Knock Off BD Silver Urn

Now, I have said a time or fifteen  two that I love Southern Living...  I might have also said how I covet Ballard Designs...  And I LOVE to DIY...  Well, this is the knock off trifecta!

Last Fall, I saw this Vintage Silver Urn in my Ballard Designs Catalog, but at $99 it was too steep for my tastes...  Uh, yeah, so this image I found online because BD no longer offers this urn... 

Ballard Designs Vintage Silver Urn

Traditional Tabletop by Atlanta Furniture & Accessories Ballard Designs

I can show you a picture of the paper I ripped out of the catalog, for my reference... Look at those creases!  This is exactly why I don't trust keeping things electronically!!  If I would have 'paper clipped' this electronically, poof, it would have been gone (and I probably would have never remembered) but I would have never been able to achieve this knock-off!!

Anywho, I will get off the crazy box long enough to show you what I did!  Ta-da!!  Now, mine is decidedly more Spring-y with the flower selection, but you can see the beauty of the 'urn' shining through...  Did you like that?  Shine?  Yeah, you'll get it in a minute...  :)

So, this was a knock-off waiting to happen...  Several, a couple, last year, I bought this brass planter from the thrift shop...  Yes, it was $2.99!!  I was going through a brass phase and thought I could pull it off, but I hated it, a lot!  So, it just sat gathering dust while I got my 'inspiration' and in walked my BD Catalog with the SL urn!!

Materials:
Planter
Paint suited for your planter (Silver and Black) were my choices
Antique Medium (it's in the craft paint section)
Flowers/Filler/Foam
Sponges
Paper Plates
Paper Towels

Instructions:

1. Paint 2 to 3 even coats of your base color on your planter.  I didn't even bother with the inside, just up to the lip.  I did 2 coats of silver because I still like the warm glow from the brass underneath...  This is a solid coat, so some of your planter's details will be washed out with the solid color...  Do not fear, the antiquing medium can be used to add dimension to your planter!
2. Mix your antiquing medium and black together on your plate and highlight any features on your planter...  I used a 50:50 ratio of my medium and black paint and dabbed the mixture all over.  I did 2 layers of this process. First, I dabbed in circular motions onto the planter with the mixture and 'spot' dabbed with a crumpled paper towel removing the mixture until it looked right and then moved to the next side. Then, with the second layer I angled my sponge to highlight the curves in the planter and lightly dabbed with the paper towel until I got the look I wanted...  This is going to be a process for you and when it looks right to you - STOP!  
3. Add floral foam and real/fake flowers as you wish!
4. Step back, pat yourself on the back and admire proudly!!

I am so pleased with how my planter/urn turned out!   I had all of the materials (from different projects), so this cost me nothing!  But, if you had to go out and buy these things, you can always find very inexpensive planters at Goodwill/Thriftshop and use your paint and flower stash.  I always buy my flowers on clearance at the end of the season, but if you don't, sometimes you can use a 40% off coupon or they may be half off randomly throughout the year...  The antiquing medium can be bought with a 40% off coupon, too! 

Hope this post inspires you to knock your own new favorite!

Take care!

Morgan

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