easy antiquing tutorial

i wanted to personalize the kids' bedroom.
yes, they are going to share EVENTUALLY, but
for now the babe is in our room (ick) and hollis is in theirs.
seeing as how they will share one space,
i thought putting personalized items in the decor would make
them each feel like they belong in that room.

so, i went to joann's and got two big wood letters--
one for each of their first name initials,
antiqued them,
and am going to put one on each of their shelves
with items that are special to them personally.
more to come on the finished bedroom redo.


ok, now on to the tutorial....

Materials:
acrylic paint (i had some left over from hollis' birthday canvas)
minwax wood finish stain
paint brush
sand paper
old cloth


1.  Prime wooden object:  just make sure it is sanded a little, clean, and dry.


2.  Under color paint:  paint 1-2 coats of whatever color you want to have under the main color.  i used white, because i wanted it to soak up the stain and be a pure stain color.  this color will peek out when you sand it.

3.  Top color paint:  paint 2 coats of the color you want to show most of.  i used a lime green color for hollis' H.

4.  Sand:  once the paint is thoroughly dried, sand the object in the direction of the grain and especially around the edges and corners.  you can sand as much or as little as you would like depending on the look you are going for.  keep in mind that the stain will soak into the spots where you sand.  wipe excess paint particles off with a cloth.

5.  Stain:  (be in a well ventilated place for this step)  brush the stain on with a sponge brush and let it sit 1-2 minutes.  rub the stain off of the object using an old cloth (shhhh, i used one of jon's old t-shirts).  make sure you don't leave any dark spots of stain on the wood.  allow stain to dry completely.

6.  you're Done!   great job, now go enjoy the fruits of your labor :)

 ******************************************************************
if anybody has design ideas for a shared boy's and girl's bedroom, send them my way (please).  thanks!