Hand Painted Birdbath



birdbath - before



 Over the winter I decided that my old boring cement birdbath needed a little sprucing...I had tried to spray paint but it always chipped off.  I also tried regular outdoor paint but unfortunately the color wouldn't stick. With a bleach and water solution I scrubbed the birdbath clean and let it thoroughly dry for 24 hours. I decided that the birdbath needed color and vibrancy so I used cream colored enamel paint for the background.



 

birdbath - after



My birdbath separates into two pieces, and I decided I wanted to paint different colored flowers using my outdoor sign painters paint purchased at my local Ace Hardware. The  colors I used were blue, red, orange, green, gold, and white. I did tint some colors with white and mixed purple as well. I first painted the bowls outer perimeter and started by painting large flowers then filled in with smaller flowers and leaves. I tried to mix up colors and types of flowers for added interest.  To make each flower POP...I chose to paint the background black. I added dots and dashes in white to highlight specific flowers.



birdbath - close up



I hand painted flowers all around the top of the birdbath and decided that a striped bottom would be a unique approach rather than everything painted the same. I measured the base top perimeter and the base bottom perimeter and divided the numbers to make 6 panels...3 cream...and 3 with flowers. I purposely make certain flowers overlap both the black and the cream background. The result is a beautiful addition to my outdoor living space. The whole project was completed on a very cold wintery weekend!