottles pictured.  I thought for the flower container
(as pictured in the magazine photo) I would make it "cream".

I didn't find a big difference in the three types of paint
for the purpose that I was using it for.
None of the puffy paints "ran" at all even on the slick
surface of the bottles.  I used a toothpick to help get the
paint onto tiny lines or to fix little mistakes.
The "Slick Dimensional Fabric Paint" had the smallest
opening so it was easier to get the right amount of
paint onto the narrowest part of the letters.

The paint was put on so thick for this project that
it was allowed to dry for 24 hours before continuing.

Last year for a copy cat challenge, I used appliance
paint to make faux milk glass which stayed on great.
For this project, I only had time for one stop to get paint
and the original was not available so I went with
Krylon Dual Primer and Paint (is that new?) in white.

I also didn't have time to wait for the top part of the bottles
to dry in order to spray the bottoms, so I impaled them on
dead branch limbs for that task.

Watching paint dry...

The bottles I had saved to make into "vintage milk bottles"
are taller than the magazine photos bottles but they
give a similar effect in the photo.

For the bottle tops I just painted the original plastic ones
with a few shades of silver paint to try to mimick metal.







This same technique could be used to write or draw
whatever you would like onto bottles and jars.
You could make them specific to certain
events or paint names or monograms on
the bottles to personalize them. 
                                                 


For copy cat challenges in the past, I would be less
than pleased with the end result pictures even if the actual
items looked pretty much like the original photo. 
In analyzing what was wrong, I think that I didn't
 try hard enough to get the backgrounds the same.

This time I got poster board and tissue paper to try
to give a similar background for the items.

Because I wanted to use natural light, I took the photos
in the backyard.  A dining room chair was the base.
To get the poster board to be taller than the "milk bottles"
I had to stand it up vertically.  The slightest breeze
would catch the poster and knock it down which, in turn,
knocked all the other items on to the wet ground.
Oh, the trials and tribulations of a being a photographer.
I'm glad that my imitation milk bottles were plastic
and not glass in this instance. 




13 comments

  1. Wow- That is a phenomenal job! Your knock-off is admirable. A lot of work but MAN~ WHAT an outcome. Love it-Your are genius~ xo Diana

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  2. Look at you girl going all creative and taking the most pretty pictures ever. I LOVE this. Turned out so pretty. I did not see those on the cover, but I can tell you, yours certainly could be. Thanks for sharing and joining in.

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  3. You did a really nice job of getting the letters on there. Very impressive. I must try that.
    Blessings.
    Audrey Z. @ Timeless Treasures

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  4. They turned out adorable! Your ability to paint letters with the puffy paint is impressive. I must have shaky hands. Great final photo with matching backdrop and everything!

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  5. Great job! It looks just like the copy. I like the puff paint letters. I've never used it. Might have to give that a try.

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  6. OMGosh... I thought the very first picture must have been a professional one. That is because of the background!

    These bottles are really great looking. I especially like the way you painted the caps to mimic tin. Really clever of you.

    Thanks for sharing these at my party this week.

    xoxo Bunny Jean
    Wednesday's Bunny Hop Party!

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  7. Wow, wow, wow!! I am so impressed!! Perfect match!

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  8. What a great job! You are so smart to think of using the plastic juice bottle! This is such a great idea! Come link up to Centerpiece Wednesday on my blog and show off your idea.
    Karin

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  9. I think your version looks better than the original {no offense!} Great job!

    ~*Jessica

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  10. Wow, this is such a neat idea! Love it!

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  11. They turned out great, I will have to try it too!! Stopping by from Serenity Now.

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  12. Yes, it is wow-y enough. You did a great job of copying those bottles.

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