Painting three ways CELEBRATE THE SEASON

Spring into action with these blooming lovely ideas by Emily Somerville-Ryan

1 RETRO FLOWER POWER

Upcycle plain paper plates into glorious blooms to decorate your walls. Cut a pattern such as a zig zag across the upper third of the plate to create the top of the flower. Out of the discarded piece of plate cut two leaves and paint them using Resene Tree Frog, then set aside to dry. Decorate the top of the flower in any design you choose. We used Resene Sunrise and Resene Daredevil (oranges), Resene Half Turbo (yellow), Resene Candy Floss (red), Resene Hopbush and Resene Ballerina (pinks) and Resene Blackcurrant (purple). Once all the paint has dried, stick the leaves and a stripy straw to the back of the flower plate with a hot glue gun. To create more interest, use a variety of different-sized paper plates.

2 PRODUCE YOUR OWN VEGE MARKERS

Take away the guesswork this spring by painting cute plant markers on wooden spoons and placing them in your vege patch with your spring seeds. Old wooden spoons will do the trick, or pick up a pack of inexpensive plain ones from the supermarket. Lightly draw each vegetable on the back of the spoon with a pencil. Using a fine paintbrush, colour in each design with bright Resene paints. We used Resene Sunrise and Resene Daredevil (oranges), Resene Half Turbo and Resene Sweet Corn (yellows), Resene Blackcurrant (purple), Resene Tree Frog, Resene Groovy and Resene Crusoe (greens), Resene Candy Floss (red) and Resene Black White (white).

3 PRETTY POTS

Bring old pots back to life and inject some extra spring colour into your home or garden by using vibrant paints from the Resene colour range. Prepare them with a quick clean and coat inside and out with Resene Terracotta Sealer. Once dry, paint your pots with two coats of any fun colours you fancy. We used Resene Tree Frog and Resene Crusoe, Resene Ballerina and Resene Blackcurrant. Let pots dry thoroughly before planting lovely spring blossoms like daffodils and hyacinths and placing them as a centrepiece on your table.