Painting Shutters SUCKS!

Picked up some shutters from a yard sale back in April...no, I haven't been procrastinating that long...they were living in Kansas until I could drive them home with me.  Believe me friends, I am not a procrastinator when it comes to crafts...calling people on the phone, yes.  Crafts and projects, NO.  That's how I roll.  Here is the only picture I have of "before:"

Ugly brown shutters.  If I had known what a pain in the butt they would be to paint and distress, I would have just went with an off white color and no primer.  But I love to torture myself, so I primed them and then painted them.  I went through two cans of primer and two cans of spray paint.  Then it was almost impossible for me to get the look I wanted while distressing.  May have been easier if I had an electric sander, but no dice, just my wittle hands.  Took FOREVER.

The orange is oranger than I wanted, but I thought I could lightening it by distressing.  They are still pretty darn orange.  Dry brushed some aqua over it in spots.....I think I will add a glaze over it to darken them up more.  But here they are with some other projects I've been playing around with for the last couple of days:

I found these cute little pom pom flowers on Pinterest and HAD to make them.  So cute!!!  Although, I wasn't very successful making the bigger pom poms, but making small ones with a fork...easy peasy!

 Pom pom tutorial from Eskimimi Knits

Dandelion idea from Apartment Therapy

A few more pics of projects....

  So...what do you think of my shutters?  I will probably hang them on each side of my bed, but I'm still undecided about the finish.  Any suggestions?

I'm heading to Ikea now!!!  One of my fave places!  Thanks for stopping by!
Libby :)