One fish, two fish, not so blue fish...

Okay, so there were two fish... then [::mumble::] I broke one...

Everybody now, say it together: This is why we can't have nice things!

Truth, though... I bought these two fish for $0.25 each at our local ReStore, then promptly broke one while washing what-I-thought-was-dust-but-was-actually-milky-finish off it.

Milky finish doesn't wash off, you say? Well, if you scrub hard enough, you can break a tail...

Oops.

I got them to join this guy in the boys' suicidal smiley erm, sunshine yellow bathroom. He's from our trip to Cancun. I began painting him poolside, and brought him home to finish the job with my dollar store acrylics that've been lying around the house for oh, a few years at least.

This photo doesn't do the yellow justice. Imagine a smiley face decided to blow his brains out, and the gore was absorbed into our bathroom walls. Evenly. That almost gives you a good idea...

But these this fish needed some help.

First thing I did was take our dollar store acrylic paint that's been kicking around here forever and painted him white (about three good coats). And forgot to take a photo.

Second oops.

Then I used a pencil to trace the lines following the shape of the fish to block out the areas of colour (I used the photo of his previous design as a guide), and chose my rainbow palette to go with the lizard that had been finished with the same paints post-Cancun.

Then I painted.

Top left: There's about four layers of each colour to get a good coat.

Top right: Using a Sharpie marker I traced the lines, and referred my photo of the fish's original paint job to get the details right. And what's great is if you make a mistake you can repaint that section to erase and begin again once it dries.

Bottom left: I used an acrylic sealer to create a glossy coat. Multiple thin coats are best.

Bottom right: My brain went, "MORE SHINE!" and I got overzealous with my glossy needs. I put too thick a coat on ze fish, and some of my Sharpie lines began to bleed. Look at his eye—he's crying. So tragic...

Third oops.

Meh. All in all, it's a $0.25 fish (okay, $0.50 fish if you count his broken brother), that was given new life for a kids' bathroom thanks to dollar store paints that I already owned. Cheap project? I'll say...

Full disclosure: I left this project on the kitchen counter, paints and all, and whenever I went in there for any reason that day I'd layer on more paint. Between priming him white, painting, detailing, and spraying the glossy topcoat, it took me three days to upcycle this little guy.

Now to keep trolling second hand stores. Planning to add to our rainbow menagerie, one species at a time...