Hootie Hoot-Hoot-Hoooooot

We have an owl. Well, we don't own an owl. It's not ours, nor does it live with us. I guess it's more of a local owl. A neighborhood owl, if you will. And it seems quite fond of the tree outside our bedroom window. It isn't there every night, but when it is there I'll admit that I enjoy drifting off to sleep to it's repeated calls of "Hootie hoot-hoot-hoooot! Hootie hoot-hoot-hooooot!"

Speaking of owls, I finally got around to rehabbing the owl napkin holder that I picked up at Goodwill a few weeks ago. In the interest of frugality, I decided that I would use some of the few paints I already had on hand. I gave it a good prime with white paint, but it didn't cover very well. It was good enough for primer, but I could tell that if I really wanted solid coverage it could be a challenge. Thankfully, solid coverage wasn't what I was after.

BEFORE

I put on a coat of aqua paint, but that particular paint had a very matte finish and it didn't look right at all. Since I decided to let the white of the primer show through in the recessed areas, I decided to do a very light wash of white over the color. It was trial and error at its finest, but in the end I mixed a little bit of the white paint with a little water and lightly brushed it all over with a foam brush. It took the edge off the matte finish without lightening the aqua color, which was exactly what I wanted!

AFTER: