First of the year DIY hack: Pottery Barn Painted Oars.

We are getting SO very close to putting together the finishing touches in little Luke's nursery. Besides this little, VERY easy project, we my husband also sanded down his previous blue dresser so we could stain it back to it original, antique glory. Why we ever went blue with it is beyond me.

Here is your first sneak peak to what the theme of his room is....

Except these adorable oars (really they are paddles) are a little out of our budget. But I got to thinking, how hard could it seriously be to do something just like these? Off to Craig's List to search in our area for some paddles. I luckily found two, one is three feet and one is 3.5 feet, I got them BOTH for $25. Score! 

For this project you will need:

• Sanding block
• Painters tape
• Oars/paddles
• Brown paint (sample of Valspar's Journey)
• White paint (left over Valspar Ultra White)
• kitchen sponge
• plastic drop cloth

After I sanded both paddles down, I used my sponge to 'blot' the brown paint on the oar. The sponge gives the oar an aged looked. The right paddle is the one after I applied the paint.

After waiting for the paint to dry for about 5 hours (you want it to be dry enough that the painters tape will not remove the paint)... I added tape in rows along the paddles. 

Then I used the white paint to sponge the interior part of the painters tape. 

After about thirty minutes, I removed the tape while the white paint was still a little sticky, and let them dry for the remaining for the evening. 

They turned out pretty darn good, and all for under $30! Now, I just have to find a way to rig them to the wall above the crib in order to make sure they stay up there for good! Sorry for the poor lighting, I did not feel like waiting until the morning to take pictures! Happy New Year everyone!