Galaxy Spray Paint Tin with Serenity (Firefly) Decal


Over the years, I've had some practice at spray painting objects to look like a starry night. I've painted boxes, trays, altar candles, and even composition notebooks. So when I came across this tin with a Terry Redlin scene on it (probably a Boy Scout popcorn tin from ages ago), I decided it needed the galaxy treatment.


I got a cardboard box and a can of black spray paint and took the tin out on my deck.


I gave it a couple of good coats of black paint and let it dry between coats.


After the black paint had a chance to set completely, I came back a few days later and a ton of colors of spray paint.


I splattered and sprayed purples and teals and blues and pink paint all over the tin until it look like 1991 threw up on it. It darkened a bit as as it dried, but it was still pretty ridiculous.


After the colors dried, I came back and knocked them down with some black and silver paint sprayed over the top. I continued to layer and splatter paint until I liked the way it looked.


I let the paint dry for a few days (with the lid off) and then came back to add some stars. I found that you can spray a puddle of spray paint onto a paper plate and use some round toothpicks dipped into the paint to make some stars.


I tried to position the stars randomly. Everything in me wants to make them symmetrical and evenly spaced, but they look better in little groups here and there and with different sizes of stars (the stars will get smaller as you run out of paint on the toothpick). I even made a little comet on the lid to commemorate comet NEOWISE that made its appearance this summer.


After letting the stars dry, I decided to add a decal from my stash of holographic decals I cut earlier this summer. I had a few ships, but I selected Serenity from Firefly and turned the tin to the plainest/least colorful section. I cut a section of transfer tape the size of my decal. I selected the stickier variety because this decal has lots of little separate parts. 


I peeled the backing off of the transfer tape and tried to center it over my decal. Then I burnished the design with the handle of my scissors. I rubbed over each piece of the decal as carefully as I could to make sure it would stick to the transfer tape.


I peeled the backing off of the decal, a few pieces didn't want to stick to the tape, but I caught them backed up in time to get them to stick. Then I applied the decal and transfer tape to the tin. I burnished the decal again with the scissors handle and carefully peeled the transfer tape off of the decal.


Shiny! I love the way my tin and the decal turned out! It's pretty cunning, dontcha think?

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