Quicky Project: Utensil Holder

Sometimes when you are knee deep in MAJOR projects that can take days and have some setbacks, you need to do a quicky project that can be completed easily and without hassle. It is necessary for sanity to be able to quickly make something that was just OK into something awesome. It’s like a little morale boost when you are feeling like your dresser/bed/kitchen/whatever is just NEVER going to be done.

I had this small square vase that was begging to be remade. And I needed a better utensil holder than the ubiquitous Ikea stainless steel one with holes (which I also have and like, see below – it needed a more fun friend).

Ikea utensil holder that everyone has on the left.

So, taking an idea from Centsational Girl who painted a vase with gold stripes, I thought I would do a vase with yellow and gold stripes.

I just taped off the lines with Scott Blue painter’s tape, and then first sprayed with yellow. Then when the yellow was dry, I taped and sprayed with gold. The coverage of the gold was much better than the yellow.

So it’s not perfect, but it’s pretty good. I did some touch ups by spraying the yellow into a cup and applying with a paint brush.

And guess what? I did this while I was waiting for paint to dry on another project. A project that apparently will drag on for a while longer since I bought the wrong paint to save like $4, and then had to spend an extra $15 then buying the correct paint. Argh.

But whatever – I now have a cute utensil holder. I love all the different metallic finishes together – brass teapot ($2 at an estate sale!), stainless steel stove, gold on the vase, plus a little yellow for fun. Oh, and blue/turquoise serving utensils.

Hope you enjoy!

Love,

Rachel

 

Gold Leaf Lamp (How to Gold Leaf Awesome)

I have been wanting to gold leaf something for a while. It just always seemed so awesome.

I really love the idea of mixing gold leaf with matte finishes.

This old lamp was FREE because some guy was just cleaning out his garage. I thought it was a garage sale, so I made my boyfriend pull over (he LOVES it when I do that).

This is what the free lamp looked like.

First, I sprayed it yellow. I always meant to change the lampshade, but never got around to it.

That is, until I decide to gold leaf this thing! Then, I went to Walmart and got this lamp shade for just $13.

This is the lamp after I first sprayed it yellow. Ugly lamp shade, but it was free… so yeah…

I bought the gold leaf kit for around $10 on Amazon. It includes the gold leaf, the adhesive, and also the sealer.

First, I sprayed the lamp a matte white (after taping off the cord and the electrical socket). I love the look of matte finishes with metallics. The contrast is great.

Second, I taped off the stripes that I wanted. I used two different widths of painter’s tape (which is why some stripes are beige and some stripes are blue).

Use tape to mark off the parts you don’t want painted.

Then, I applied the adhesive lightly with a sponge applicator. Let it dry for about 15 minutes, and start applying the gold leaf. If you miss any spots, it’s OK. You can come back and fill it in by adding more adhesive and more gold leaf.  You basically just put the gold leaf directly on the adhesive and rub it with a brush or your finger to make sure it’s stuck down well.

The lines aren’t perfect, but that’s OK.

Finished! The light in the photo isn’t great, but the lamp came out awesome.

The stripes are not perfect. Gold leaf is not really a tidy adventure, but from a far, you cannot really see the less-than-perfect parts.

The gold leaf instructions say that you should seal it, but I figure the lamp won’t get man-handled too much, so I skipped that step. If I was doing something that would get more touching, I would definitely seal it.

I love how it all turned out. It only cost me a lamp shade and a gold leaf kit (I have most of the kit left too, so I am like Midas – constantly looking for more things to turn gold).

Gold stripes and matte white finish.

What else can I gold leaf?

What do you think? Do you guys freaking love gold as much as this girl?

Golden love,

Rachel