A DIY of Opportunity

Years ago my mom was redecorating her dining room. There was a large wall she didn't know how to fill. I suggested an oversized fork and knife. Like, REALLY oversized. I pictured them being several feet long, maybe even 4 or 5 feet. We've been on the hunt for some ever since.

About a month ago, I heard about a local production company going out of business. They were basically giving away all sorts of random stuff. I decided to stop by to see what they had. Apparently, they had done a production of "Beauty and the Beast" because I found a pair of oversized silverware. They were just made out of plywood and spray painted silver. Nothing special, but they were free. When I showed them to my mom, she took one look and said, "Not interested."

Her loss. 

They sat in my garage for the next few weeks while I thought about what, if anything I might do with an oversized set of flatware. (Cue: many jokes from my husband at mealtime.) I finally came up with a plan and it was crazy cheap and easy to execute.

I started with a bottle of chalk spray paint in black and gave them a couple of coats.

You can kind of see the outline of my next step in the photo. I sketched it out before going for it with the chalk paint pen. I'd chosen a great food-related quote by Julia Child:

"People who love to eat are always the best people."

True story, am I right? Anyway, the chalk pen made quick, easy work of this project- not including drying time on either the black or white paint, this project took about 15 minutes. SO easy! 

The final product: 

Super cute, right? I've got the perfect spot for them in our kitchen and can't wait to hang 'em up! 

Sometimes the best DIY projects are the ones you didn't plan to do, but where the opportunity was too good to resist. Total breakdown of the cost on this one: 

Wooden Fork & Knife- FREE!!!

Black chalk spray paint- $4

White chalk paint pen- $1 for two (on sale from $2.99)