Monday, July 2, 2012

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?
Easy Faux Zinc Letter

mirror   
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!
DSC_0453 
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.
DSC_0455 DSC_0456

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.
DSC_0458
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!
BCloseUp

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!
Easy Faux Zinc Letter

I linked up at:
   Liz Marie BlogHome Stories A2Z

4 comments:

  1. What an awesome tip! The same look as what other crafters have recreated with multiple paint colours accomplished with just two!

    I'm pinning the great project :) Thanks for sharing!

    P.S. Love the blog name!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a bunch, Claire! I'm so glad you can appreciate the mantra of "work smarter, not harder" too! :)

      Delete
  2. 1. I LOVE your Pottery Barn knock off - awesome!
    2. I think this recent creation is great - I will have to try it soon!

    I wanted to let you know I nominated your blog for the Versatile Blogger Award, to learn more information please check out my post at:
    http://twenty63.blogspot.com/2012/07/who-me.html

    I'm your newest follower :)
    Dawn

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Steph!

    I just wanted to let you know that I linked to your project as inspiration for a guest post that I shared today on the blog Setting For Four! You can check it out at http://settingforfour.blogspot.ca/2012/08/guest-post-claire-from-little-something.html

    Thanks so much for inspiring me! I can't believe how easy it is :)

    ReplyDelete