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| www.houseofdarvin.com |
What better way to update an old piece than by making it modern and glam with silver leaf? Actually, aluminum leaf is 1/3 the price and gives a shinier finish, so I prefer it.
You can do a small table for about $25, and its fun to do. Here are the steps and some examples of finished pieces!
Prepare the piece by cleaning and sanding if necessary, just to make it smooth. A layer of paint showing is fine -- it is sometime preferable to have a little color showing through, so don’t feel you need to strip all of the finish or paint off.
Use a primer (or paint color that you want to
show through a little, like this one)
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| www.jcovingtondesigns.blogspot.com |
Apply the adhesive. A good one is LeFranc 3 Hour Size.
When the adhesive it tacky (sticky), apply the silver leaf (read the back of the package for tips, but it is really pretty easy once you get the hang of it). It's available at any craft store, or here.
Use your hands or a flat brush to “burnish” it -- i.e., rub it in.
Seal it if desired with glaze or polyurethane and you’re done!
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| www.blinkdecor.com |
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| www.tootoo.com |
Oh, how I love this look!!! In my opinion, you can never get to much glitz! I’ll be aluminum
leafing my dresser soon. I’ll detail every step - including my goof ups (I’ve never been known for patience, so I’m sure there will be a few). Given my love for all things shiny, this example below, by one of the best bloggers EVER, is my very favorite! (PS, if you haven't seen Centsational Girl's blog, you MUST visit!)
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| www.centsationalgirl.com |
UPDATE:
Ok. I promised to update this post when I got around to my silver leafing. Here goes -- I was way to impatient (pulling the backing off before it was dry), got glue on my hands (therefore the backing stuck to my hands and also pulled it off too fast, before the leafing could stick), and didn't buy enough leaf.
I think it is coming out ok, but since I need more leaf, I am going to switch to aluminum and just go over what I already did. A waste of $7, but live and learn I guess. Also, it's coming out more spoltchy than I want because I decided to use liquid silver leaf on the spots that didn't stick well or that I missed, and the liquid leaf is a totally different silver. So, when I go over it with aluminum, I am just going to wait for everything to dry and then apply a second layer where I need it rather than use the liquid. I also hate the silver hardware against the silver leaf, so I'll either paint it black or change that, too. Will update again soon!
Thanks for reading!!
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Yes it is absolutely better way to update an old piece than by making it modern and glam with silver leaf. Actually, aluminum leaf is 1/3 the price and gives a shinier finish, so I prefer it. It is recommended that you apply a protective coat of sealer over your Aluminum Leaf.
interior design ideas
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