Painted Globes

I've been working on some random projects lately and one of them is hand painting a globe. I saw the idea on Pinterest and I feel in love with it. The hardest part was tracking down a globe - seriously, I had to go to Toy'R'Us! I ended up going with a classic, regular sized globe (aka I went with the only option I could find). I painted the ocean areas a pretty sea green and then painted the continents black. I then practiced writing the continent and ocean names a million times before painting them on with gold leaf paint. I love the look of the gold lettering on top of the black continents - adds fancy character!

The base of the globe is plastic, so I tried to get creative with making it look pretty. I should have just spray painted like I originally thought, but I got ambitious. I decided to attempt gold leafing - like the actual gold leafing, not the paint on kind. Here are the needed items for gold leafing:

All purchased from Hobby Lobby

Let me tell you friends, do not first time attempt gold leafing on something plastic and weird shaped like a globe stand unless you are Martha Stewart herself! It was hard and it was frustrating - I'm just being honest. I'm excited to try it on something easier in the future, but it was a struggle. That stuff is fragile and doesn't do what you want it to. I also recommend the paint on adhesive because the spray is volatile. Luckily, I was able to fake it and get most of it covered. Then I used the wonderful and much more recommended gold leaf paint to go over it. Here are my pictures of attempting to gold leaf:

Such a pretty mess. I will make sure to share if I have any successful attempts using it on something less awkward!

Here is a sneak peak picture at the other globes I am working on. I was able to find a vintage globe on Ebay and a fun quirky globe at Hobby Lobby:

Photos via me

You can see more details as I progress on them. The vintage globe in the back still doesn't have a solid idea, so if you have any requests, let me know! (I promise the bases won't be such a cluster!) I will most likely be selling these two, I'll keep you posted.

Lots of Love,