It’s official: the Christmas Spirit (and Pinterest) have officially invaded our office. In today’s blog post we thought we would take a departure from our usual postings and provide you with a snapshot of our office personalities along with some great safety advice for the DIY enthusiast.
This year we decided to step up our Christmas decorations and elevate the cheeriness (think; Buddy Elf, what’s your favorite color?). We ditched the old decorations, jazzed up the tree with metallics, wrapped the air filled presents and stuffed them under the tree (much to Cliff’s chagrin) and hung the stockings with glee. However, something was missing. We’re a construction company, right? We need construction equipment ornaments! Thus, our project was born! Feast your eyes on our step-by-step instructions on how to create your own Christmas ornaments with everyday objects, beginning with some information on how to do so in the safest way possible. After all, spray paint is pretty magical when used correctly.
What you need:
Plastic ornaments (we purchased some inexpensive toy trucks from Amazon)
Spray paint (we used gold and silver Valspar and Rust-Oleum brands)
Fishing line
Broom stick
2 saw horses
Gloves + safety glasses
Stay out of heat and away from fire.
Make sure to keep away from heat, sparks and open flame. Don’t smoke. If indoors, extinguish all flames, pilot lights and heaters. Turn off stoves, electric tools and appliances, and any other sources of ignition.
Keep aerosol away from heat sources, too.
Avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight or heat from radiators, stoves, hot water and other hot items that may cause bursting. Additionally, for best finish, avoid using spray paint directly in hot, humid weather.
Leave the spray paint can whole.
Do not puncture, incinerate or burn aerosol cans. Do not discard cans in a trash compactor. But do recycle them when empty.
Ventilate.
Vapors are harmful; avoid continuous breathing of spray mist by spraying outside whenever possible. When spraying inside, open windows and doors to ensure fresh air entry during application and drying. Wearing respiratory protection is also helpful – most hardware stores sell a variety of painting masks.
Keep spray paint on your project, not on you.
Avoid contact with your eyes and skin. Wear eye protection and gloves, or wash your hands after using.
String the ornaments along the broom stick and spray them in your desired color. We did metallic gold and silver. Each ornament took about two or three coats. Sit them out to dry for at least 30 minutes to an hour before decorating the tree with your creations.
We’re pretty happy with our work.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
Keeping Warm During the Winter Months
