Antique Finish Foil Letter
This has to be one of my favorite home decor projects that I have ever done! I love how amazing this project turned out. It is time consuming, but it turned out fabulous!
I decided that I really liked the idea of using the letter of my last name in my home decor. I really liked the idea of an antique style for the design, and I found through fellow pinterest pinners, a simple and easy way to create my own unique antique letter.
Supplies:
Cardboard letter (I got mine from the local craft store. You can also make your own out of cereal boxes if you are feeling more adventurous)
Hot glue gun
Tin foil
Tape
Black shoe polish (You can also use any other color of shoe polish you desire)
Glossy mod podge
Paint brush
I began this project by using a pencil and drawing the design I wanted on my letter. I started in one corner of the D and kept working my way around. I did find out later that the bigger swirls turned out so much better than the smaller ones and they are easier to work with.
Once my swirl design was finished, I began to work on covering it with hot glue. I liked using the hot glue because It dried so much faster than liquid glue and it gave it more height! I ended up doing two layers over the penciled design for even more height. I also added some extra dots to fill some of the space.
Once the glue was dry, I got out my tin foil roll. This part was definitely the hardest and tedious. I had many trial and error sections figuring out the best way to cut and place the tinfoil without ripping it. I wish I would have taken more pictures of this process, but what I learned was to not stress and be patient. I took narrow and long pieces of foil to cover the rounded parts of the letter. The longer sections I used bigger pieces. With each piece I tapped them to the back of the letter to help hold everything together. I found the image below to give you an idea of how I cut and placed the foil.
To start covering the letter, i found it was easiest to do the straight parts of the letter first. I cut the tin foil to fit the length of the section I was covering to the back of the letter. I used scotch tape to secure the foil into place. For the rounded parts of the letter, I used smaller pieces of tin foil like the picture above.
When I finally got the front and sides of the letter covered, I was so relieved. :) I then gently used my hands to push down the foil around the hot glue gun swirls. You have to be really careful with this part or else you can actually create holes. (Totally found that out the hard way.)
I also learned through experimenting that using a rag to smooth out the foil and show the swirls helped a lot too.
I was so glad to be done with putting on the tin foil! The next step was over-all the fun and creative part of this project. This is where the shoe polish comes in handy. I just used what my husband had. You can also buy shoe polish pretty much any where.
Using my husbands kit, I started applying the polish to the swirls. This really makes them stand out and creates the antique design. I learned that less is more with this project. When putting on the polish make sure to still use minimal pressure or it can create holes through the foil.
Once I finished covering the front of the letter with polish I let it dry for a little bit. I was so excited I forgot to take a picture of this step.
Then I used my glossy finish mod podge and a foam brush to glue everything together. The picture below is showing this step. I also made sure to put a little extra glue around the seams of the foil to help hold it closer together. Then I let the glue dry for the last time.
I am so happy with the finished product! It turned out amazing and I always get comments on this project. It adds to the room in many different ways. I love that it is light weight and how elegant the design is. I would love to try this project again with different designs and even shoe polish colors.
