Anthropologie Zinc Look Letters

I love the "zinc look".  I wanted to do a big letter "C" painted like zinc to put on my mantle.  Now, whenever I'm at Michaels, NOT looking for large wooden or cardboard letters, they are everywhere.  You can find every letter of the alphabet, plus punctuation.  The day that I go to get my "C" - not a letter in sight.  Sure, there were a few little 3" letters, but where are the huge letters that, any other day, would be swinging from the ceilings?

I was so determined to turn something grey, that I bought a Peace sign.  Hey, as my Italian husband would say "whatta ya gonna do?"

I painted on a first coat with black Liquitex acrylic.  For the second coat, I used Valspar Satin Interior paint in "Almost Charcoal".  You can buy these little sample containers of Valspar paint in Lowes for $2.97.  They have really pretty colors and they come in handy.  (Tip:  They work well for gelli prints too).  I, sort of, dry-brushed the second coat, then rubbed it with a rag so that some of the first coat would show through.  Finally, for the third coat, I used Martha Stewart's Metallic Paint Specialty Finish in "Silver Polish".  I did the same "dry-brush then rub" technique.

Here's what I ended up with -

 

 I also painted a shelf.  I didn't use the black paint on the shelf first.  It was originally gold.  I just painted the Valspar paint and then the Martha Stewart silver paint.  I think that it looks very Restoration Hardware - esque.

 

 

 

The next thing that I plan to Zinc-ify is a little nightstand.   It's sitting in the middle of my bedroom right now, ready to be painted in the morning.

 

Peace, Cyndi

The Look of Metal - Take Two

I tried the faux metal look again.  This time I used a small canvas for the substrate.  I added small plastic scrapbooking decorations and  lightweight, wooden cross ornament.

 I started out just like last time, but when I got to the point of adding the tin foil, I changed my mind.  The foil just wasn't working out because the cross was  little thick, making it difficult for the foil to cover without ripping.  So, I decided to paint the entire piece with bronze metallic craft paint.  When it  dried, I brushed on Asphalt Driveway Crack Filler.  I added a little water to the asphalt to make it thinner  Surprisingly, the asphalt dries in about 10 minutes.  I put a little turpentine on a paper towel and rubbed it over the piece removing part of the asphalt, exposing the bronze underneath.  I like it.  I plan to brush on a clear sealer before hanging it on the wall.

The Look of Metal

I watched a YouTube video by Gary Reef about creating the look of metal.  His work was very pretty, so I figured I would give it a try.  I used a little 5X5 wooden block,  a "Faith" bookmark, a little scrapbooking trinket, and 3 little crosses from my jewelry-making days.

Following Mr. Reef's instructions, I glued the items onto the block, then brushed gel medium all over the top and sides.  The next step is to put regular tin foil on, pressing it into all of the crevasses.  Now, this was the most difficult part.  It, of course, looked very easy in the video, but I had problems with the foil ripping as I tried to press it around the little crosses.  I did the best that I could.  Next time I'm going to try some different types of foil.  Oops, I almost forgot, I had also glued some cut up portions of paper doilies on the side so that the sides would have texture under the foil.

The next step was to put some paint on it.  I used blue, yellow and a tiny bit of metallic purple acrylic paint.  I just mushed it all over.  In the video, Mr Reef says to use "Bitumen" for the next step.  Now this is not an easy thing to find.  Evidently bitumen is a term that they use in Australia and places other than the U.S.  It's actually an asphalt-type product.  I went to Lowes and studied the asphalt aisle, finally settling on Asphalt Driveway Crack Filler.  I had read online that wood stain would also work, so I picked up a small can of wood stain in Ebony. Even though he used the asphalt (bitumen) in the video, I went with the wood stain because I thought it would be easier.  After the paint dried, I painted on the wood stain.  My advise to anyone who wants to try this - DON'T use the wood stain!  It took forever to dry.  It was still tacky after 4 days.  I got tired of waiting for it to dry and moved on to final step..I put a little turpentine on a rag and rubbed it over the piece removing some of the stain, revealing the painted "metal" underneath. And, here it is.

The photo is kind of dark, but you get the idea.  I'm going to try it again, but next time, I will use the asphalt product to see how that goes.  Here's the video: