Thrift Store Vintage Gumball Machine Makeover

Watch me turn a vintage gumball machine from my local antique thrift store from traditional ‘ole red, to a more classy white that can be easily decorated for all seasons and holidays. This is one Thrift Store makeover that you’re not gonna want to miss!

Vintage gumball machine makeover by taking a red gumball machine and spray painting it with white chalk paint.

I had been on the lookout for quite some time for one of these amazing Vintage Gumball Machines, so of COURSE I scooped it up when I found it at my local Thrift Store, Quality Thrift! I knew right away I was going to give this baby the makeover of a lifetime.

I had been wanting one for so long that you would have thought I’d go home and immediately get to work repainting it, but nope. It sat on my front porch for a good 3 months until it was finally it’s time to shine.

Before picture of a red vintage gumball machine from an Antique thrift store.

Now you truly do need to be on the lookout for a while if you want to score an actual Vintage gumball machine like this one. But if all else fails, and you don’t care about the authenticity of it, head on over to good ‘ole Amazon and you can grab a brand spankin’ new “Antique” Carousel Gumball Machine.

My very favorite part of this piece of fun and unique decor, is decorating it for all of the different seasons and holidays. I think my fave is my Christmas Gumball Machine I decorated last year!

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Supplies Needed to Makeover a Vintage Gumball Machine

Vintage gumball machine
Soap and water
Rust-oleum Chalked Spray paint, Linen White Ultra Matte
Cardboard to lie the pieces on

How to Spray Paint a Thrift Store Vintage Gumball Machine

I made over this Vintage Gumball Machine on video, so you can WATCH the step by step tutorial on HERE.

Amanda spray painting the gumball machine white ona Facebook Live thumbnail.

Watch the video tutorial here

Here’s our Vintage Gumball Machine before we started the makeover, in all its red (ugly) glory!

First things first, we’ve got to take the entire gumball machine apart before we can spray paint it. You could technically tape it off, and spray paint it while its intact but I thought this would be MUCH easier to do. Taking it apart was actually pretty self explanatory, just remember what you’re doing so that when it comes time to put it back together you remember how!

Here’s how mine came apart, and I’m pretty sure they are all made the same, or very close to it. First unscrew the little top screw and pull the red top off.

First step of making over the vintage gumball machine is to take the red top off and separate the glass from the base.

Pull the glass and bottom red part of the vintage gumball machine off of the red base…

Remove the red top portion off of the base of the gumball machine.

Now you can separate the glass from the base of the gumball machine, and the center pole just screws right out…

Separate the glass from the base of the gumball machine and screw the center pole out.

The metal coin thing and spinny wheel thing (No clue what they are called) just lift right on out in 2 pieces. Make sure to remove the little plastic thing you lift up to get the gumball out…

All of the different pieces of the vintage gumball machine taken apart and sitting on the floor.

Here’s the gumball machine with allll the separate pieces….Don’t worry, it goes back together just as easy as it came apart!

The vintage gumball machine completely taken apart and disassembled.

Next, you’ve got to give your vintage gumball machine a thorough cleaning. Especially if its been collecting dust at an antique or thrift store, or even in your own garage while it waited for its big day! Good ‘ole dish soap and water will do the trick. I just took a rag (an old sock to be exact LOL) and wiped the entire thing down and then let it air dry.

Clean the entire gumball machine with a rag and soap and water.

Now for the fun part…SPRAY PAINT! I used Rust-oleum Chalked ultra matte paint and I am super happy with how it turned out! Make sure to take all of your parts outside, and protect the surface by laying the parts on a piece of large cardboard or kraft paper.

Rust-oleum Chalked Ultra matte paint in the color linen white.

Follow the directions on the back of the can and shake it SUPER good for 1-2 minutes before beginning to spray paint the gumball machine. Then just start to spray away! Hold the can about 6″-12″ away and spray in short and fast strokes to prevent it from dripping.

Various parts of the gumball machine on a piece of kraft paper all spray painted chalk white.

I decided to paint the black base of the Vintage Gumball Machine white as well, but you could leave yours black if you prefer.

The black base of the gumball machine spray painted chalk white.

Mine was fully covered with one solid coat, and I didn’t even use the entire can pf spray paint. Here is it all finished and put back together! Make sure its fully dry before attempting to reassemble it.

Completed antique vintage gumball machine spray painted all white

Are you going to go on a thrift store hunt for a vintage gumball machine? If you’ve done a Vintage Gumball Machine Makeover, I’d love to see it! Pop on over to our free Craftspiration Facebook group, and join in on the fun by posting a pic of your completed DIY’s and crafts. I just love to see all your creative and crafty creations!

If you’ve got a million projects on your crafting ‘to-do’ list like I do, than you need my FREE Craft Project Planner so you can plan to make *all the things*! When you sign up for the craft planner, I’ll also send you lot’s of fun, easy, and budget friendly ideas for you to fill it up with!