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Painting the Car
Mar. 19th, 2012 11:04 pmA couple of weekends ago we painted our car. We used tempera paint (also known as poster paint), which washes off easily with water, so as soon as we get a decent rainstorm, the car will be back to normal (i.e., boring) again. In the meantime, we've been having a lot of fun with it.
I'm not sure exactly where the idea came from. It just hit me one afternoon out of the blue, and became a bit of an obsession. I googled extensively over the next few days. When I started out, I felt sure that one of two things would happen: either a) I would find out that painting the car was not feasible for some reason (illegal, maybe, or damaging to the car, or???) or b) I would find a whole bunch of blog posts from mommy-bloggers who had done it and would offer tips, tricks, suggestions, and of course pictures.
To my surprise, though, neither of those happened. I found precisely one mommy-blogger post, and in that case it was a nonfunctional car that the family had decided to junk, and the mom let the kids paint it before they called the junkyard. But other than that, nothing. I was surprised. I kept googling for a while longer, sure that I would find something to explain why no one had apparently ever thought of this before. Meanwhile, I googled tempera paint and read all about how safe it is (quite literally safe enough to eat, in fact, although of course I don't recommend that and did not mention it to my kids).
At last, satisfied that it seemed legal and safe, I decided to do it. Still I said nothing to the kids, though. I snuck off to the local arts and crafts store (Michael's) one Saturday afternoon when I had an hour of kid-free time, and I bought big 16-ounce bottles of tempera paint in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white. I also bought lots of different paintbrushes of all sizes and types. That evening, I suggested to the kids that we take the car through a car-wash. They love that, so of course they were excited. We got the car washed and I still said nothing about painting it. That night after they were asleep, I snuck outside and painted a small "J" in blue on the side of the car, as a test. The next morning I splashed some water on the J and rubbed it with my fingers; it came right off, and most importantly, there was obviously no damage to the car's paint underneath. It was then that I knew we were Go! :)
I put the kids in the car and headed for my mom's house, because she lives on a quiet cul-de-sac where we could walk around the car and feel safe, unlike our street which is quite busy. On the way over, I told the kids that we were going to paint the car. At first they were disbelieving, but excitement began to grow, especially in Ruthie, who loves to draw and paint. I handed her the package of assorted-size paintbrushes that I had bought, and she examined them carefully, already choosing which she would use for what.
We got to grandma's house, parked the car, poured paint into small plastic cups, put on oversize t-shirts as smocks, and laid down some basic ground rules. No painting on the windows (the kids were quick to understand why this would be unsafe). No painting yourself or your sibling. No paint on the license plate or headlights. And then...I set them loose! :)
Well, when I say "them," I mean us, of course. My mom and I participated too and we all had a blast. At first, each of us claimed one door for our own, but soon we were branching out to the other parts of the car and "helping" each other with the other areas. It was a nice sunny crisp day, and we had a great time. We used the red and white paint to mix up a little bit of pink, and the kids had fun experimenting with different proportions to make brown. By the time we were done, some of the paint was already starting to flake off, but the car looked fantastic overall. We drove off to the monthly SMC meeting, and I told the kids to watch the faces of the pedestrians we passed. We got a lot of amusing and amused looks! The kids were excited by the thought of driving to school the next morning. :)
So, it has been over a week now, and the reaction has been great. At the kids' school, all of their friends have ogled the car, along with a lot of kids we don't know (and more than one mom asked me more than one question about it!). At the grocery store and other random places we go, people stop us to comment on it. When we drive down the street we can see people doing double-takes. :) It has rained a few times, but only lightly, so the paint is smudging and such but still largely intact. Of course, it's March in New England, so surely it can't last...but we're really enjoying it as long as it does!
( Some pictures behind the cut... )
In conclusion: this is a great activity for a weekend afternoon, preferably when the weather is forecast to be dry for several days afterward. It's quite economical too; the paint was only $2 per bottle and we have a LOT left; the paintbrushes were about $10 total, but I did buy way too many -- you could easily do it with half that, and of course, we can and will reuse the brushes as well.
I also have some Deep Thoughts(tm) about why it seems like no one ever does this. Perhaps I shall manage to get those down in a post at some point.
I'm not sure exactly where the idea came from. It just hit me one afternoon out of the blue, and became a bit of an obsession. I googled extensively over the next few days. When I started out, I felt sure that one of two things would happen: either a) I would find out that painting the car was not feasible for some reason (illegal, maybe, or damaging to the car, or???) or b) I would find a whole bunch of blog posts from mommy-bloggers who had done it and would offer tips, tricks, suggestions, and of course pictures.
To my surprise, though, neither of those happened. I found precisely one mommy-blogger post, and in that case it was a nonfunctional car that the family had decided to junk, and the mom let the kids paint it before they called the junkyard. But other than that, nothing. I was surprised. I kept googling for a while longer, sure that I would find something to explain why no one had apparently ever thought of this before. Meanwhile, I googled tempera paint and read all about how safe it is (quite literally safe enough to eat, in fact, although of course I don't recommend that and did not mention it to my kids).
At last, satisfied that it seemed legal and safe, I decided to do it. Still I said nothing to the kids, though. I snuck off to the local arts and crafts store (Michael's) one Saturday afternoon when I had an hour of kid-free time, and I bought big 16-ounce bottles of tempera paint in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white. I also bought lots of different paintbrushes of all sizes and types. That evening, I suggested to the kids that we take the car through a car-wash. They love that, so of course they were excited. We got the car washed and I still said nothing about painting it. That night after they were asleep, I snuck outside and painted a small "J" in blue on the side of the car, as a test. The next morning I splashed some water on the J and rubbed it with my fingers; it came right off, and most importantly, there was obviously no damage to the car's paint underneath. It was then that I knew we were Go! :)
I put the kids in the car and headed for my mom's house, because she lives on a quiet cul-de-sac where we could walk around the car and feel safe, unlike our street which is quite busy. On the way over, I told the kids that we were going to paint the car. At first they were disbelieving, but excitement began to grow, especially in Ruthie, who loves to draw and paint. I handed her the package of assorted-size paintbrushes that I had bought, and she examined them carefully, already choosing which she would use for what.
We got to grandma's house, parked the car, poured paint into small plastic cups, put on oversize t-shirts as smocks, and laid down some basic ground rules. No painting on the windows (the kids were quick to understand why this would be unsafe). No painting yourself or your sibling. No paint on the license plate or headlights. And then...I set them loose! :)
Well, when I say "them," I mean us, of course. My mom and I participated too and we all had a blast. At first, each of us claimed one door for our own, but soon we were branching out to the other parts of the car and "helping" each other with the other areas. It was a nice sunny crisp day, and we had a great time. We used the red and white paint to mix up a little bit of pink, and the kids had fun experimenting with different proportions to make brown. By the time we were done, some of the paint was already starting to flake off, but the car looked fantastic overall. We drove off to the monthly SMC meeting, and I told the kids to watch the faces of the pedestrians we passed. We got a lot of amusing and amused looks! The kids were excited by the thought of driving to school the next morning. :)
So, it has been over a week now, and the reaction has been great. At the kids' school, all of their friends have ogled the car, along with a lot of kids we don't know (and more than one mom asked me more than one question about it!). At the grocery store and other random places we go, people stop us to comment on it. When we drive down the street we can see people doing double-takes. :) It has rained a few times, but only lightly, so the paint is smudging and such but still largely intact. Of course, it's March in New England, so surely it can't last...but we're really enjoying it as long as it does!
( Some pictures behind the cut... )
In conclusion: this is a great activity for a weekend afternoon, preferably when the weather is forecast to be dry for several days afterward. It's quite economical too; the paint was only $2 per bottle and we have a LOT left; the paintbrushes were about $10 total, but I did buy way too many -- you could easily do it with half that, and of course, we can and will reuse the brushes as well.
I also have some Deep Thoughts(tm) about why it seems like no one ever does this. Perhaps I shall manage to get those down in a post at some point.
