Custom-Painted Milk Cans

Custom-Painted Milk Cans DAIRY EQUIPMENT & IDEAS After a shoulder surgery Phyllis Muller rediscovered her love for painting and a new niche – painting milk cans Since the young entrepreneur can no longer do a lot of the physical work on her family’s dairy farm painting cows pets and landscapes keeps her connected to farm life The experience of growing up on a dairy farm and appreciating the lifestyle is reflected in her work “Painting animals comes easy to me Because I’ve lived on a farm all my life I can capture the personalities of animals ” Muller says Most of the cans she paints are custom made based on photographs her clients provide Many are pets that passed away; others are show cows Sometimes one side of the can is an animal and the other side is a farm scene Muller notes that when she is in the mood to paint she paints a can within about 5 hrs She paints instinctively and directly on the can without making drawings ahead of time But she also spends quite a bit of time and work preparing the milk can and applying clear coats “I usually sand the cans by hand and paint on two coats of primer I paint with acrylic paints and then three coats of clear coat ” Muller says explaining she has restored other milk can paintings that didn’t last long because they weren’t coated With just word-of-mouth advertising she has been busy painting cans for people within driving distance of her Maryland home Her prices start at $125 when the customer provides a milk can that is in good shape to $250 for milk cans that are in bad shape or that she provides Though it isn’t practical to ship milk cans because of the cost Muller also paints something that is easy to ship – Christmas ornaments The 3 1/2- to 4-in balls sell for $40 Though most paintings are farm-related Muller is up for other challenges She painted a football team on one can for example It’s only been a year since she started painting cans but she already has many repeat customers and Muller enjoys her painting time after her full-time job at a bank Can orders are usually filled within 2 months Christmas ornament orders are filled in 2 to 3 weeks Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Phyllis Muller 2420 Salem Bottom Rd Westminster Md 21157 ph 410 259-1276 ; Phyllissparkles1@gmail com

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