Two tricks to touch up paint when your paint drys out!

So I've been re-doing my kids bedrooms, converting from twin loft to full beds. Once the beds were switched and furniture/wall art was moved as needed, it was time to touch up the nail holes.

I go to the garage and find the five colors, open them up, and whoops.  The light pink was almost completely dried out.

The sage green is as well. Great! I've got 10 holes to cover in pink and patched hole to paint in the sage! First I tried a trick that worked for me before. I put a piece of the not quite dry paint from the bottom in water (the paint is latex) to see if I could reconstitute it. I had done this with my flat wall paint in the past.

This worked for the sage, but it was the consistency of chewed gum. I was able to paint a small area I had patched and never painted back over successfully. 

So that's tip #1.  If your paint isn't completely dried out, you can try to grind it into a little bit of water to see if it will incorporate enough to use.

The pink was completely dry and I was at a loss. But then something amazing came to me. As I tried to peel the paint off the bottom to try to reconstitute it, some peeled off the side of the can. I thought, wow, wish I could just stick this on the wall. WAIT! I can! So, armed with a glue stick, this strange piece of paint and a small cloth, I proceeded to go try.

 It was so easy, I could hardly believe it.  Here is one example of a hole I had to cover.

First I spackled the holes with this.

 

I used a damp cloth to wipe each patched hole, so I made sure I was only having to cover the small hole.

 

I then tore a jagged small piece off the sheet of paint (just enough to cover the hole...about the size of a pencil eraser).

I used one finger to place that piece on the glue stick and take off, then I used a clean finger to place it on the wall (that kept the piece from sticking to my finger instead of the wall). I could not believe what I saw. It was perfect. You could not tell where I had patched it!

 

I then wiped lightly with my damp cloth to make sure no glue remained on top or around the paint patch.

It was that easy!

I had to share this tip. I've been through this three times and had never thought of this. Kind of reminds me of the nail polish on plastic pin on Pinterest to peel and place on your nails :)

Hope this helps someone who is in a panic that they are going to have to repaint a room because their touch up paint has dried :)