Rain Barrel Mural

Have you ever wanted to paint a rain barrel? Rain barrels are very popular right now as more people are realizing their benefits which include saving water. I'm the homeroom mom for my daughter's preK3 class and this was our project for the upcoming school's Gala fundraiser.

First we purchased our rain barrel. We purposely picked one that was blue in color.

We My hubby sanded the barrel to get it ready for priming with his handy dandy electric sander, then primed the bottom 3/4 of the barrel where we I knew would be painted.

 

After taping off the top area that we knew was not going to be painted, my hubby sprayed the bottom portion with a white primer spray.

After it was primed, we used acrylic paints and painted a fence with 15 stems (one flower stem for each student).

A few days later, I took it into the classroom where we painted on the children's handprints. We had 3 moms total helping. One mom painted the child's hand with the paint color, one mom stamped the handprint on the flower stem, and the third mom was ready to take the child right to the sink to wash off all the paint. Since we had to use acrylic paints, we had to make sure to wash the paint off their hands right away.
On the top portion of the barrel we painted the psalm "Like showers that water the earth," and are going to include a school umbrella and some native plants. Isn't it cute? The kids had so much fun getting their hands painted.

Now all that is left is a coating of polyeurethane. I'm sad to see this barrel go! I'm going to have to either place a bid for it, or create one for our house next.
I'm linking up with some weekend DIY parties:
Mommas Kinda Crafty
and Fingerprints on the Fridge
and It's a Hodgepodge Life