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Vintage Snow White and Grumpy Cement Lawn Statues

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Vintage Snow White and Grumpy Cement Lawn Statues

Mel and I were out antiquing last weekend and came across a cement Snow White statue. This was a great find for us because a while back we found a whole set of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Unfortunately, our Snow White had been decapitated and Sneezy was busted off his base.

It would be really difficult to find and purchase this statue online. Snow White weighs about 200 pounds. The shipping alone would kill you!

Once I got Snow White home I light sanded all of her surfaces. After I finished all the sanding, I rinsed her off and let her sit for two days to dry. The next thing I did was primer the whole piece. I used Zinsser primer because it covers really well.

I did not primer the bottom of this piece because I read somewhere that it should be left unpainted to allow for moisture to escape.

The first thing I painted was her skin pigment.

I decided to use outdoor house paint because the statue will be placed in our backyard. I had to buy various colors of paint, but fortunately Lowe’s allows you to buy sample sizes that run just under four dollars each. It’s a lot better than buying more paint than you need. The only finish the samples come in is eggshell.

The hardest part about painting these pieces is the face. The concrete is a rough surface, so it’s challenging to paint detail. It’s also really difficult to get the symmetry right because of the uneven surfaces, but I think I managed to do OK.

I did take some liberties with the style of her eyes and her hair. I’m really satisfied with the way she turned out!

The next statue I started on was Grumpy. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the before condition of this piece.

I used the same process as I did with Snow White.

I’m really happy with the detail in his face.

Only six more statues to go! This is going to be a long process, and I will keep you abreast of any new developments. These will be going in our backyard. I’m too worried that someone will steal them if we put them in front of our house. It’s almost a shame to put them outside, but I could always repaint them if needed. I do want to find a way to coat them with UV protection to prevent fading. If anyone out there has any suggestions let me know!

28 responses »

  1. William C. Clausen

    Very COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOl

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. bfd@bak.rr.com

    Would you happen to know what artist made these? I bought them about 20 yrs. ago and love them. They are 3 dimensional.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. This is a wonderful rehab project – so well done! Thank you for documenting so well and best of luck on the rest of the figures.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. My friend has a vintage speaker with the color and lines that u like. I’ll let him send u s photo. Cheers, Sonia

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

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  5. Do you have any finished pictures of the rest of them? I’m currently repainting the same set and looking for a reference.. thank you 🙂

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  6. We “inherited” a complete set when we bought our house a couple years ago. I repainted the whole set last summer and they are now proudly stationed on top of our septic system. My paint job was no where near as professional as yours!

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  7. Is the cement Snow White for sale? I’ve been looking for that one.

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  8. Michelle Belcher

    Do you sell these? My husband and his homily used to own a concrete business and he accidentally sold one too many grumpy when closing the business he sold the last one (the one from our personal Snow White and seven dwarves) as we lived on the property and we have been unable to locate another

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  9. I am also looking for a snow white statue, I have the dwarfs however my snow white was stolen. I would love to replace her.

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  10. I’ve used clear spray paint over my yard art to help with fading for a little hopefully i happen to have found a purchased the set Snow White And all 7 dwarfs i believe mine might be the med but they’ve never been painted so looking for ideal also 2 of my dwarfs is broken at ankle any ideals one how to repair them it looks like it might be a easy put together not missing any of the two dwarfs both is broken almost clean brake at ankles

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  11. HI, I’m restoring a set of these as well that we have had in our family for 30 years from Seattle. Beautiful paint job. We never found the statue of Happy that is missing from my set. If anyone knows anyone, I would appreciate the info. Thanks

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. I have been looking for those statues for many years! You did a great job

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