Beach Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Pretty Handy Girl

Aged, Antique Heart Pine Flooring, antiques, Beach, distressing, Do It Yourself, Glaze, Lowe's Creative Idea, Paintbrushes, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, Tutorial, Valspar Asphaltum

How to Make New Wood Look Old, Weathered and Rustic

I have a confession to make. All the wood that you saw on my art studio wall is not exactly old or salvaged. Will you forgive me if I share with you the Secret to Make New Wood Look Old, Weathered and Rustic?

In order to have enough wood, I had to buy some new pine boards off the shelf at Lowe’s. I actually chose furring strip boards because they are already chewed up and imperfect.

But, I also grabbed a few other supplies:

Optional: General Finishes Flat Out Flat Top Coat to protect furniture.

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

The Secret of Weathered Boards:

Old rustic boards are gray and have enhanced grain and plenty of dings and character. Replicating that look can be tricky unless you have the right tools, glazes, and a few tricks up your sleeve.

I wrote another post about aging and antiquing that shares some other techniques, but today I’ll focus solely on making new lumber look old.

Weathered boards have a warm gray color. To create this color I stained the boards with Rustoleum sunbleached. Then wiped off the excess.

Next I added a little Minwax Early American and wiped it off.

The results are the blue-gray weathered look. For more dimension and detail try adding the glazing technique described below.

My Secret Rustic Glaze Formula:

UPDATE: Valspar stopped making the products I originally used. I’ve tried a lot of alternatives, and settled on General Finishes Van Dyke and Pitch Black glazes to get the same look. The good news is that you don’t need the additional clear mixing glaze.

There is nothing in this world more beautiful to me than rustic barn wood. Those dark chocolate timbers that look like they’ve been gathering dirt for decades are gorgeous in my eyes.

To fake this look I created a glaze that works wonders when wiped over new lumber.

Mix 2 parts Van Dyke glaze and 1 part Pitch Black glaze.

Mix thoroughly. The resulting color should be a very dark chocolate color. Adjust your color by adding more VanDyke or more Pitch Black.

Dip your flat brush into the glaze and drag it over the wood. The glaze really accentuates the grain in the wood.

Shake or tap the brush on a stick to give your lumber age freckles.

For more uniform color, brush the glaze over the entire board (don’t forget the ends of the wood.)

Rub the glaze into the wood and wipe off any excess.

Take a look at the difference:

Not bad, did you know this farm crate sign is brand spankin’ new?

I hope I fooled you. Here’s the tutorial for making the farm crate sign.

In the meantime, have fun aging those new boards! I’d love to hear if you try these techniques and how they worked for you.

October 22, 2012/92 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

adfree, arts and craft, Beach, bucket, Paintbrushes, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, stencil, Tutorial

Summer Calendar and Our Bucket List

I don’t know whether to be excited or dread that yesterday was the last day of school for my boys. I have some summer camps lined up for them, but frankly our summer schedule is all over the place. So much so that I need help remembering where the kids are going and when.

I thought it would be a good idea to display the schedule so the boys could see what was coming up (to avoid the inevitable anxiety from different camps for different weeks.) To give them a little control over the schedule, we sat down and brainstormed our bucket list for the summer. Ice cream, swimming, and Carowinds are only a few of their bucket list items. I thought it was especially sweet that they wanted to spend time with our longtime sitter one or two days ;-).

While I was contemplating this displayable schedule, I received a box of goodies from Plaid. The boys were home when it arrived, so naturally they hovered like eager vultures as I opened it. And of course they immediately wanted to make something with the supplies. Sometimes timing is a serendipitous thing.

I set up the kitchen table with all the supplies and a plastic cover over the table. When I looked up, my oldest son had disappeared! I found him like this:

Writing in the Sand Picture

Writing Name in Sand Art | Pretty Handy Girl

This is a fun project to do with your kids (or by yourself) while you are at the beach.

Collect some cool shells, beach glass or driftwood. Use a broken shell with a sharp edge to write your name or message in the sand. Decorate your scene with the shells, etc. Take oodles of pictures. Try different angles and different distances.

When you get home pick out your favorite. And then you can use your favorite photo editing software or one of these great free websites Picnik or Sumo Paint– to make color corrections, cropping, etc.

Print your picture out and put it in a cute frame.

I debated whether or not to add shells and sea glass to the outside of the frame. The kids voted and we decided to add them with hot glue (or you could use E-6000) to the frame.

Then hang your sign on a door or set it up on your desk. You be the boss!

August 10, 2010/17 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Beach, Destinations, Ocean Isle Beach, Summer

Enjoying Summertime – OIB, NC

Meeting of the gulls

As we near the end of summer (at what seems like break neck speed), I wanted to stop and remember the lazy days of sleeping in; playing on the beach; napping after an afternoon in the sun; and heading out to the pier for ice cream, glow sticks and picturesque sunsets.