Habitat bright ideas with Fleur Thorpe – DIY projects
Create a colourful school of fish for your garden. Replicate real life fish or paint your own unique designs.

Weatherboards painted in Resene Triple Ash
Step 1
Start by printing out a picture/silhouette of a fish. Use scissors to cut the fish out and a pencil to draw around it on to the wood.
Step 2
Use a jig saw or band saw to cut out the fish. Sand any rough bits off with some sandpaper. Drill a hole in the bottom edge. Make this hole big enough to fit the end of a stake.
Step 3
Paint over the fish, front and back, with Resene Quick Dry. Once this is dry, lightly sand over it with a fine grit sandpaper. Wipe off sanding dusts.
Step 4
Paint the bottom half of the fish with a stripe of Resene Geronimo and Resene Rouge.
Step 5
Paint the middle section of the fish with Resene Norway.
Step 6
Paint the top of the fish and half of the tail with Resene Discover. Make this line of paint curved so that it gives some shape to the fish.
Step 7
Paint the dorsal fins and the end of the tail with Resene Coast. Apply Resene Aluminium over the middle Resene Norway.
Step 8
Finish by adding some details to the fish, such as the fins, gills, eye and mouth with Resene Black. Use the end of a paintbrush to add some dots to the top half of the fish with Resene Coast. Repeat on the other side of the fish.
Step 9
Insert a stake into the hole at the bottom of the fish and put in them your garden.
Styling and images by Fleur Thorpe. Oct 2021.