Today, I want to share with you some of my favorite things to work
with. I can't resist mixing these ingredients to come up with this recipe for
some rustic, shabby gorgeousness.
(at least I think so!)
*rescued wood
*rusty barbed wire
*thrifted lace
*yellowed fabric
Mixing these textures are rich.
Creating an easy, rugged beauty
that speaks to me of simplicity.
The aqua sign wood was found just like that. The others I had
to cut from a board and paint and distress a little.
I wanted more of a white-washed look.
I tried gesso but it really soaked in and
store bought is expensive!
And so I thought I'd try my kid's white tempra paint.
It went on very easily and the coverage was just right.
It dried very fast and then I just sanded it a little with
#60 grit sand paper.
There are a few other little charms for a splash of color.
The wire that I used for the hanger was too thick for the beads.
And so I used some of my dark brown jewelry wire to
string the beads on. I wrapped the end where I wanted to start the beads
and then took a wrap and strung a bead..took a wrap...strung a bead
and so on until I
reached the desired length.
I left a little space between to tie on the strips of
lace and fabric. It worked well and the strips covered the wire nicely.
Perfect!
(which is not always the outcome with my ideas)
And some clear glitter for some sparkly goodness.
After I stenciled, and the paint was dry, I just brushed on some
craft glue and sprinkled the glitter on.
Soft rufflles on chippy wood.
Do you like it?
Cutting the barbed wire was a little tricky. I had to ask my husband
how to do that. I first tried regular heavy duty wire cutters.
There was no way they would cut through a
wire of that thickness.
We have done some fencing and so we had
some fencing pliers. I was concerned about
being able to cut it because my hands aren't very strong.
But they worked great without hardly any effort and
it didn't hurt to use them either.
I also wore a pair of leather work gloves.
How to attach the wire to the wood was another question.
I tried E6000 but I couldn't get the wire to lay flat.
I decided to try using some small rusty nails and just bending them
over the wire and tapping them down.
I only had a few small ones though and so I had to find something
else. Down to the garage I went to look through my Honey's nail
I'm going to have to figure out to rusty up some nails before I
can make any more of these!
 |
There's just something about old, rusty barbed wire...
 |
All the wood and wire was found here on our place. I have piles of wood
that I choose from and there are tangles of rusty
wire (barbed and baling) that I cut my pieces from.
I not only love working with these materials but
it's important to me to create another life for things once used.
It's an old farm/ranch that sits at the foot of a mountain.
A wonderful Dr. and his gracious wife generously sold a part of it to us.
They were from Holland.
(Just think.. the barbed wire I used for re-creating was once used to keep
these dear folk's horses corralled! To me, that makes it special.)
I would love to hear about some of your favorite things that you create with!
Thank you so much for stopping by.
Blessings to you,
Tamara
I'm linking up at:
http://shabbyartboutique.com/
