Summer is coming and the seasonal tide of coastal decor is starting to pull at me. I have previously made faux starfish and red and white coral out of salt dough, and today I am going to show you another super easy way to make a faux red coral. Want the secret ingredient? Sticks.

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You know I loves me some sticks and spray paint projects! This involves both.

Gather a bunch of sticks that are sort of bendy and gnarled, then spray paint them with red paint. You’re painting sticks… it’s fine to use the el-cheap-o spray paint on this project. Next, grab some red and orange acrylic paint (I like Martha’s) use 1 part red to 3 parts orange and then add a little water to thin it out.
Paint/drip the coral colored paint wash all over the sticks. I find it easiest to spray paint them flat, then flip them over and do the other side, but to hold them while applying the paint wash. It doesn’t have to be perfectly even coverage.
Here is an example of real red coral. It’s had a shiny gloss applied to it, but the shape looks pretty similar to sticks and branches, don’t you think?
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I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, and I especially like the price. Which is, you know, free. What do you think? Do you use coastal elements in your home?
By the way, I have a great round up of more than 40 Brunch Recipes from some fabulous cooks and bloggers. It’s not too late to put together a great breakfast treat for Mom.
Check it out for Mother’s Day, but there are some wonderful recipes in there that would be great for bridal and baby showers too.
Oh this is a fabulous idea…I totally love it!!! Thanks for the tutorial. Happy Mom's Day!
FABBY
This is a brilliant idea and ties in beautifully with those paper napkin lamps you made. The trick, I suppose, is getting coral-ly looking twigs to start. These would look wonderful arranged in a vase with some shells and some pale, rounded pebbles. Thanks for the tutorial!