Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Aged Metal Letters Tutorial

Hi All, Hope your having a great summer so far. It has finally stopped raining (and snowing) for a few days here and I'm starting to get adjusted to having two little ones instead of one.  I've been trying to get Tate's nursery completely finished, and these letters for the wall are part of the last few things. I figured at the rate I'm going, I'll probablly get it done just in time for me to change it again when he needs a big boy room.  These were super easy and I am IN.LOVE. with the finish.

I fell in love with these weathered zinc letters from Restoration Hardware...but at $69 each, it was out of the questions...on to Plan B.

I started off by purchasing these letters at Joann's. 


Painted on a coat of black paint.



Then I broke out some other paint that I had...Ralph Lauren's Metallic Paint and some Acrylic in Burnt Umber. I used the same RL paint in my Sunburst Mirror Tutorial.


Using the RL Metallic, dip your paint brush and in a circular motion, half hazardly put this on top of the black paint. Do only small sections at a time, as this dried almost immediately.  Using a paper towel, rub in a circular motion and rub the paint in further. Then check your OCD at the door.  There is no perfection here.



Then using a sponge brush, I blotted on VERY THINGLY and VERY SPORATICALLY the Burnt Umber Acrylic. This gave it the "worn and weathered" look, like the antique rusted letters you dig for at the flea market.  This is where I started to fall in love with the finish.





He's learning, picking this stuff up as he watches mommy.


Gorilla Glue some hanging hardware on the back and they go up on the wall in the nursery. You can stack these as well if you have ledge shelving, but I wanted them directly above the crib, so this was the option I chose. 



(yes, I still need to paint the cord covers on the wall)  

I love how they turned out. You can see more of the Nusery Here




37 comments:

  1. I love these so much. I am so drawn to the texture of them. I would love to do a monogram for my son's room. So cute.

    Thanks your effort!

    Letters

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  2. This is wonderful. They really do look like they are metal~and old.
    Thanks for posting this~Eileen

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  3. Great faux finish! Thanks for sharing!! :)

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  4. Wow, your letters look fabulous! I have been looking for old weathered letters for my living room. Now, I think I will have to try to make my own! Thanks for sharing :) Does the ralph lauren metallic paint come in different colors?

    Amanda

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  5. the letters look fantastic. great job!!!

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  6. @Amanda...RL does make different colors and I believe Benjamin Moore may carry a metallic line also.

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  7. These look amazing. I have had a great big "B" in my bedroom for oh...about 8 months now! I hope I can make it turn out as beautifully as yours did! (someday...)

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  8. They look fabulous! Love how you picked different sized letters!

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  9. Yes, I adore these, it's official! The finish is so, so fabulous. Pinning this for the future! Thanks so much for sharing.

    Swing by my blog to see how to make healthy ice cream....no ice cream maker required! ;)

    -MJ @ MD School Mrs.

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  10. i love the finish! So beautiful! I am wanting to do some "faux metal" myself, so I loved seeing this!

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  11. by the way, my littlest guy was born March 28, and he thought watching me paint the living room ceiling was FASCINATING last night. :)

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  12. Wow, these are incredible! Love them and will look to do some like them in my house. :) Thanks for sharing!

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  13. These look great! I'm a new follower, and also included a link to your project in my weekly link dump, located here:

    http://www.adornonashoestring.com/2011/06/link-dump_24.html

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  14. Fabulous! saw u over On Knock Off Decor

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  15. Wow they came out great - you would never know they were paper ones from JoAnn's. I laughed when you wrote - Gotta check your OCD at the door. Pretty funny. I think they came out perfect.
    My best - Diane

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  16. Oh! Lovely! You did a fantastic job! They look amazing, Becky! Great technique!

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  17. These are amazing! What color RL metallic paint did you use? Also, for the black base coat, did you use flat or a glossy sheen? Thanks for the inspiration!

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  18. love the letters, i would love to feature them, if this would be ok with you please let me know,
    lauren

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  19. Love it! I love the mix in sizes and the finish is awesome.

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  20. I want to create mine with more of a bronze metal look but I'm not sure what kind of color I would use to make it look "worn and weathered".

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  21. This looks great! Thanks for the tutorial. I ordered a giant (more than 3ft) letter P from Restoration in May and am still awaiting it's delivery. Backorder has been delayed twice. Maybe I should try this method and make my own.

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  22. What was the white paint used for & where?

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  23. NIce! The letters that you purchased - are they wood or cardboard?

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  25. k snap niet waar je die witte verf voor gebruikt! Ik hoor het graag van je,kan ik beginnen haha....

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  26. Achei fantástico esse trabalho, infelizmente estou no Brasil e não tenho como comprar o material (Letras e tintas) Um Grande Abraço!

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  27. What did you use the white paint for?

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  28. What did you use the white paint for?

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  29. Hi there! I just wanted to let you know that I featured this project on my website as one of my Top 10 Favorite Back To School Crafts! You can check it out at

    http://greyposy.com/top-10-favorite-back-school-crafts/

    I love it! Thanks for sharing this great idea! You're amazing!

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  30. Great idea. Love it. But honestly? Why does no one check their spelling and grammar before posting articles? Please ask someone to proof read to check for mistakes before posting.

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  31. We are leading Metal Letters Manufacturers in Chennai and Name Board Manufacturers in Chennai offering the high quality display boards to our clients.Metal Letters Manufacturers in Chennai

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  32. Great idea. Love it. We’re glad you found this info useful. Your all metal letters with succulents are very nice and fantastic. Nice and informative article. Thanks for sharing the information with us. Learned a lot of things.

    metal letters for wall Oklahoma City

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  33. Wow. Looks so classy. I recently also made one for my guest house from a Sign Board Manufacturers in Chennai , the quality and finish came out well. Now from this post, it gives me an idea of also how to creatively use it in interiors as well. Thank you

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