An Ikea Bird Mobile Fix-Up: A DIY Fail Turned Win

Ever walk through a store while shopping to decorate a particular room, have something catch your eye, and say to yourself, "I just need to tweak that a tiny bit and it would be perfect for the space..."?

Well, that exact thing happened to me and my friend when we stumbled upon this cute KLADSAM mobile at Ikea.

We thought it would be perfect for the "Fly Away with Me" nursery we were shopping for....that is, if the bird was a different color.  Frankly, any color other than florescent yellow would have been a win since our room design concept was so colorful and bright (see inspiration board below).

I quickly told my friend to buy the mobile since it was only $10, and convinced her that we could easily use some Rub 'N Buff that I had on hand at home to make the bird a glamorous metallic gold.

Seemed easy enough, right?  I mean, I've successfully used Rub 'N Buff on everything...until now.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

At this point, I'm thinking - gee, I'm glad I only have to cough up $10 to cover the cost of this miserable attempt at color-coating an acid yellow bird.

Lesson learned, Rub 'N Buff does not work on ALL surfaces...just 99.9% of surfaces I've encountered.   

Thankfully, a little scrapbook paper and Mod Podge picked up where the Rub 'N Buff left off.  And now, we're here...a much happier and promising place.

Exhibit C:

Exhibit D:

Thankfully, I think we got somewhere good on the second attempt.

Second lesson learned, never give up on a DIY fail.  There's usually a solution out there, no matter how much you've messed something up.

Just keep polishing and the project will likely eventually shine!  Now getting your usually photo-shy kid to move out of your photo frame when you're in a rush to get project photos taken and head out the door...that's another story.  At least she's cute!  I mean who doesn't wish they could still dress like that??

(The nursery reveal will be soon hopefully!)