This is a sponsored post. Materials were provided to me. Project idea and comments are mine.
The team at Oriental Trading Company provided me an opportunity to play with some of their great products to come up with a Christmas project and needless to say I had too much fun.
I created this layered piece using a plain slat board , a wood tree shape , a plain frame and Christmas themed scrapbook paper but the most fun part of this piece was the gold leafing! Foil and shiny is so popular right now ( wouldn't matter if it wasn't, I love shiny things). I also love marrying the most basic and rustic supplies and the glam (for example, my Christmas tree includes Swarovski crystal ornaments and a tree topper made using a toilet paper roll).
Here's what I started with:
Plain Slat Sign
Unfinished Christmas Tree
Traditional Christmas Scrapbook Paper Pack
Gold Foil Leaf
Acrylic Craft Paints
Gold Leaf Sizing ( I used Mona Lisa brand I had on hand)
The unfinished tree is actually meant to stand up but since I never use things as intended, I glued the stand to the back of the tree to give it some dimension.
I painted the sign using black craft paint and then dry brushed it with cream paint. I did the same for the unfinished frame.
I traced the tree onto a piece of the scrapbook paper , cut out, and used Mod Podge to apply it to the tree. Once dry, I lightly sanded the edges.
I cut the "Love Peace Joy" sentiment with my Silhouette from gold glitter vinyl and applied it to a slat board piece I had in my stash ( also painted black and dry brushed cream.
Now for the fun part! If you've never worked with gold leaf before don't be intimidated. Do be prepared that it's messy. It's like glitter and once you start to brush it off it gets everywhere so plan accordingly or plan to walk around picking tiny flakes of leafing off of yourself. But, there's nothing like it so it's worth it.
You need a good glue and I've had success using Mod Podge or PVA glue but really you should use a glue made for gold leaf which is what I used. I didn't want complete coverage so I just randomly dabbed my glue here and there. It sets up in about 30 min.
You can see here the random way I did the gold leafing. When your glue is set you lay a sheet of the leafing on top and then use a stiff brush ( stencil brushes work well) to pounce it onto the glue. It will adhere to wherever the glue was and then pieces of it will break away. I save my excess to use for other projects.
I did the same to the frameand then used more of the scrapbook paper under the glass as shown and cut a gold glitter vinyl reindeer to go on top of the glass. Once all my pieces were ready I glued them to the sign and done.
Stay tuned! I will have a couple more projects using the supplies I received!
