Had picked up this set of russian doll(Matryoshka doll) knock offs from a trip to Channapatna a few years back..
the finish and quality was not so great.. and the enamel was a bit chipped. so anyway i recently saw a cool image on facebook.. someone had painted their set(maybe they used knockoffs as well)..
it seemed like a simple and fun thing to do.

so heres my version of it:
i used automotive paint for the basecoat.. drew the details with markers..
then my silver marker had run dry.. so had to leave the black ones plain.
UPDATE:
the second set i did is more colorful.. i used acrylic paints. used plain white as a base coat.. and then worked in the other colors.

now need to drop into the nearest Channapatna handy-crafts place
and pick up more of these cheap knock-offs to mod.

Step 1: Source the Knockoffs

Visit your local handy-crafts emporium or flea market. In my case it was on MG Road, Bangalore City.

pick up a few of these.

Step 2: Primer

Do a basecoat of whatever primer you like. Make it light so you can start painting lighter colors if thats your process. Common mistake in these kinds of refurbishing or repurposing projects is painting directly onto the surface.. you just end up wasting a lot of time painting and repainting thicker layers to cover up the old stuff below.