Spray Painting Ceramic: My New Kitchen Canisters

Finally! It's been the rainiest month here since 1961 and we finally had a warm, sunny Saturday. I decided to take advantage of this hint of spring to cut down on my list of projects.

Meet my new kitchen canisters:

Nice, aren't they?

You may remember how they started out.... a $3-for-the-whole-set church rummage sale find. With blue bows. And teddy bears. And more bears. And more bows.

After running the canisters through the dishwasher, I decided to give all the canisters a light sanding, hoping it would make the paint stick to the glossy surface better. I don't think it did much good, except to make sure the surfaces were *really* clean.

Then, I taped plastic bags on the inside, since I didn't want to spray paint the parts that would be touching food.  Taking everything outside, I gave it all a good coat of spray primer.

To be honest, I probably would not use primer on glossy ceramic again. It was just too chalky and flaky to stick durably to the finish. Oh well, live and learn.

Up next was the real paint. I chose Rustoleum's Universal All Surface paint in Real Almond gloss finish. This was partly because I liked the color, and partly because it was on sale at Jo-Ann's for $3.

To review the product, I think the nozzle is funny. Every time I hit the trigger, it would start with a sputter, spewing out uneven blobs of paint. The paint might be ok, but the mechanics of the can design are off. I would not buy it again.  Anyways, I gave it a few light coats:

When they were dry, I brought them in, tied some jute twine around the tops, and voila! My new canisters:

I wish I'd skipped the $4 can of Rustoleum American Accents spray primer, but for the price of a can of spray paint, my $3 canisters look pretty darn good. Don't you think?