In recent years, I've really become drawn to globes and decorating with them. I've been wanting to try my hand at altering one for a while now, and just wrapped this project up.
If you go on Pinterest and search for painted or altered globe, the inspiration is endless. But mine mostly came from my favorite store (Anthropologie) and my love of finding/making something on a budget.
This first two pictures are from Anthropologie and the brand they carried was 1canoe2. As you can see from the link, they are sold out but you can visit the brands website here. You probably recognize a lot of their products. The last picture is from Pottery Barn Teen and the decoupaged sphere they are carrying is from ImagineNation. Wow, if you check out their site the price at Pottery Barn is quite a deal!?!?!
I decided to paint my globe versus decoupage or anything else. Here is the globe I found at an antique shop for $12. It has a flat surface versus those that have texture for mountains, so that is important. As much as I loved the faded colors on this, I taped off the stand and slapped some off white paint on it.
There was no way my freehand was going to be to my liking, so I used some stamps I had as a guide. These were unmounted stamps which made it easier to curve them to the shape of the globe. Of course I wanted a peacock theme, so the verse I picked is the one I always use when working with feathers by Emily Dickinson. I started with just the first line (hope is the thing with feathers) until I knew how much room I would have. Then, I roughly drew 2 feathers with a pencil.
I started painting away to see how it went. Some of the paints I used were iridescent. When I started to paint the plumes, I knew I wanted to layer several colors so I did exactly that - did one color, then the next and so on. However, looking back now, I wish I had spaced them out more because I feel it made it too too full and almost stripey. My lines ended up going more straight across out of the quill so to "fix" this I used a gold paint over the top and made sure it was in a "V" pattern. I really like the texture and illusion that created.
Once I had the first verse and 2 feathers done, I could see that I would have the room to do the second verse (that perches in the soul) and 2 more feathers on the other side. So I just repeated the same process.
My lettering was just navy at first, but I felt it needed more. This is the only time I used a paint pen to get the gold accent in the middle of the letters. Once I was all done, I could tell it definitely needed some "antiquing" but I was scared about what technique to use because I did not want it to turn out bad and ruin all of the work I did. I ended up using a brown chalk, applied with my finger which was the best way to have control over it. I love how the chalk settled into the groves from painting it off white, as I used a bristle brush and was pretty crude with my application. Then, I had this watered down brown paint in a spray bottle from another project so I lightly, lightly sprayed it.
I am just giddy with how it turned out! Since I already had all of the paint and brushes (seriously, I've had some of my acrylic paints for like 10+ years) this project really only cost me the $12 for the globe and my time. It sits on the desk in the office and I love seeing it every day and looking at it while I work (like right now)!
I thought I would show the other globes that are around my house as well. These 2 reside by the fireplace. The one on the left is the very first one I bought a couple of years ago and the pre-altered one I found at TJ Maxx.
Remember the "perfect day" from my second to last post? This is the globe I found that day that I mentioned. It is my largest one and I just love the patina on it. That is not it's original base and I wasn't sure if the white paint (while I love the chippy-ness of it) was too stark for the globe. But, it's current placement in a corner of the living room where the couch hides a lot of the base makes it okay for now.
Out of all the globes I have, this one is the most traditional in color. I found it - months ago - at the same store in town where I just found the one above. So that makes 2 globes from the same thrift store so far. This one sits in a suitcase display in our bedroom, housing mementos from our trip to Belize. It's base it also unique compared to the others and in doing some research on globes I have found these bases were meant to hold atlases.
I just love that I remember the places I've gotten my collection so far, more specifically the days themselves..... feelings and moments. Jon is starting to look at me oddly when I bring another globe home. He better get used to it because I am sure there will be more. While right now, they are scattered about the house, I love the look of a collection of them together as the pictures below from Pinterest inspire me. Look at the one of them all in their own little cubbies!!! Gah, it's almost too much for me as I love uniformity and randomness at the same time. I just love all the sizes and colors they come in, and the ideas are endless!
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