This week has been crazy!
So many orders to fill! I’ve been going like sixty from 5AM till 11PM (I think, technically, I may be running a sweat shop. I should probably report myself to someone. Or just keep humming “It’s a Hard Knock Life.”)
Thanks for all the good thoughts about Rose Bowl! It was a hit this time!
The weather was perfect and although the crowd was slow to show up, once they got there they purchased. So coasters flew away, my French Label Tables sold as did the secretary along with a few other miscellaneous smalls.
I also had the pleasure of meeting one of my blog followers – the totally charming Suzanne and her magician husband (no really, he’s a real, honest-to-god, working magician – he turned some of my one dollar bills into one hundred dollar bills! It was amazing! And then he changed them back which was…..less awesome.)
I also got to hang out for a fraction of a minute with Niki Huard from Nicki Huard Creations (who STILL doesn’t have a website even though her husband promised she would…. just wanted to point that out publically). Her booth, as always, looked terrific and she asked me to share my technique for making my distressed letters.
I’m totally on board with this plan. My only hesitation is that it’s so easy it’s a little embarrassing.
You will need:
A wooden letter – I make mine cause I don’t like the fonts they use for the ones from craft stores
Paint – I used spray paint cause I was in a hurry but it works great with flat latex
A Candle – any old candle will do
Sander – I use my power one but you could do it by hand. I also use old sanding discs and I’ll explain why in a sec.
Step One
Paint the letter in the base color of your choosing and let dry. Don’t worry about sanding the letter beforehand or priming it – the rougher the better actually. And set your candle in the sun or a warm place just to soften it a little (makes life easier)
Step Two
After the first layer has thoroughly dried rub your candle along the edges and anywhere else you want the first layer of paint to show through. Rub hard in some places and more gently in others. Now top coat with your second color of paint and set it aside to dry very thoroughly. The wax will slow down the drying process so overnight is great if you can spare the time.
Step Three
After the top coat has dried you’re ready to sand. There may be a couple of sticky spots where the wax is still soft but that’s ok.
Now, just sand, gently at first, using your power sander. I use old sanding discs because the wax will, fairly quickly, gum them up. Start off gently to gauge how much you want to take off – depending on the power of your sander and the coarseness of your disk you may end up doing a lot of sanding or just a tiny bit.
And you’re done!
I think I have overdone it a bit with this J – because I was in a bit of a rush (I also clearly forgot to sand the sides before I snapped the pic) – I think these came out better but it’s the same technique I swear!
I’ve found that often the sanding tends to spread a thin layer of wax around so I end up with a nice seal coat. If this isn’t the case for you then you could seal them with a spray sealer just to make things nice and tidy.
Hope that was helpful.
If you have any questions or if I’ve left some key step out please don’t hesitate to ask. I read every comment (and totally look forward to getting them) and will answer there.
Have a great weekend everyone!
David
The Missing Links!
