Dirty Shiny Pretty

Musings on Dirty Shiny Pretty Life
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Dec 8, 2011

DIY Gift: Tiger Bike Helmet

Sawako Furuno Helmet
Rawwr! My Tiger Helmet
     A few weeks ago my sister emailed me a picture of this super cute Sawako Furuno leopard print bike helmet saying she wanted it. I looked into it and was shocked to discover it was $200. While I couldn't buy it, I told my sister it looked like something I could paint. She got super excited and asked if I could make her a tiger helmet for Christmas. I didn't give her an answer but I knew that's exactly what I would do.
    The hardest part was finding the right helmet with a little brim. After trolling the internet I found great match in the GIRO Surface helmet. After lots of searching on Cyber Monday I was able to snag it for $22, a steal. Everything after that was easy.


Supplies:
-Helmet
-Orange spray paint
-White primer
-Clear Sealant
-Blue painter's tape
-Print out of tiger stripe pattern

1. I printed out an image of a tiger stripe pattern for a visual reference then using painter's tape started marking out the stripes on the helmet. I tore of the both long edges of the tape for all my stripes so that the stripes would be rough edged.


2. Cover the brim in tape. You do NOT want to paint the brim. Then stuff the air vents and head space with plastic bags and then tape over the bottom so you don't get paint inside your helmet.


3. In a well ventilated area spray the helmet with white primer, make sure to cover thoroughly. Let dry.


4. Spray the helmet with the orange paint. Let dry. Do second coat.



5. Spray with clear sealant. Let dry.

6. Carefully remove tape.

Ignore the black spot. I have no idea what that is.

Enjoy!

P.S. Try different animal prints. I'm tempted to try the original leopard print helmet.

Dec 1, 2009

Christmas Shopping


I'm a lover of online shopping. Most of the time it's just window shopping, ie procrastinating on the work I really need to be doing, It's just so easy to do. So many pretty things just pop up on your computer screen begging to be bought. Luckily, I'm pretty miserly when it comes to spending cash on myself so I can find some way to refuse their promises of savings and free shipping. When the holidays roll around though all logic goes out the door and it's like I can't spend my money fast enough.
Awaking Black Friday the first thing I did was hop on my computer and start sniffing out the sales. Forget freezing my butt off at 3 am to ransack a store, I prefer to do all my looting and pillaging in my pjs at the far more decent hour of 6 am, when I'm startled awake by my daughter. I finally tore myself away from the screen around 11 am only because my bf was heading over and I needed to polish up the crazy crackhead look I was currently sporting. I brushed my teeth and hair and put on sweats. A step up to common derelict, the perfect look for tracking online sales. Danny came over saw my outfit and my computer glazed gaze, rolled his eyes, and proceeded to curl up for a nap on my bed. Yes, I am a lucky lady to have a bf who knows not to mess with the important missions in life. By 1 pm I had completed all my shopping, except for my brother's gift. It was too late though. I had become a online junkie and I was in desperate need of a fix. I continued to gaze, gape, and ponder all those little images filling my screen. Was there anyone I was missing? Is there something better to buy? Should I buy more? Sadly for me, and luckily for my bank account, the answer was no.
It is now four days later and even after buying gifts for different charity projects I still wish I had more shopping to complete. Does that make me sick? Mind you I'm still unemployed with no prospects laid out before me, with living expenses that I can't ignore, and a budgeted lifestyle, and yet when it comes to Christmas and birthday gifts I could care less about these issues. I guess I just want to get each person something they will really love because when I see how happy they are it makes me happy. It's so true that giving is better than receiving because really it provides you with a natural high. There is nothing better than watching someone's gift opening reaction and just knowing that you nailed it. Their whole expression and mood changes and you can just feel their excitement even if all they do is grin and say thank you. That is seriously one of the best feelings in the world. I guess I really just wish I could carry that feeling with me all the time right now as I struggle with figuring out my future. Seriously, if someone wants to bottle up that feeling and sell it on the internet, I'll buy it... full price.