Elmo Rocking Chair DIY

Good Morning Lovelies,

When I woke up this morning it was chilly enough that I did not want to get out from under the blanket, which does not happen very many days a year here in southwest Florida. My two year old Lauren was in my face saying "HI" so I couldn't really delay it any longer. But, Lauren was able to sit in her new Elmo rocking chair to eat her breakfast this morning!

I finished the DIY rocking chair project and added Elmo since Lauren is REALLY into Elmo right now. She was super pumped to have Elmo on her little chair.

DIY Rocking Chair Re-Do

I learned that I am not a good spray painter. Well I guess I already knew I wasn't good at spray painting but I continue to keep trying anyways. My problem is even after shaking the can for the amount of time it says on the can, the spray paint still comes out with bumps on it - sort of chunky even.

Luckily, I was able to get it going and make the chair look lovely. I also wasn't going to worry too much about any imperfections because with a toddler using it every day, and another who will follow, the chair is going to get some marks on it. When Lauren decides she isn't into Elmo anymore, I can paint over the Elmo head with Minnie Mouse or whatever new thing she is into at the time.

Here is what I did:
Supplies

• Two cans of Heirloom White Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch from Home Depot . 
• Red with white polka dot ribbon from Michaels (use a 50% off coupon)
• Martha Stewart's Satin All Surface Craft Paint for the Red, Orange, and Black to paint Elmo. I bought this set but I bought it at Michaels using a 50% off coupon, sometimes they even have 55% off coupons. I bought the set of 10 so I have colors for other projects too. The set was only $19.99 at Michaels so with the coupon I paid $9.99 for 10 colors
• Sand paper (optional)

Steps

1. I had to take apart the chair and tighten all the screws. After putting it back together, I wiped it down with Clorox Wipes to get all of the dirt and marks off of it and then let it dry.
2. Sprayed the first coat of spray paint using the Heirloom White paint. You may only need one can if you are a proficient spray painter. (remember, I am NOT)
3. I followed the directions on the can and let it dry before putting on the second coat. 
4. Google searched Elmo and printed off a black and white outline of Elmo's face from Google Images. Like this one. 
5. I put the paper up on a window (I used our sliding door but any window will do) and I traced the image using a sharp pencil.
6. Then I put the paper with the traced side placed where I wanted the image on the rocking chair and traced the lines I could see from my pencil. This will create a faint image of Elmo on the white. 
7. Remove the paper and sketch by hand any of the areas that did not get traced. Note: If you are good at drawing, you can skip steps 5-7 and just draw it free hand on the chair. I am a decent drawer, but I don't like when something looks sort of like Elmo but not really, so I went with tracing some parts. 



Faint Image of Elmo on the back of the chair

8. I also added two bows to the top of the chair to make it girly. I used my hot glue gun to make the bows and secure them to the chair. So far they have not fallen off.
9. Then I started painting. This part is a little annoying since you have to lean over to paint that part of the chair after you already have to lean over the same way to trace the image. Luckily it isn't a lot of painting so your back will not hurt too bad.
   
   
   
   
10. I bought finishing spray but didn't spray it on yet. I am not sure if I will. The paint really looks great and I am glad I bought the 10 color set because this was the second time I used them. 

Finished Elmo Rocking Chair

I was really happy with how it turned out. It is really hard to paint the black lines for outlining Elmo's eyes but if you do not look too closely, I think it came out really well! If you are an experienced painter, that part would probably be very easy for you.

Happy Friday!

xo Susan