If you give a Mom some spray paint

(I don't think my picture has been taken since the baby blessing)

If you give a Mom, with a creative itch, a can of spray paint, a bit of magical splendor will occur. It might have come from getting caught up on all those issues of Garden Gate while laying around recovering from a c-section but even if that had not occurred a desire for spray paint and gardening gloves would still abound.

If you give a Mom, a limited budget and a longing for a glazed pot for her front step. She might pick up a $6 terra cotta pot from IKEA and try to make what she wants for cheap. She might look up instructions on the internet which will make her go to Lowe's to get some Clear Gloss Sealer by Valspar and Brown Hammered Spray Paint by Rustoleum. If she goes to Lowe's to buy the paint, she might come home with an extra can of Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze and a cute new houseplant too.
Once she comes home, she might let her big girls ride bikes in the cul-de-sac and dig in the dirt while the baby sits upwind in her carseat enjoying a nice breezy day while the Mommy sprays her $6 pot to make beauty.

If she knows she is going to spray this pot into a lovely transformation, she might take before and after pictures.
If the pot comes out well, she might get ambitious and want to spray the mismatching silver doorbell, the brassy handle of the storm door which might make her take off the kickplate and spray it to match. She might be scared to mess up the door hardware so her hubby might hand her a girl drill and some hex keys and tell her to do it anyway and assure he'll be there if she messes up.

If she starts to take apart the door, her baby brother might show up and watch her work her splendor. He might even document the occasion by taking some pictures of the baby sunning herself in the Boppy outside and hold her when she cries.

When the brother leaves and the kids are still happy, the mom might want to get bold and spray her mailbox match.
If the mailbox cleans up well, she will continue with the mailbox plot makeover and plant some fantastic perennials like shasta daisies, mums, daylilies, crimson dianthus and sedum ground cover that will bloom at various seasons and mulch them all up for maximum beauty and water retention. She might even let the kids eat chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and fresh fruit for lunch.
After she is finished with that, she might think that the 2 dollar pack of sticker house numbers might not set off her mailbox the way she wants so she might enlist her friend to make her some vinyl numbers with a decorative filigree to make it pop. She might even promise to take pictures when the vinyl arrives and is applied.
And while that Mom waits for the vinyl to made and mailed to her, she might take pictures of her progress and decide she needs to go back to IKEA this weekend and get another $6 terra cotta pot to make a matching pair.
If the Mom decides to do this, she might go back to the local springtime only nursery to get more lovely flowers with which to fill the second pot and since she will be out already, she might be reminded that she might need more Brown Hammered spray paint. ;)


(And she will probably come home and tell her handy hubby to return to Lowe's so they can price some slate and other necessities to prepare to tile the front steps. One thing always leads to another, doesn't it?)