DIY Whimsical Globe

I have been dreaming about the beautiful painted globes that are all over Pinterest for months! I knew I wanted to try it out for myself when I saw this little globe at a Value Village back in April. The globes people sell on Etsy or Anthropologie are upwards $200 and my little globe was $1.99 plus the cost of paint. Not a bad deal right? I had so much fun making the globe, and thought I’d show you guys exactly how I did it!

To make your very own painted globe you will need:

• A globe
• Paint palette or plastic lid
• Newspaper
• Primer Spray Paint
• Gold Spray Paint
• Paint for the water (light blue)
• Paint for the earth (navy blue)
• A gold paint pen
• Various paint brushes
• Small sponges
• Small screwdriver

Step 1

I covered a small table with newspaper and took my globe outside and gave it a very light coat of primer. The surface of my globe was quite shiny making it hard to paint, but after a quick coat it was much easier! Just make sure you are still able to see the continents through the paint.

Step 2

Then I got started on the water. I grabbed a small brush and went around each continent to make an outline and then used a sponge to fill in the large oceans. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look precise! I love how my globe turned out and it is far from perfect. My UK and Italy are questionable at best; try not to sweat the small stuff.

I found that with smaller islands like the northern region of Canada, Indonesia, Hawaii and New Zealand it was easier for me to paint over the entire region lightly and then go in later with the navy over top of the light blue to finish it off. That way I didn’t have to worry about getting an even coat in between all the tiny little islands. To be honest, by the time I got to Canada I was pretty impatient because after painting Indonesia I decided to just make it up. I looked at a map for about two seconds and painted in islands to fill in the space and make it look recognizable.

Step 3

I started with my navy paint by making an outline around each country. This is basically the same drill as with above, but I took my time to really smooth out the edges of each country and keeping my brush strokes to a minimum. When that was done, I grabbed my sponge again and filled in the blanks!

Step 4

After I had finished painting the entire globe, I let it sit for a while until it had completely dried. When the paint was dry to touch (maybe half an hour later), I grabbed my screwdriver and took the globe apart in order to paint the stand gold. I rested the globe on a cup making sure to keep all the pieces together and went outside with my primer and gold spray paint!

Step 5

The gold stand makes such a difference! I love how the navy compliments the gold giving it a glamorous look. I wanted to bring in the gold a little bit more and used my gold paint pen to draw circles approximately around where I thought Halifax, Toronto, Atlanta and Shanghai were located. As I travel more I want to keep adding to it!

Step 6

While I was looking designs up on Pinterest, I noticed that most people added a quote onto the globe. I decided to write “adventure awaits” with my gold paint pen to complete the globe. I probably could have done a better job with the writing, but I was way too excited and just went for it. Again, who says it needs to be perfect?

 

I’m so happy with how it turned out! Although throughout the process I had my doubts that it would even resemble the world, I had so much fun painting. The entire process was extremely relaxing and it only took a few hours to complete. I had so much fun that I even want to make another one! Please let me know if you guys try this out! I would love to see photos! You can find me on Instagram and twitter @rowanmorrissy.

Have a great day!