I know, I know, technically DIY week is over but I just had to share one more with you! I made this one for my brother’s wedding and I wanted to hold out until after they got married to post it. Don’t know why, but I felt like I was jinxing things by sharing wedding prep too soon. But now that they’re MARRIED! I have absolutely no qualms putting this up.
The Stud is a pilot and his cute wife is so supportive of this. Somehow they amicably agreed on using planes as a jumping off point for their wedding. Best decision ever! Right after they got engaged, I put these cute save the dates together to mail out..
It was a two-sided card with their names and event information on the back. I’m still ridiculously proud of how they came out. Anyway, Kitty and I put these in envelopes together back in May while we were in Utah. As we were sitting around the table working, we brainstormed decorations. Planes, obviously, but how to get a Restoration Hardware look on a Goodwill budget.
Cue the summer dollar bin at Walmart. Kitty and I found these plastic planes for $2 each. I can’t tell you how many Walmarts we went to to get enough planes for the wedding. It was an all day thing, took us through two valleys, and was one of the funnest days I can remember.
What you’ll need:
plastic planes
gray spray primer
metallic silver spray paint
ibuprofen for the fume headache
If you feel so inclined, lightly sand the plastic planes. I skipped this step because I was painting 20. In retrospect, I should have taken the time to do it. Place the planes on a drop cloth (or really classy garbage bag…) and lightly spray primer. Make sure all neon is covered. This may require waiting for the primer to dry, rotating the planes, and continuing to spray. They’re kind of tricky to coat!
Once the primer dries, apply first coat of metallic paint. I wish I could tell you what paint works best, but I ended up using three different kinds. Feel free to mix and match to get the desired effect. Make sure to let paint dry thoroughly before adding more coats. I tried a generic paint, Rustoleom, and Krylon sprays. On one batch I also tried a varnishing spray to try to get a high gloss look. This failed horribly and made the planes look a dull, matte gray and I had to repaint the planes entirely with silver and metallic sprays.
The planes worked great on the tables with the other planes and aviation gear. I’m excited to keep one for my own bookshelves as a reminder of one really awesome day!
