Several months ago, I found this quirky little cookie jar house. The more I looked at it the more I kind of liked it. Then I noticed it was the color of the day (which means it's half off) and in my cart it went!
My plan was to take the family photos off and try to clean it up a bit, but then I started playing with the idea of giving the entire thing a new paint job. I loved the whimsical blue and pink, but wanted to make it look a little more like my own house which is black and white. Christmas was approaching and I loved the idea of making it a little more holiday-themed than just a replica of my house with a red or green door and trim.
A little research lead me to FolkArt's Enamel glass paint. It's nontoxic (but shouldn't be used in direct contact with food) and is perfect for painting things like glass and ceramic. You can cure this paint in the oven, but I wasn't confident in how my cookie jar would hold up so I'm going with the air drying method which just takes longer.
I chose Warm White, Licorice, and Italian Sage for my colors.
Luckily the house cleaned up really nice and the old photo frames and glue came off easily with a little soap and water.
I started by painting the entire outside of the jar in Warm White to act as a primer and help my new colors show up brighter.
Next I went in with Licorice for the roof, chimney, brick, and windows.
Lastly I added Italian Sage for the door and trim. I liked the random pink bricks on the original house so I decided to keep the same look but in white on mine.
I got a little caught up in trying to make things perfect and spent way too much time going back over the house for touchups. I think the best thing with a project like this is to embrace the whimsical, handmade, imperfect look to an extent or you'll drive yourself crazy.
I love the new look of this cute little house, especially for the holiday season. The green accents ended up being a perfect match for some of my appliances like my toaster and stand mixer so I can totally see this house staying out year-round.
I'd love to find a mini wreath to add to the front door for Christmas and Nathan insists I need to add a doorknob. What do you think? Any other fun holiday details I should add? Maybe we'll dress it up for each season!
Here's a little spin of the whole house.
