Nauticual Paint By Numbers

Well, here they are!
What do you think?

I'm in love.
They make me happy each time I look at them.
I know you may be asking, "paint by number?  Really?"
Yes, really.
I'm not afraid to be low-brow.

Here's the corner that was damaged on the big painting.
Before Aaron fixed it, it was warped and coming out of the frame.
It seemed beyond repair, which is why I passed it up originally.
But my man worked his magic.
To fix it, he used wood glue to attach the picture to a new, stiff piece of mat board.  (you can find it at any art/craft store)
After attaching the mat board to the back of the picture, he placed it, picture side down, on a table and weighted it down with some dumbbell weights. (but you could use anything heavy)
He let it sit that way over night and in the morning, tada!
You can hardly tell it was damaged.

For the frame, I spray painted it with Valspar, Exotic Sea in gloss.
I got it at Loew's.
It is a really great turquoise color.
I know, because I've been looking for one for a while.
It is the same color I used on our bedside tables.
I didn't sand the frame, just primed it with gray primer, and 2 coats of the turquoise.
I am so happy with how it turned out.
And in case you didn't see it the first time, here's how it looked before the paint job.

These are our little, ship paint by numbers.

I love them because they were my grandfather's.

I called him Dziadi.  

That's grandfather in Polish and the same thing my kids call my Dad.

My Dziadzi had an incredible collection of random things all over his garage, workshop and backyard.
Plastic fruit, ceramic animals, crazy art, exercise equipment, you name it, he had it out there.

It was paradise when were kids.

After he passed away, my aunt and grandma began to slowly clear out the many, many, many pictures, figurines and chotchkies he had.

I asked if I could keep some to remember both him and my dear childhood memories.

These pictures, from his workshop, were some of the things I saved.

They may have been painted by my dad, or one of his siblings.

He doesn't remember.

But there was quite a bit of art made by my dad, his 3 sisters and 1 brother, so maybe these were some.

Either way, I love to look at the pictures on my wall and remember my Dziadzi.

The worn frames Aaron re-made for them fit perfectly.
They needed something with a patina.

We hung them on that big, blank wall in our dining room.
Aaron said it's a very...eclectic....room.
It is.
And I like it that way.

Here's to thrift store treasures, rescued family heirlooms, re-using old things and spray paint!

Love from,

Greta

PS. And 3 things means it's officially a collection, right?  

So, now I'll add paint by numbers to The List. 

I'd love more.

Paint by numbers and collections.

One of these days I'll have to walk around here and document each of my collections.

I have a lot.