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Liquid Leaf

The sugar cube seashell holder and sand dollar were made out of paperclay and covered in liquid leaf. I like the poured look.

This isn’t so much a tutorial as more an answer to a few inquiries I had about the gold elements from the Pink Lemonade Table Decor.  There are a variety of metallic paints, waxes, glazes, leafs, foils, etc. for when you want to add shine to a project.  Each one has a place depending on the project and the look you are going for.  In this case I wanted a poured metallic look to cover the inside of real and scultped seashells and the outside of paperclay sand dollars.

I used Liquid Leaf* to finish these items. The below picture is from Plaid’s website. They have not paid me to say these nice things. In fact I doubt they know this website exists…

Liquid Leaf

You can achieve a leaf-like finish by thickly brushing on a coat and letting it dry.  I use some throw away flux brushes so I don’t have to worry about clean up.

The sugar cube seashell holder and sand dollar were made out of paperclay and covered in liquid leaf. I like the poured look.
The paperclay items did need a wash of thin white acrylic paint so that the leaf wasn’t immediately sucked into the surface. Trust me, I forgot to prime one of them and it used a ton of leaf and left lots of paint strokes.

You can get a metallic accent by brushing a thin coat on as I did with this Goodwill tray.  I did white-wash it with a layer of acrylic paint first and then used the liquid leaf along the bottom edge.

tray accented with liquid leaf

Finally liquid leaf works well on a lot of materials.  I finished the inside of real seashells as well as my faux created ones.

Vignette with various items accented in liquid gold leafTo be honest I initially planned on using rub-n-buff but I couldn’t find the tube in the basement.  However, I like the look of poured and cast metal that the liquid leaf created.  I’ll definitely use it again when I need this particular effect.

Notes

Make sure to put a thick coat on if you want a poured look.

DO NOT touch until fully dry.  Just don’t.  Let it dry.

You may need to cover the with a clear acrylic top coat.  Tarnish can occur and heavy use items will rub.

It stinks.  Ventilation is key.  Otherwise it is easy peasy to apply.

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9 thoughts on “Liquid Leaf

  1. […] Liquid Leaf • The Reaganskopp Homestead – Craft Thyme […]

  2. Do you have any idea how to remove it from areas where you didn’t want it to go in the first place?

    1. I have not dealt with that. I assume it is much like oil paint. So a paint remover if it is dried or paint thinner if you can wipe it in the moment.

  3. Hello! I’m wanting to use gold leaf to accentuate an impression on the cover of a vintage book. It is a fabric hardcover. Would you recommend Liquid Leaf or a different technique for this?

    1. I might, but if I wanted the real old-school look I’d get a gold leaf kit. It has everything you need and is really not as hard as you think. Here is a tutorial where I did gold leaf on a lampshade.

  4. Hi there. I am attempting to touch up some costume jewelry using gold liquid leaf and a clear enamel finish. I have been applying a thin layer of gold leaf and letting the jewelry for over 24 hours. But when I apply the clear enamel the color of the leaf changes to an uneven striped bronze. I had an older piece of jewelry I had applied the liquid leaf to several weeks ago that looked totally normal after I painted on the enamel. So I know it’s likely that the leaf needs more time to DRY. Can you give me any pointers on this?
    Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

    1. I have never tried to enamel over it. If it worked for one item I would assume it might work for another. The base metal could also be messing with the color. I have had some bleed through with various materials and had to put a few coats for good color.

  5. Thanks for your article on this product. I just found this product as well and really like it. How long do you find it takes to dry? Have you tried it in an outdoor application?

    1. It dries super fast! I haven’t used it outdoors, but I would coat it in a finish if I did. It isn’t the most resilient finish.

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