How To: Easy Faux Zinc Letters

Hey guys! I’m really excited to show you my latest how-to today, the easy faux zinc letter (emphasis on EASY!). Remember the letter “B” on my mantel in the Pottery Barn mirror knock-off tutorial?

   

Well, I made that letter “B” out of stuff I had laying around the house. Recycling, actually.

It’s cereal boxes!

I was super lazy efficient about making this, no glue or paper mache required. Yes, you can find cardboard letters like this at Jo-Ann’s. Their design of the letter B looked too much like a number 8 to me so I decided to create my own.

I got so involved in this quickie project that I forgot to take progress photos – oops! This took me only an hour from start to finish. It’s the perfect TV-watching craft.

First, I sketched out two “B”s on the back of some cereal boxes. I used two cereal boxes for this, making sure that the unprinted side of the cardboard was facing out on every side. To make it three-dimensional, I cut the remaining cardboard into 2” strips.

Now. If you’re following along at home, get out your painter’s tape. It was a little pain-staking, but I taped up the letter so that the tape on the front of the letter is invisible (tape inside). The tape’s on the inside of the letter. On the back, I could afford to be less careful and taped this mama-jama up!

Since the letter wanted to roll onto its side, I put a couple of rocks inside to weigh it down. I skipped the full-out papier mache, but if you want, just mix cornstarch & water together and slap some newspaper on that puppy!

 

Go to the store and get yourself some acrylic paint.

Make sure you absolutely absolutely get:
1) Plain black acrylic paint
2) Folk Art “Pearl White” – You’ll find it with the rest of the metallic acrylic paints. It’s a white metallic.
Take the black paint and cover everything. Let it dry.

 

Hooray! Here comes the MAGICAL part. I was like a kid in a candy store when I saw how cool this effect was… who knew that a layer of white metallic + black = metal look??  #WorthTheHype

Take a dry brush, and load sparingly – at first – with the Pearl White paint. Brush it on using straight strokes and dab it on to get the look you want.

Fun, huh?
Check out this close-up of the letters. I love how the edges look forged when they pick up the shine from the metallic paint!


So there you have it – a metal letter art for the cost of 2 bottles of acrylic paint and an hour of your time. Happy painting!


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