Silver metallic furniture pieces have been on the scene for a while now and don't seem to be heading out anytime soon. Mandi wanted to try her hand at creating one without a trusty silver spray can in hand but using a common kitchen goods instead. See what she pulled off after the jump...
At first I was skeptical, but by the end of her tutorial I was thoroughly impressed. She didn't just glue on some tin foil and call it a day (which probably wouldn't do the trick). She put a quick layer of steel paint by Sophisticated Finishes on and quickly wiped it off to give some color changes and variations to the piece. Mandi then finished it off with the same technique using Ralph Lauren's Faux Glaze in Black Silk. The result gave a more tarnished and weathered look to the piece accenting corners and crevices throughout.
To see the entire step-by-step check out Mandi's post: Vintage Revivals.
(Images: Vintage Revivals)
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Stop it! This is just too, too fun.
Love it! I'm in the middle of re-doing a dresser in silver and I never thought of using anything but spray paint...not very imaginative, she's way ahead of me!
Killer! Must try something similar...
Hey, a technique that makes that pretty terrible night stand worth keeping!
This look so much better than I was expecting
i am impressed, i was expecting something pretty tacky but the variances of color and techniques made it look really sharp!
Well, it's different...
It's wonderful. I wonder about fitting the foil around the drawer front so it still closes all the way, but maybe the fit was loose on the original piece?
It's not quite correct to say the project was essentially free (from her blog) though, as aluminum foil is rather expensive these days.
Oh holy cow... I was definitely expecting a disaster when I clicked on this... I never thought foil could look so good!
agree with stationeryfiend
Bravo!! That looks amazing!!
I agree with stationeryfriend. I saw the before picture with the foil and Mod Podge and thought it was going to be terrible. It looks great, though!
Clever!
It's ALUMINUM foil, people, not TIN.
I'm a sucker for almost anything metallic and shiny!
A little Miss Havesham for my taste. Cobwebs would fit right in...
Everytning old is new again....except for me ,alas. I did this to an old wardrobe for my bedroom forty one years ago when I was in high school . The idea came out of Family Circle magazine which along with Woman's Day were about it for us finding affordable crafty ideas back then. Aside from the foil I used thinned Elmer's (1971 PM--pre Mod Podge) and thinned black paint to take down the shine. It's fun seeing the wheel turn!
It isn't a difficult technique but it does take patience, especially to keep the foil from tearing which is a surprise while you're doing it. You'd think it would be sturdier.
Also saw aluminum foil as wallpaper in a classic DIY decorating book of the late '70's called "Your Space" b&w photos only but lots of graet ideas that are back in style again or could be adapted and updated.
I too was surprised that I'd like it. Sounded hokey, but turned out very nice. We all know it's aluminum, but tin foil is the perfectly acceptable common name. Per Wikipedia, "it is, informally, widely called tin foil, for historical reasons."
I'm shocked! That looks amazing!
It does look really good!
well, Warhol's Factory was decorated in aluminum foil from floor to ceiling, so there's that.
It's probably the only DIY I've ever seen here that I like - usually it makes me feel like regressing to Kindergarten when I look at the end product. I would totally adopt that, except I'd probably screw up somewhere, but this is way fun.
Holy moly. that is groovy.
About 35 years ago I was living in a small house where the toilet room was seperated from the actual bathroom, and it was unfortunately situated on the "dark" side of the house.
One day, on a sudden impulse, I went to the grocery shop and bought several rolls of cooking foil and WALLPAPERED THE WHOLE TOILET ROOM... including the ceiling...!
I said not a word when my kids got home from school and waited for the first one to go in there and get a surprise. Well, can you imagine it...? Squeals, yells, laughter and running footsteps by first one kid then the other assured me that they'd got the surprise of their lives and it was A GOOD ONE...! When any new visitor asked to use the toilet I never told them what to expect, but I sure did get a lot of brilliant reactions and comments about it... one being that it was "just like Santa's Magic Grotto" My kids now have families of their own and I've heard them still talking about our "magic" toilet to their children. My only regret is that I never took any photos of it....!
You are an artist. I can't do that :p Great job!
I'd do this, thanks for the idea.
Wow! How creative and unique. Thanks for sharing this.
Aluminum foil is also a great party decoration - we'd take 1' pieces and hang them from the ceiling with painters tape above the dance floor, and put a fan on them so they'd move. People would freak out!
Wow!! Thats awesome! I love it!
Mandi never disappoints, regardless if the project is old or new, hers turned out fab and fun!
Ez-qui-zeet!
There's this smallish mirror hiding under a pile of stuff on my dining/craft table. It's original silver metallic finish was water damaged. I've been wondering what inexpensive and not too difficult method I could use to refinish the frame. This is perfect! Glad I didn't invest in the pricey silver leaf stuff. It'll be my fun for this week, and Mandi is my new hero.
Wow! I paid $129 for something like that at...won't say the name but rhymes with DK Rax Nomes...LOL!!!!
Nice job!