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.

DIY Gifts

Every year I have the problem of figuring out what to get my mom for Mother's Day, birthday, Christmas, etc. I'm sure I'm not the only one who deals with this. Sometimes she has a suggestion but more often than not she just says "You don't have to get me anything, just spending the day with my family is enough." Maddening! So as Mother's Day approached and I started to stress my mom actually unknowingly provided me with an idea when she mentioned how much she loved these pretty Moroccan inspired lanterns. With a very restricted budget (summer camp fees and upcoming weddings killed me this month) I could not afford two lanterns, and getting one just seemed odd, but then I spotted these small table top lanterns at Target a few days later and decided to make my own.

Great look and size but not the right color

 A coat of gold spray paint and a coat of hammered metal spray paint and they were good to go. I wanted to add a patina to these to make them more like the original but I ran out of time so I might have to steal them back to complete the look.

Bonus points for matching the patio furniture

Soft pretty candlelight

 My mom's also a framed photo fanatic so I bought a simple white frame, inked on a Miu Miu inspired bird pattern I found online and have been dying to use, added a family photo, and presented it to her as another Mother's day gift.

A good gift for several occasions, just customize to fit the receiver

The gifts were a hit especially once my mom noticed that the birds were my personal touch. While none of these items cost a lot of money they were special and valuable to my mom because they created a shared experience between us in that I was thinking of her when I made these gifts and she will think of me when she looks at them. I see that as a win win on both sides.