Female head statues (or busts) are popular right now.

You've probably seen them as planters. Every brick-and-mortar store that carries home decor has some version of them.

I found one on a recent trip to Goodwill. It's not a planter, it's just a ceramic bust of a woman with a headscarf. It was painted a bronzy black color but my initial vision was to paint her white like so many you see in the stores.

It turned into a much more in-depth makeover though because I didn't like her once I'd painted her white.

This is not really a tutorial post. I do share how I transformed her but I don't go into great detail on some of the steps. Come see her transformation!

Thrifted Female Statue Makeover

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This is what she looked like when I found her at Goodwill for $4.99.

Stage one - my initial plan: I used Rust-oleum Ultra Matte spray paint in white.

She looked better than when I found her, but I wasn't happy and she had a weird blemish on her cheek. I don't think you can see it in the picture.

I decided to try adding colorful fabric to her headscarf to liven her up a bit. This is part of a vintage tablecloth that I had (it was already cut up when I found it 😖 but it has been fun to use for craft projects!)

I used satin Mod Podge to glue the fabric over her scarf.

I liked the addition of the colorful scarf but I still didn't like her white face.

I considered adding antiquing gel that would highlight her features but then I started wondering if I could paint her face to look like a real person 😬

I decided to give it a shot, you never know until you try right?!

I mixed flesh tone and toffee-colored craft paint together to get a color I liked.

Then I painted her hair with toffee-colored paint and added shading and details with a darker brown color.

Then I sketched in some eyebrows with a pencil following the subtle shape that was already there.

I filled them in with the same colors as the hair. I used a skinny paintbrush and tried to make little strokes that would look more like hair.

They definitely are not perfect but that's how people's faces are, we don't have perfectly symmetrical faces.

Now it was time to tackle the eyes. I gave her some eyeshadow and then painted the eye area white.

Then I sketched in the shape of the iris.

One thing to keep in mind when painting eyes is not to let the whole iris show. If you look at yourself in the mirror, you'll see that the top (sometimes the bottom too) of your iris, which is the colored part of your eye, is covered.

I mixed parakeet green and Tuscan teal to make the eye color.

I filled in the eyes, added the black pupil, squiggled some paint around the pupil (eye color mixed with black), and lined around the iris with black.

I decided I didn't like the eyeshadow so I went over it with the face color but left some darker areas where the crease would be.

I'm not sure what is up with the bumpy appearance of her skin, I think the spray paint wasn't smooth 😔

I added some eyeliner in black.

Here she is so far.

Next, I filled in her lips. I didn't get many pictures but I started with the darker pink color and then filled in with lighter leaving a line around the outside (like lip liner). Then I added some highlights with an even lighter color.

I also added white highlights to her eyes and some bottom eyelashes. TIP: Highlights make your subject look alive. To add them, pick a side where the light would shine. I chose the left side when you're looking at her, so that means the light would be coming at her from HER right. I hope that makes sense. Paint the highlights in the eyes and on the mouth on the same side.

I also added shading under her eyebrows, under her bottom lip, in her nostrils, etc.

Now I wanted her lips to be shiny like she had lipgloss on. I used Triple Thick Glaze from DecoArt.

I also added the glaze over her eyes and you'll see I added the eyeshadow back in... lol... indecisive much?!

And I added blush. I used a dry scruffy paint brush and just barely dipped it into the paint, wiped it off with a paper towel, and then scrubbed it onto her cheeks using a circular motion. And if you look closely, you can see I added some freckles 😀

Then I turned my attention to her scarf again... it just wasn't enough for me... it needed something more.

I looked through my vintage suitcase full of silk flowers and found these. My daughter used some for a Halloween costume one year and these are what was left. I believe they are from the Dollar Store and they are actually pretty ugly... very fake looking.

I took each rose apart and only used the bottom few layers of petals.

I added them all around her face.

And then, because I can't leave well enough alone, I gave her some forehead jewels.

I added some pink flowers in with the red roses and I wanted orange flowers too but didn't have any so I improvised with some vintage orange crepe paper.

I cut it into strips and then scrunched them up to resemble little flowers.

The final touches were to add some eyelashes...

And a nose and eyebrow piercing.

I'm really proud of how she turned out considering I wasn't even sure I could make her look realistic!

To remind you what she looked like when I found her, here is a before and after.

I hope you enjoyed this makeover. If you did, would you please share? 😊

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Comments by Blogger

VikkiJune 30, 2023
what a transformation--before she was just a sad little peasant girl. Now, she's queen of the festival!! The iris on the eyes really took this over the top. (Good tips!) Beautiful job!!
AnonymousJune 30, 2023
She’s gorgeous!! You did wonderful. Hugs,
Tuula @ Color Me ThriftyJuly 01, 2023
I'm so impressed Tania! She's absolutely gorgeous!! I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for a head bust. I'd love to give this a try myself.

Thrifted Female Statue Makeover

Thrifted Female Statue Makeover

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