Toadstool Makeover

I just love a good before and after makeover story...what about you?
This may not seem very exciting to some of you but this little makeover has been on my to do list for years now. We moved into our house in 2006 and the toadstools were already here and painted blue and green. Once I spotted them I knew they'd look so much better painted up like proper toadstools!
I must have realised in the back of my mind somewhere that it wasn't going to be as easy as just whipping out a paintbrush and getting on with it because I only just got around to doing it now...nearly 6 years later! (and also prompted by adding the task as a Summer seasonal project to my 30@30 list).

So here's a little before picture for you to see the ugliness of the blue and green toadstools...

As well as a good scrub with the tough-bristled orange brush you see there we also had to break out the wire brush to get some mossy type stuff off them. In fact looking at this picture - this isn't a true before shot because the toadstools had already had some cleaning by this point!

Once that was done we headed off the the DIY store and purchased some special primer that works on concrete/stone and is suitable for being outdoors. Hubby took delight in spraying the toadstools with the primer and we gave them about 2 coats.

Note: I already did some other spray painting for a project I can't show off just yet so was happy for hubby to have a go with the toadstools.

And then New Year came and went and with it a lot of rain so the toadstools stayed white for a while.

Once Hogmanay was behind us we headed back to the DIY store and picked up some red spray paint.

To make the white spots on the top I punched some cardboard circles with my circle punch and bluetacked them randomly atop the toadstools. I then spraypainted the red over this. Once I'd applied a couple of coats and let it dry I peeled back the punched circles to reveal the spots.

Where I had used bluetack and hadn't got a sealed circle there was some uneveness to the spots so I touched them up with some white emulsion we had in the garage.

And finally, here are the finished toadstools...

Cute huh? I'm hoping to find some little elves or pixies on my travels to bring home to sit atop and amongst the toadstools to make a little magical scene for my baby boy to admore when we rummage in the garden!