DIY Flower Market Bucket

Try your hand at this awesome DIY Flower Market Bucket.  Take a bucket from blah to fabulous!  Affiliate links are included for your convenience (wink).

Hey y’all! I am so honored to be here as my sweet friend Kelly takes some time off.

I’m Lauren and I have a little blog called Bless’er House where I share my DIY and decorating adventures with my hubby and spunky three year-old girl.

I’ll be real with y’all. I have never ever ever decorated for Valentine’s…that is until this year. Now that my daughter is getting older and more aware of different holidays, I’m finding it more exciting to celebrate all of them. And it’s always sweet to celebrate the people you love, right? (That and have an excuse to devour chocolate like it’s your job).

So then with Valentine’s coming up, I had a plan for this plain 5 gallon bucket:

I had been eyeing some cute galvanized metal buckets, but I wasn’t really so keen on the $80 price tag.

And since I already had some paint that Fusion Mineral Paint was so kind to give me and the itch to get crafty, I had nothing to lose in trying out a DIY version.

Supplies for DIY Flower Market Bucket:

• 5 gallon bucket (a metal popcorn tin could work great too)
• Matthew Mead Studio Metallics Paint in Brushed Steel
• Fusion Mineral Paint in Sterling
• Fusion Mineral Paint in Soapstone
• 3 sponge brushes
• Spray bottle with water
• Roll of paper towels
• Letter and number stencils
• Red craft paint

I got the idea for the galvanized finish from Danielle at Finding Silver Pennies who made a table over with it. So I figured a bucket was a good trial run before I attempted any furniture projects.

I painted the entire bucket with a couple of coats of the brushed steel paint using a sponge brush. I later painted the white bucket handle the same way.

Once the Brushed Steel color was dry, I mixed the Sterling and Soapstone colors in two separate cups with a little water- about 3 parts paint to 1 part water.

Then, I worked in sections by alternating applying the different shades of gray paint with sponge brushes, spritzing with a little water from the spray bottle, and using dry paper towels to blot. It took a little trial and error to get the hang of it, but I eventually ended up with this look:

To make it extra Valentine-y, I added the lettering with stencils.

When it was all dry, I filled it up with roses beside our entryway bench. (The fake kind because that’s how I roll).  I love how it brightens up our hallway in the middle of gloomy winter. And you better believe those white roses will be getting lots more action when spring comes along.

I ended up repurposing my DIY clothespin advent calendar left up from Christmas by adding a few paper hearts too. I might even make it a Valentine’s calendar by writing little love notes to my husband on the hearts for him to see as he leaves for work each day.

I really missed having the pretty red all over our house during Christmas, so I’m glad to have it back again.

Do you decorate for Valentine’s at your house? Or do any fun activities with your kids for the holiday? My kiddo is already loving it.

Thanks so much to Kelly for having me over today!

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