project 1: gold and white ornaments
the base for these was bought from hobby lobby in the states while we were there, as was the gold leaf. they were made for decoupage and just had a brown kraft paper finish.
you will need the following materials:
- ornament shape from your craft store
- white paint (i used some left over sample house paint from buntings, but normal white acrylic should also work)
- bamboo rod or stick
- two chairs
- paintbrushes (x2)
- PVA glue
steps:
1. hang the ornaments along the bamboo rod or stick and suspend between the chairs. this allows you to get to the bottom of the ornaments when painting
2. paint the ornaments in the white paint (i just did the bits that weren't going to have gold on them plus a little extra to allow unevenness in the gold, but you could just paint the whole thing). The ornaments will need two coats of paint so the colour of the kraft doesn't come through.
3. Once dry, its time for gilding! this is a fiddly process and took much longer than anticipated! Cover the part of the ornament that you would like to gild. wait until tacky and, using the other paintbrush(s), place the gold leaf on the part where the glue is and then use the paintbrush to dab the gold down to stick. repeat until the parts you want are covered in gold.
a couple of tips with the gold leaf. firstly, do not put the gold leaf on as soon as you put the glue down. this will end up slightly discolouring the gold leaf finish. you need to wait until it is tacky. secondly, when using the paintbrush to stick the gold leaf down, use the side of the brush bristles instead of the end. i found this tore the gold leaf much less. thirdly, as you are waiting until the glue is tacky, you may need to go over an area more than once to get full coverage. i went for a rustic type look in the finish and edges so it didn't matter so much if there were a few gaps, but if you want to do this i would suggest painting the whole ornament white before gilding. lastly, try to use your fingers as little as possible and don't any glue on the paintbrushes you are using to apply the gold leaf! it just sticks to your fingers and the brush and gets messy!!
project 2: natural baubles
these are great to complement a busy and already glammed up tree and are super easy!!
you will need:
-polystyrene balls from your local craft store (i got mine from riot). they come in a variety of sizes so just pick the ones you like!
- calico or cream homespun fabric (or any fabric you like really) OR pages from an old book. i used homespun and then pages from an old book from a second hand bookshop on streets. this meant i had some line drawings and maps thrown in for a bit more visual interest. you could use an old map, sheet music...whatever takes your fancy!!
- pins with just a small silver head
- twine (from bunnings or your local craft store)
steps:
1. cut the book pages or fabric (whichever you are using) into lengths that are long enough to do a full circle around the sphere
2. pin in place. i used one pin every few strips as i didn't need one for each one, and the paper gets quite tick with all the layers so minimal pins is best!
3. repeat until full coverage is achieved. make sure that you overlap the strips of paper/fabric so that if they move around a little you can't see the polystyrene underneath.
4. using a piece of twine between 15 and 20cm long, tie so that you get a loop.
5. pin the loop to the bauble. i put the knot end on the bauble and stuck the pin through the knot to make sure it holds.
project 3: cookie cutter decorations
i think these are my favourite out of the three. and i always love a bit of gold and white together!!
you will need:
- air dry clay (or fimo. i found the fimo ok but if its cold, its a lot of work to get it flat if using a whole block in one go and you then need to bake it. i prefer air dry clay as long as your have a couple of days to let it dry)
- christmas themed cookie cutters (i used a scone cutter for the circle ones and got the dove, nutcracker, snowflake and bethlehem star from sur la table in the states, and the bell is available in lots of different places)
- rolling pin
- baking paper
- skewer or knitting needle
- nail file
- masking tape
- spray paint in your choice of colour (i went for a muted gold)
- twine
steps:
1. roll the clay or fimo out so that it is around 4mm thick. i found this thickness about right as if thinner, it will curl as it dries and if thicker it just takes ages to dry. i rolled it out between two sheets of baking paper to stop it from sticking to my rolling pin and kitchen table. the only thing to be careful of in doing this is that as the baking paper absorbs some of the moisture, it can crease which shows up imprinted in the clay. to alleviate this i would get two new sheets of baking paper for the last bit so there were no creases in it
2. using the cookie cutters, cut out your shapes. rework the clay and roll it out again to reduce wastage (and then you get extra decorations!
3. THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT!!! using the skewer or knitting needle, create a hole where you want the twine to go through. if you forget this one you will have lovely pieces that you cannot hang!!!
4. once dry (i usually left them for 48 hours to be sure, there should be a slight colour change - the clay gets a bit lighter), use a nail file to tidy up the twine hole and the edges. i found the cutters did not give me completely clean edges, but a nail file was enough to fix them up
5. using the masking tape, mask up the areas that you want to stay white. you can see in the picture that the nutcrackers, doves etc. have white bits and gold bits, this was just masked up with the tape (and scissors to cut the shapes). make sure the tape is well stuck down and covers all areas that you don't want to get paint on them - spray paint will find the spots that don't have some good taping going on.
6. using the spray paint (outside on a very big sheet of paper or the like - it has a wide spray and again, seems to have quite a far reach), spray your ornaments. i usually found that at least two coats were needed. follow the instructions on the paint for distance to hold the can, time between coats etc. you can apply as many or few coats as you like. try not to drown the ornament, as this can end up in a pubble on the paper which the back of your ornament is then sitting in while drying which can affect the finish.
7. once the paint on the front is dry, turn over and repeat step 6. make sure that in both steps 6 and 7, you still get the edges.
8. once all dry, take off the masking tape and, using 15-20cm lengths of twine, thread them through, knot and you're done!
