ping pong paddle painted cacti

i sometimes see something online that inspires me, 
and i take the idea a bit further...

add or subtract or just let it jump-start my imagination,

and end up creating my own new version of something.

i thought i'd share this view of a past project with you today...
it was inspired by someone else's project, i took it further with my own idea,
and i shared the BACK side of it last fall.
(to be honest, i like this side the best!)

continue reading to see all of the prickly details of my faux cacti!

last fall, i saw some scrap wood cacti shared by 'A Crafty Mix'

shared on Funky Junk Interiors' weekly DIY Salvaged Junk Projects Party. (links below)

they inspired my idea to use a different wood item as the basis of my repurposed cacti.

ping pong paddles, to be precise!

 i easily found two ping pong paddles at the thrift store,

and made quick work of transforming them into faux cactus plants with paint.

those paddles had two sides:

one smooth red rubber, one a bumpy textured black rubber.

i decided that the texture would add to the illusion of a cactus,

so i smeared a few shades of green paint all over it.

when dry, i added a wash of some yellow-green in places, to make them look more round. 

 over that, i painted on faded dark lines and faded white lines, 

to create the effect of raised ridges on the cactus.
then i added little painted 'X' marks and tiny dots as 'spines'...
you could also glue on tiny bits of string as 'spines' for a 3-D effect!

i painted the handles a darker brown - not that cactus have stems,
but they coordinate with what i painted on the smooth red rubber side.

 popped into these enamel buckets, they look pretty real!
[ they would also look great in baskets, wood crates, metal locker baskets, 
and even 'planted' in terra cotta pots. ]

cactus & succulents are a great way to bridge the summer - to - fall season
on porches and in entryway decor - at the very least!

truth is, i'm just not one to jump into the next season until it arrives.
i spent 45 years working in retail visual merchandising, 
where you have to 'push the season' by several months,
and i got really sick of Halloween in June and Christmas in August.
so... i'm not doing fall stuff yet here on the blog or at home.

but if you're looking for fall inspo, there's TONS of it here!

* look in the topics listed at the bottom of this page

* click on the 'autumn' tab in the sidebar for ALL fall posts

* visit my tutorials page for a link to my fall decor tutorials

* click on the 'featured post' widget in the sidebar for my
TOP THREE Pumpkin tutorials!

* search for specific terms (fall, pumpkins, leaves, etc)
in the box at the top left corner of this page

 speaking of fall and pumpkins,
i painted two different versions of pumpkins on the flip side of the ping pong paddles!

(link to the original post below)
you'll also find more suggestions for other ways to paint ping pong paddles
as seasonal decor that's easy to store!

.

links to posts mentioned above:

painted ping pong paddle pumpkins 

Funky Junk Interiors DIY Salvaged Junk Projects Party #474

A Crafty Mix wood cacti

shared online:

( 2023) creatively beth | creative crafts linky party #154

thank you for featuring my project, Miss Beth!