DIY stone Blessed Mother: 5 minute makeover

Truly, this little “makeover” will take 5 minutes. Maybe even less.

I was at my parent’s house last summer, admiring their (what I perceived to be) gorgeous white stone statue of the Blessed Mother. I asked my mom where she got it, and she said they painted it.

How this thought had never occurred to me, the one who paints literally everything, I’m not sure, but it was a genius idea and truly does take the inexpensive resin figurine up quite a few notches.

Here’s all you need:

A statue (this is the one I have)
White spray paint
A dropcloth or old cardboard box

You place your figurine on the drop cloth, shake up your paint can, and go. Hold your can about 8 inches away, and spray evenly from side to side, starting at the top and gradually moving down the statue until she’s covered.

Try to avoid applying a very thick coat of paint, as that will cause more drips. It’s better to do multiple, light coats (the paint I used dries to touch in 20 minutes if you need to do that). I did one light coat and then just came back for a few small touchups later, but didn’t need a full second coat.

I liked spray painting because it’s inexpensive to buy outdoor safe paint that bonds well to plastic, resin, and similar materials, and it goes on quickly and evenly through all of the folds of her cloak on both front and back.

And voila! We don’t have our act together enough to have a real Mary garden this year with a thoughtfully curated flower selection (goals for the future!) but if you’re in the same boat, you can truly place her near any prominent flowers, bushes, or trees and the end result is gorgeous. We have these bushes (doublefile vibernum) that are gigantic and they flower beautifully in the spring, so I felt like this is the perfect spot for now.