Zinc is a hot "thing" right now. You're seeing zinc furniture, zinc letters, and all things zinc in home decor. It looks so cool, but it's expensive. Now, I'm going to say that as much as I love paint, I am not a fan of faux. Mainly, because it looks....well, faux. My friend, Jami from Freckled Laundry, recently painted a "zinc" dresser and did a great job, I might add. When we were e-mailing about her technique, she mentioned the possibility of using tin foil to achieve the look of zinc. I had no plans to test it out, but then, I started working on this frame. It was part particle board, part metal...it was ugly and paint just wasn't going to fix it. I needed to decoupage something over the frame to hide the imperfections. I was a little tired of craft paper and sheet music, so I went for the foil to give it a go.
...and I think it turned out pretty well. What do you think?
Here's the technique:
Cut your pieces of tin foil to the size you want. Crinkle it and then smooth it out. Apply Mod Podge to the surface of your frame/furniture and apply the tin foil immediately. Smooth out the foil and make sure it is in full contact with the surface. Apply a second coat of Mod Podge on top of the foil and allow it to dry. Once dry, brush on Aphaltum glaze by Valspar and blot off with a balled up dry paper towel. Repeat this process until you've achieved the depth of color you want. Since this is a frame, I did not apply a top coat, but you will want to apply a top coat if you're working on a piece of furniture.
So, we'll see if it sells!
I also painted an antique ornate frame with an "oops" blue I bought from Lowe's.
I applied the paint without a primer and rubbed off some of the blue paint to reveal the original gold. I also used Asphaltum glaze on this frame to bring out the depth of detail.
I know my handwriting in chalk looks like my three year old wrote it. I write like junk on a chalkboard. I think I should just stick to drawing pictures. Maybe one of the lovely ladies coming to Lucketts can write some quotes on my chalkboards in decent handwriting.
Both of these frames will be for sale in my booth at Lucketts. For those of you who have asked, The Old Lucketts Fair is a craft and antique fair that is held in Lucketts, Virginia. It is a tiny town that is an awesome antique hot spot. The fair is August 28-29, 2010. There will be loads of craft verndors, antiques dealers, music, food, and activities for children. Admission is $5.00.
Just to answer a few questions. The glaze is made by Valspar, which can be purchased at Lowes and the color I used is Asphaltum. It's a very dark brown, but reads almost as black. I don't think a burnt umber glaze would look as good. Second, I used regular weight tin foil and I would be a little nervous that the heavy duty foil would be a bit too much for the Mod Podge, but who knows!
I'm sharing this on SNS at Donna's.