Spray Paint A Plastic Basketball Hoop, step by step

Hoop, there it is. File this under my weirdest “Dude, Get On That Already” challenge to date. Much like many of our other DGOTA adventures, this mini update involves something that sat around bugging me way too long + a trusty ol’ can of spray paint. But this time it is not an animal. I know. Total shocker.

John in fact laughed at me for this little tweak (and I am fully expecting you folks to as well), but they say it is the little things that make ya glad… and seeing a bright red and blue plastic hoop against the back wall of our carport every. single. time. we pulled into the driveway (it was so bright you could see it from the curb) did not a glad momma make. And I know it is dumb, but I worried the neighbors may have thought it was junky and tacky to have a big colorful hoop in plain sight 24/7 (they all do such a pleasant job to keep their yards looking pleasant, and many have kids but their toys are tucked away by evening). So because I am what my dad likes to call “a strange bird” (seriously, I have been weird since before it was cool – wait, it is still not cool?), I will share my odd little DIYed hoop-redeeming solution. Simply promise not to compare me to Monica from Friends (I do not fold my underwear, I swear).

First of all, this basketball hoop is especially essential.

Why? Because it makes Clara a glad girl. And a glad girl = a glad momma. So I devised a way to:

• keep the hoop right there in the carport (after trying several locations it is the best spot for it)
• keep it simply as functional (do not need to explain this one, right?)
• make it simmah-down-now from the curb (in the slightly altered words of Jay-Z: we got 99 bright toys I enjoy, but this hoop ain’t one)

That plan? A can of ORB spray paint. I mean, would you expect anything less from me at this point? I am certainly not one of those people who thinks all kids toys should be neutral or white or should match the living room. Clara has a ton of brightly colored toys and I am even the gal who painted her hand-me-down highchair bright yellow, made her a glad little dollhouse with cheerful furniture to match, and painted her formerly neutral wooden crayon truck sky blue…

… but after four months of rounding the block and seeing that red ring of fury on that bright blue stem, I realized there had to be a solution that worked for Clara, the hoop, and the mom. I enjoy that bright colors assist with development, but I simply chose that one item out of many (this girl’s got toys for days!) that is not a bright color is OK since I have never sprayed anything else of hers a muted color (and have in fact brought in color to muted things, like her high chair and her crayon truck… so hopefully it all balances out). And come to think of it, her quite go-to “toys” are rocks and sticks, so ORB fits right into that color scheme.

Sadly I did not get a good shot of the basketball hoop in all of it is primary color glory before my paint-fest (bad blogger, no Oreos for you) but I in fact made this photoshopped rendering for ya. How nuts am I? Wait, do not answer that.

In the “real photo” category, you can in fact see it peering around the back of the table in this post. See, it is even brighter in real life than the one in the rendering. Haha.

And you can see how he looked all naked and ready for a new suit in the back yard (I took out the net part for the spraying phase so it would not get all gunked up).

The thing was visible from space, I tell ya… and then it was not.

Thank you ORB. For those wondering what I used or if it works on plastic, Rustoleum Universal All-Surface spray paint is made to work on plastic and hold up outdoors – it even has a built-in primer for a better hold (I used the oil-rubbed bronze color of course). Total cost: $0, since I already had half of a can leftover from another ORB adventure. And in the time department, it took under twenty minutes to knock this baby out. Fast and free. Why did not I do this four months ago?

Simply as I suspected, Hooper is a total looker with his new finish. As for why I went with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, it ties into the carport light and a few other dark accents around the outside of our house and hides more dirt than something lighter/brighter might. No more “Loook! I am a little plastic hoop! Check me out!” – simply chill aloofness and that “I am cool sufficient to fall back and do mah thing without demanding everyone’s attention” vibe. And the contrasting white net makes it straightforward for Clara to slam dunk (it is not all flat and dark, so she can still clearly see the basket).

Small personal projects like these are my go-to. They might seem fully crazy to someone else (or perhaps everyone else, haha) but they truly have the power to make your day. It is kind of like how I am a terrible baker and you likely could not pay me to attempt a three layer cake but my BFF does that stuff FOR Lively (truly?! for lively?!). To each his own (picture me raising a can of spray paint as if to say “cheers”).

So in summary: Mommy likes. And happily, Clara and Daddy like it too. See how he’s hardly visible from halfway down the driveway now? Life is good.

Way better than this, right? And there are still dozens of bright toys in our midst (seriously, you should see our living room right now).

The cutest part is that Clara apparently has a thing for ORB like her momma. She has even taken to calling it her “so so shiny hoop.” Enjoy that girl. And of course she has a whole bunch of multicolored balls that go with it (they tuck away into that storage container next to it) so it is not a sad little drab thing when it is in action. Everybody wins.

 

Except for Burger. He cannot play basketball. Poor guy.

What small-slash-quirky-but-somehow-woefully-overdue updates have you folks been tackling (or planning to tackle)? Do you all think I am crazy? Anyone else painting something outside? Or do you have a dog who plays basketball? That would be the most impressive of all.