Let's Paint!

June 20, 2011, Monday. First of all, kudos to P-Noy for making this day a holiday. Not! I still think it's just a replacement of the Independence Day holiday (supposedly June 13, Monday, since the actual day, June 12, fell on a Sunday) just because he refuses to observe GMA's holiday economics. But still, it's good since it actually creates more awareness to our national hero's 150th birth anniversary.

Anyway, thanks to the holiday, the Godsends were able to go out today. First up, we went to Chu Hock Trading in Magallanes where Godsend Debbie bought some items for their store in Minglanilla. She went there primarily to buy stickers cause it's a hot item for kids (they'll most likely stick it to their new books, notebooks and other school stuff). As a sidenote, this establishment uses Alliance POS, so that's cool now, ain't it?

We then went to SM. A lunch at Chowking where we tasted their new Chinese-style fried chicken, and we say it is good as advertised. We also had 3 pieces of siomai for free courtesy of SMART Rewards! After that, we had dessert from Gelatissimo. Awesome flavors that we had were Biscottino and Belgian Chocolate.

At Powerbooks, we were able to buy some bargain books. Debbie had The Water's Lovely by Ruth Rendell and The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard for only P100 each (the original prices were P1,000+), while I got Pendragon: The Guide to the Territories of Halla for only P50 (regularly at P360)!

And now, for the main event! Hehe. Let's Paint at SM City Cebu has been existing for a while already and we were just really passing by the area, but for the first time, we finally checked it out. It was decided spontaneously and unanimously, it's time for Godsends: Operation Paint!

At Let's Paint, you choose what you want to paint from various plaster moldings, ranging from figurines to wall decors. There are also some popular animé and movie characters available. And since the items are sold at Buy One, Take One (you will pay the higher price), it's definitely better to have a companion while painting. Painting together is also more enjoyable than doing it alone.

So here's a guide on how we painted, the Let's Paint way:

1. We chose two plaster moldings and paid for it. The designs were a praying boy and girl figurine (P150), and a fruits wall decor (P180). We also needed a paint brush, which costs P10 each.
   
2. We then proceeded to the painting area where the friendly and attentive crew (who are also very good in painting) provided us with water colors and a "rinse basin" (I invented the term, it's a small container with water to clean your paint brush in when you decide to switch colors).
   
3. It's painting time! Imagination mo ang limit! It took us an hour and a half to finish the fruits, and another hour for the two kids.
   
4. We then opted to varnish our moldings after painting, making our finished products glossy and protected from losing colors fast. This is optional and the varnish is sold separately at P30 (good for two moldings).
   We spent about 30 minutes waiting for the varnish to dry, but we later found out that this length of time isn't enough. So give it a little more time, especially if you're not that in a hurry.
   
5. We then had our greatly-painted finished products wrapped with manila paper and took 'em home!

It was easy, fun, and it's definitely worth the time spent. If you want to unleash your creativity, this is something you must really try. As for the Godsends, it was definitely a good experience for us, and we'll consider doing it again some time. Thank you, Let's Paint!

The plaster moldings getting ready to be painted.

Godsend JP with his new iPad and stylus. Oops, not.

Godsend Debbie makes the kids shiny with varnish.

The fruits of our labor and prayers.

The Godsends smiling after an afternoon's work.