gold leaf – The Reaganskopp Homestead

Posted on September 8, 2015January 20, 2019 by Brianna — 12 Comments

How to Gold Leaf Everything

How to gold leaf anything and everything. Tutorial on using all types of leaf on variety of materials

In the previous post we looked out various types of gold leaf, foil, gold paint etc. Basically a run down of all the different types of methods you can use to gold leaf items. A lot of those techniques work better with certain materials. Whaaaa???? Trust me, gold foil is going to look a lot nicer on fabric than spray paint! Not all methods work with all materials, though, traditional gold leaf is going to be pretty dang versatile and look the closest to, well… gold leaf. If you are looking for gold leaf by technique check out Part I, otherwise on to the list by material that you are gold leafing:

How to Gold Leaf Anything and Everything Part II

Looking for Part I where we break down tutorials by techniques like traditional leaf, Rub N Buff and much more? Look no further! PART I

Fabric

While you can use traditional gold leaf on fabric, if you really want a nice, smooth, washable gold then gold foil is the way to go.

Gold Foil, the Right Way to Gold Leaf Fabric Step by step tutorial on how to use Gold Foil to add accents to DIY napkins

3 Fabulous Ways to Use Foils on Fabric – Cecile’s Unique Stitching Blog Highlights three different ways to apply fabric foils

DIY Gold Foil Pillow – Honest to Nod Using iron on fabric gold foil

Modern Art: Concrete Style – Gold leaf and concrete on cotton canvas

Food

Sprays, powders, and actual edible leaf exist to decorate your food and give you interior some bling!

Golden Birthday Cupcakes – Betty Crocker Using edible gold luster dust

Homemade Cotton Candy – Cooking Books Looks like spun gold, just from sugar!

DIY Gold Feather Cupcakes – The Cake Blog Using gold luster dust to make a paint for fondant feathers

Glass/Finished Ceramics

While you can use just about any technique for a real resilient finish you are going to want a gold leaf pen or specialty glass paint

Gold Leaf Painted Mugs – Winthrop Chronicles Using a gold leaf paint for permanent finish

DIY Gold Dot Vases – Lilikoi Joy Using gold paint pen on glass

DIY Gift Guide: Mother’s Day Mugs – Lauren Conrad Gold leaf been to make washable ceramic mugs

Metal

Pretty much everything is a go. Spray paint can come off looking a bit ‘fake’, but can easily be toned down with other techniques.

Goodwill Rocks, Rub ‘n Buff for a Gold Leaf Luster Combo of spray paint and Rub N Buff creates an antique gold finish on a metal candlestick

DIY Brass Etagere – Gold Leafed Ikea Vittsjo Hack!– Honey Sweet Home Cons of spray paint and finish with traditional gold leaf

DIY Gold Leaf Flower Pots – Crafts Unleashed Rusted metal flower pots get gold leaf arrow accents

Paper

Pretty much everything goes. This one is really open to all types of techniques from liquid leaf to hot transfer gold foil.

Liquid Leaf and Paper Clay Paper based clay can have gold leaf too!

10 Minute Fall Decorating: Gold “Leaf” Wall Art – I Heart Organizing Create a gold leaf out line with Rub N Buff

The New Minc Foil Applicator – It’s Always Autumn Heat Transfer foil on paper

Gilded Business Cards – Camille Styles Take business cards to a new level with gilded edges

Plastic

Say it don’t spray it… No wait! Just spray it. Getting a good gold spray paint base can give you the ability to add more layers like Rub N Buff to give it a more authentic look

DIY Gold Christmas Decor: Mantel Decorations – Landeelu Make plastic Christmas lights look expensive with gold

Golden Safari Mason Jars – Giggling Caravan Plastic animals become fancy jar toppers

Gold Leaf, Glue Gun, & a Dollar Store Plastic Easter Egg – Magia Mia Plastic Easter Eggs turned into faceted golden eggs

Wood

Wood is the base of paper, which makes it kind of like paper. Open to all types of applications! Just remember to prime in certain cases so the wood doesn’t suck up gold paints and rubs.

Before & After – Wooden Bowls with Gold Leaf – This Heart of Mine Wooden bowls with gold leaf touches

15 minute DIY: Gold Leaf on Wood – Beautiful Hello Blog Use and adhesive pen to add gold leaf to rustic board

Gold Dipped Log Candle Holders Lifeovereasy – Etsy Blog Using gold paint to achieve a shiny mirror metal finish on logs

Miscellaneous

Did you know you can add gold leaf to shoes? feathers? rocks? Read on for some fabulous tutorials on all types of strange materials

How to Gold Leaf a Lampshade How to use Traditional Gold Leaf Sheets

Gold Leaf Feathers – B@H Make gold tipped feathers

Golden Glitter Slime – Fun at Home With Kids Not really gold leaf but who doesn’t love some gold slime!

DIY Gold Staples – House of Huntley Make fancy gold staples from regular office supplies

Making a Golden Apple Using gold spray paint to make Thanksgiving Decorations

Posted on September 3, 2015January 20, 2019 by Brianna — 36 Comments

How to Gold Leaf Anything

So you want to gold leaf… Fabric? Paper? Plastic? Not all gold leaf is the same and/or built for the same purpose. Different materials and different gold leafing techniques render VERY different results. I have written a number of tutorials on gold leafing, but there are so many other great guides. I wrote this post to be the source for how to add gold to all of your projects. I have broken projects down by techniques, such as gold leaf sheets, rub and buff, etc and in my second post I will go over gold leafing different materials such as fabric, wood, etc… See Part II here

How to Gold Leaf Anything and Everything Part I

Gold Leaf Sheets

This is the traditional method of gold leafing where you use an adhesive, sheets of leaf, and a protective coating. Not as hard as it sounds! I promise!

How to Gold Leaf a Lampshade How to use Traditional Gold Leaf Sheets

Gold Leaf Embellished Curtains – The Gathered Home Gold simple leaf on fabric

How to Make Mercury Glass Votives – HGTV gold and silver leaf used to make mercury glass finish

Gold Foil

This method is often used to adhere gold leaf to fabric and sometimes paper for a smoother finish.

Gold Foil, the Right Way to Gold Leaf Fabric Step by step tutorial on how to use Gold Foil

Forget Gold Leaf — Gold Transfer Foil Is the Stuff DIY Dreams Are Made Of – Brit + Co Gold foil tote bag

DIY Gold Foil Prints – The House of Wood Using heat reactive foil on paper

Rub ‘n Buff

This is a wax based rub that you apply via a small cloth or fingers to a variety of objects

Goodwill Rocks, Rub ‘n Buff for a Gold Leaf Luster Using Rub n’ Buff to give a golden luster to thrift store finds

Gold Leaf versus Rub ‘n Buff – City Suburb Sanity The differences between traditional gold leaf and Rub ‘n Buff

French Linen Console – Centsational Girl How to dry brush Rub n’ Buff

Gold Paint

Comes in a variety of spray, enamel, acrylic, etc. You can brush, sponge, spray, and coat in almost any method you would use a regular paint.

Making a Golden Apple Using gold spray paint to make Thanksgiving Decorations

DIY Gold Leaf Paint – The Creativity Exchange Gold enamel paint on glass

Which Gold Spray Paint is the Best – Chris Loves Julia Run down of the top 4 gold spray paints

Liquid Leaf

This is really a specialized paint mixture that has a heavy metallic content. Beware the smell and use in a well ventilated area. Stinky stinky! The look is somewhat closer to traditional gold leaf than a lot of other paints.

Liquid Leaf and PaperClay How to use liquid leaf on a variety of materials and Paperclay seashells

Gold Leaf Feathers – B@H Make gold tipped feathers

Gold Gilded Save the Dates – Wouldn’t It Be Lovely Paper edged in liquid leaf

Gold Leaf Pen

Quick and easy pen that produces a gold paint. Some pens can be used on ceramics and glass to give a semi-permanent and washable finish.

Entry Table Makeover – Calling it Home Using a gold leaf pen to accent a table

DIY Gift Guide: Mother’s Day Mugs – Lauren Conrad Gold leaf been to make washable ceramic mugs

Dress up Plain, Cheap Ballet Flats with This Peacock Feather DIY – Babble Updating flats with pen

Edible Gold Leaf

Gold leaf you can eat! Feel fancy and full. Comes in spray, sheets, and powders.

Gold Leaf Wedding Cake – Ashlee Marie How to gold leaf an entire cake tier

Golden Birthday Cupcakes – Betty Crocker Using edible gold luster dust

Gold Covered Oreos – We’re Calling Shenanigans Using edible gold spray

Amazon.com Widgets

Posted on June 25, 2015January 20, 2019 by Brianna — 18 Comments

Modern Art: Concrete Style

I have a confession, I have never been a huge fan of modern art. Having studied the theory and history behind a larger portion of 20th century art I have an appreciation for the merits… but the aesthetics… meh, not my thing. Let me tell you, that was not a popular opinion in art school. However I have a modern house, with industrial decor. This has changed my viewpoint. It takes a lot more work to integrate a classical oil portrait with our furnishings. In fact, I felt like we needed some modern color in our rather neutral decor instead of some classical portraiture.

If you follow me on Pinterest (you should!) then you would have noted the love affair I am currently having with concrete. I was reading a post about making a faux concrete counter top using a product called feather finish when I came up with the idea to make some modern art that would incorporate concrete finishes. Color and concrete say what?! Adam was confused when I tried to explain, but luckily he was the kind to just go with it.

A few Michael’s coupons and a trip to Home Depot later you have my DIY take on modern art.

Modern Art: Concrete Style

Supplies:

Canvases*

Gold Leaf Sheets* or a Gold Leaf Kit* (which includes the sizing and sealer)

Adhesive* (also called Sizing*)

Sealer*

Feather Finish* (HINT: Ardex has partnered with Henry to make a feather finish you can get at Home Depot, but here is my Amazon Affiliate link if you want the real thing shipped to your door)

Paints*

Brush Set*

Step One: Lay it out there

I picked out four pre-stretched canvases (we had some on hand and used a 40% off coupon to grab the others) I laid them out for the space. There is a fourth around the corner not shown in the above picture. It is an awkward space, as the windows are not centered, so I used the two smaller canvases to fill out the area. After deciding a layout I thought would look good I laid them out on the table in a similar, but closer, fashion.

Step Two: Om Om Om Ombre

I started with a base ombre of 4? colors. I tend to just add paint mix and repeat so four is just a guess from looking at the finished product. These particular colors were a base orange mixed with a touch of blue (to darken) and then yellow & white (to lighten). I wanted a rather choppy look and did not bother to blend wet edges well. If you want a very smooth ombre pre-mix all your colors so that you can blend in the wet edges.

After the ombre was dry I brushed some black in feathery horizontal strokes. This step is not shown, but really just consists of slapping some black on the canvas and moving it left and right till it feathers out at the edges. You can practice on a piece of cardboard to figure out how much paint and pressure you need.

Step 3: Concrete Answers

I probably should have planned this step out better but I was just so damn excited to work with a new medium that I went right to mixing up the feather finish. I followed the directions which were 2 parts mix to 1 part water. I thought “Hey! Let’s make this easy, 1 cup water to 2 cups feather finish!” Okay, huge mistake. I made about 100 times more than I needed and it was quickly too thick to do what I wanted. Check out the huge amount:

Feather finish by Henry and Ardex — Why yes that is a plastic spoon from a Christmas Party…. And I made this in June… Horde much?

So my suggesting is to just mix it the consistency of pancake batter. You are using this for decoration not construction strength. After re-mixing my feather finish I used a very old putty knife/multitool to feather the concrete on in bands that matched the style of the black paint.

Step 4: If You Like It Then You Better Put Some Gold On It

I took a step back and was really feeling the look, but wanted to tie some of the other room finishes into the final piece of art. In comes the left over gold leaf I had from the lamp shade redo. I thought it would tie that and the wallpapered bookcase into the open concept dining room. I laid out the sizing (If you need gold leafing tips you can read more here) in the same pattern as the paint and concrete. Once it had set I laid on the gold leaf and covered the areas with sealer to keep the leaf from tarnishing later.

Sizing in loose brush strokes to prep for gold leaf — If you wonder about the numbers in the back of the photos, I always figure why do one DIY project at a time when you can do two or three…

All in all, I love the color and texture mix. It adds visual interest and ties the various spaces together in the first floor of our home.

Posted on June 15, 2015January 20, 2019 by Brianna — 8 Comments

Bookcase Ideas: A Quick Makeover

One of the neat features of the new house was a large built in bookcase, but it had the featureless contractor-white of a new house. I needed some bookcase ideas and fast. I wanted to make it pop, especially, before we filled it with items. I was in the process of trying to look through ideas for bookcase makeovers when I happened on the clearance section of Target. Okay, Adam happened upon the clearance section of Target… BUT, I took to the idea immediately. We decided to try some navy and gold peel and stick wallpaper. It is removable and basically feels like a large vinyl sticker.

Bookcase Makeover

Materials

Peel and stick wallpaper*
Straight Edge
Cutting Tool (I happened to have a nice rotary cutter and mat which made this process so much easier)

Before:

Just a boring plan bookcase…

Quick Directions

Measure, cut, and stick.

Except it needs a little more finesse than that. First, this was a custom bookcase. Guess what that means?! No section was the same size… I carefully measured the different sections and then calculated the best cuts so I did not have to waste more of the paper than needed. Even on sale it is not what I consider cheap!

My first section I left a little edge on the bottom and side thinking it would give a better fit if I trimmed it with an exacto knife after sticking it down. Wrong, wrong, wrong. It made it near impossible to get the sticker all the way to back of the shelf, then it was hard to get it smoothly applied (Use a credit card. The enclosed tool was useless… I used to place decals for a living and you need something with a little flex), then when I trimmed the edge it was jagged. I made sure to just measure carefully and trim accordingly for all other sections.

If you are not used to applying decals I will give you a tip. Apply from the top middle and sweep out and downward to the left and right. Occasionally, if you are matching patterns you will have to start on once side. In those cases try to move in smooth outward motions from the area you start at. Small air bubbles will usually lay down in a couple of days. I did not have to do this for these small sections, but if you are applying a giant decal and, say, have a large group from the corporate office coming to check your display, and maybe have one giant ass air bubble in the middle and no extra decals…. Well you can take a very small needle and poke a tiny hole and work the air out getting it fairly flat.

After you have all the sections stuck, step back, admire your beautiful bookcase, and start arguing over what books and art should fill the shelves.

After:

Filled with items from our travels, our favorite books (note the fascination with the Dark Tower), and some elegant accessories. I think the navy and gold wallpaper gives the bookcase some focus without being overly busy.

Posted on March 29, 2015January 20, 2019 by Brianna — 43 Comments

DIY Gold Leaf Lamp Shade

Completed gold leaf lampshade with edison bulb

I have always admired the look of a gold leaf lampshade, but I have not admired the price. DIY to the rescue! I did the DIY gold leaf lamp shade for two different shades. I absolutely love the look of the gold leaf paired with the warm glow of Edison bulbs. I like it even better when I just squash my liberal guilt down and tell myself that it is an accent light and I don’t reaaaalllllyyyy need to be using the LED’s to save the environment… Anyway, back to the tutorial.

How to DIY Gold Leaf a Lamp Shade

Materials Needed:

Lamp shade: Note the underline and bolding. The lampshade selection is key to choosing the correct materials from this point forward!
Gold Leaf Sheets*: I grabbed a Gold Leaf Kit* and ordered a refill. I needed somewhere in the order of 40 sheets to do two normal sized lampshades. I am not advocating using real gold here! The gold toned sheets give a great finish at a tenth of the cost of actual gold.
Adhesive* (also called Sizing*): Here is where the lampshade makes a difference. Hard plastic interior lampshades work well with the paint on adhesive contained in a gold leaf starter kit, BUT you will really need a spray adhesive for a fabric lampshade. The fabric soaks up the liquid adhesive quickly while a spray adhesive coats the surface of the fabric giving a good sticky edge to grab the leaf
Sealer*
Soft Brush: Does not need to be expensive and frankly I misplaced my bristle brush and just finished up with a sponge brush. I might have been too lazy to dig through the paint supplies to find a nicer brush, though, the results would likely have a smoother finish.
Spray Paint: Only if you are changing the color of your lampshade

Replace this sponge brush with a nice soft bristle brush. Don’t be a lazy cow like me!

Step 1: Correcting Your Lamp Shade

Is your lamp shade old? ugly? Old and Ugly? Give it a good cleaning, spray paint the hell out of it, and or bedazzle the exterior until you are happy with the look. You’ll need to complete the outside prior to the gold leaf. What’s that you ask? Can you spray paint a cloth lampshade? Hells yes you can. Just remember it will soak up a lot of paint so be prepared to do a few coats.

Spray painting a fabric lampshade — Boring white to… Yeah it takes a lot of coats of paint. Lots of coats…

Step 2: Getting Sticky

All gold leaf applications require that you have a tacky adhesive set and ready prior to gold leafing. What this means in layman’s terms is when you touch a prepared surface it will need to feel sticky to the touch. Picture your counter after you have left some sugary substance dry and you get a nice sticky feeling. Liquid adhesive is painted on and left to dry anywhere from 10-30 minutes. Spray adhesive is instantly ready. Remember to only apply in areas large enough that you plan to work with soon. The sticky places can overly dry or collect dirt and lint. I worked in 1/4 shade size pieces.

Make certain to cover any areas that you do not want to gold leaf! Small particles of leaf will flake off during the leafing process and cling to any sticky areas. Great if you plan on having gold in that area, bad if you do not.

Prepping a lamp shade with adhesive for gold leafing — By covering, I might have meant just take some old fabric and cover the areas you do not want to be sticky. Oh look, I used some old cardboard as a work surface again. I think the ship has sailed on me ever having a nice prepped work surface and all materials present at the time of crafting.

Step 3: Be Delicate

First and foremost, the gold leaf is not actually attached to the little booklet. The pages in between are there as protective dividers. Don’t be a dork (maybe like me) and spend a good amount of time trying to rip out a page. Lightly touch the gold leaf with clean fingers and kind of fan out the leaf above your project. Where ever it touch the sticky part it is going to be STUCK. So just know that wrinkles, ripped pages, etc are going to be part of the first few attempts. This worked fine as I wanted an industrial, patchy look. Also if the interior surface is not hard, you are never going to get a smooth appearance. You should check out my tutorial on gold foiling fabric for an alternative if you are looking for a completely smooth fabric finish.

Step 4: Burnish Away

Once the leaf has been laid down use a soft bristle brush to pat it into any crevices and remove any extra leaf. After burnishing a sheet repeat step 3 with the slightest over overlaps on the next sheet. I wanted a more random look so I applied sheets at different angles and used partial sheets to fill in gaps

Step 5: Protect Your Baby

Gold leaf is delicate and faux gold leaf will tarnish and change when not protected. The kits come with a paint on sealer but you can use any clear acrylic coat designed to cover metal. Paint or spray your coating. Once dry place your lampshade on and admire!

PLEASE NOTE: INSERT SOME CAUTION HERE

Use common sense here! You just added a reflective metal coating to an item that surrounds a hot light bulb. Monitor the heat that your lamp is putting out. Use a lower wattage or LED lightbulb if you detect any abnormal heat. A good looking lampshade is never a reason to start a fire!!!