DIY Monogram Plate

I bought this little plate about six years ago at Home Goods when Scott and I were living in a small city apartment.  I think I had it propped on the mantle there but, honestly, I can't even remember for sure.  It's never had a permanent home since we bought our house and had been unceremoniously stuffed into a cabinet for storage for a while.  I pulled it out recently to act as a catch-all bowl on our hall table where Scott could toss his wallet and phone when he walked in the door.  It functioned perfectly but I wasn't loving the look.

Just kind of dark and dull, right?  I love the antique-gold carved handles and gold etched rim but felt like those details just got lost in the busy-ness of the pattern.

A few coats of paint later this homely plate went from dark and drab to light and lovely!

I primed the surface first with some leftover latex primer I had on hand, then used a foam brush (I found a bristle brush left too many brush marks) to carefully paint several coats of Martha Stewart Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Craft Paint in Summer Linen (from Michaels).  I was very careful to avoid the gold rim and also checked after each coat to make sure I had smoothed out any raised ridges of paint.  I should have kept count, but I think it took four coats to fully cover the pattern underneath.  I let each coat dry a couple hours to overnight before adding another.

After the paint had dried I used a silkscreen stencil (also Martha Stewart from Michaels) to stencil the "B" on the plate with the same paint in Yellow Gold.  When that had dried to the touch, I stenciled the dotted circle around it.

I let everything dry again overnight, then sprayed Rustoleum Clear Coat over the entire plate to seal and protect the paint and give everything a nice glossy finish.

I love how the soft white makes the gold detail stand out so much more than it did before.

It's still the perfect catch-all on our hall table but I really love the look of it now too.

I love repurposing forgotten items and breathing new life into them.  Have you done any little makeovers lately?

Linking to Saavy Southern Style, I Heart Naptime, The Shabby Nest, Liz Marie Blog, Crafty Scrappy Happy.