Gold Dipped Antlers

so as you may have seen from my post last week, gold dipping was one of the projects i've had going on. i started while on my break redoing the suzanne kasler for ballard antlers that i had painted blue a few years ago. i decided that they would look good in the office painted a glossy white and gold at the tips. i guess not so much "dipped", more like sprayed :)

so step 1, i taped off the tips 4" from the end. why i chose 4" i don't know, just felt right.

i picked up some rustoleum paint and primer in one with a really handy sprayer that doesn't end up making your pointer finger fall off!

here they are in white...

so then onto the gold part. easy right? well not exactly...i had also picked up a can of rustoleum gold spray paint and luckily decided to try it out first before spraying it on. TERRIBLE!! rookie mistake on picking out gold.

i mean that's not even gold. but god i love the internet and blogs. in a matter of seconds i was reading a great post at brittany makes who as it turns out is an accountant by day. love that!! anyway, she turned me on to montana gold spray paint which i quickly ordered (color is called goldchrome).

so taped them up again, this time from the other side and then used old plastic bags to cover the majority of the antlers - taping the whole thing seemed ridiculous.

then spray away. i found that the gold went on like butter and you really don't need to use much at all. i did find however that it look longer to dry than the white but that also could have been our insane heat when i was doing it! i brought them inside to dry in the a/c.

here is where my project takes a sad turn...i was bringing them in, trying to balance them while also trying not to step on a toddler and a dog when one went crashing to the floor. it was so sad :( but luckily it did not hit the precious toddler or dog. phew. however both antlers broke off and were damaged enough that i couldn't glue it back together and had to buy a replacement. fortunately ballard still carries these so a new one is on the way.

since i was so close to being finished and had already written up the majority of this post, i am posting it anyway (to save myself from having a complete hissy fit!!). please stay tuned for a full report when they are done and mounted. i am not a good diyer, i repeat, not good!!