Silver Chrome Coral Table Numbers

As a table accent for my "nautical but nice" wedding theme, I decided to make silver coral table number holders to accompany the centerpieces.  While I think they'll look great at the wedding, I think they'll look even better accessorizing the homes of myself, friends, and family!  It's been a real goal of mine to make sure our wedding stuff will have a second home after the big day.

I got this idea from my ever so crafty and creative friend Maizie over at Chic Done Cheap.  She was helping me design my wedding stationary and we were chatting about table number when she had the epiphany to use these.  She had just bought the materials to make one of her own as home decor, and we decided it was perfect for the wedding.

I started with cheap plastic fish tank corals readily available at Wal Mart.  I realized after buying out every store in my greater metropolitan area that these aren't frequently restocked items, so I had a few purchased and shipped from others parts of the country to add to my collection.

Maizie had used Krylon Premium Original Chrome spray paint from Michael's on some other crafts, but when I couldn't find it at the hardware store, I bought Rustoleum Specialty Metallic spray paint, thinking it looked to be about the same stuff.

I set up a big drop cloth in my back yard, laid out all the corals and shells, and got to work.  I chose the warmest day we've had in January, with the thought that I might not get another chance to do this for at least another two months.

My trusty partner was enjoying the nice day, too!

After evenly coating 22 corals and 10 shells in Rustoleum, I decided it just wasn't shiny enough (chromy enough, as my Mom would say).  So I trekked over to Michael's for the good stuff.  The Krylon chrome paint really is shinier than Rustoleum.  So much so, that I would never use the Rustoleum for projects like this again.

So I sprayed all the coral and shells a second time with the shinier chrome spray paint.  After drying for a day I noticed a few spots where the original color was peeking through, so I did a few touchups, but overall it came out pretty well the first time.

This project took about two hours of labor overall, not counting the second trip to the store.  I paid $5.99 for the Krylon, and about $3.30 for each coral.  Sounds like a bargain to me.

Cute, nautical, marine sciencey table decor, completely repurposeable as home decor.  Totally worth it!

Want some for yourself without the DIY?  Head on over to my Etsy shop!!!

Bonnie Projects