We have double doors on our house and I knew I wasn’t going to hang two wreaths, as that would look a tad busy. So, I was at Hobby Lobby one morning and spotted these wooden hanging vases/planters and thought a pair of them would be the perfect solution to my front door dilemma. They were 50% off, so I knew I’d be taking them home with me!
They were a very dark brown and I wil apologize now for forgetting to take a picture of them in their original state. I was just so excited and got a little paint happy. Our doors are a dark green/almost black, so the dark wood color wasn’t going to pop enough. So, what did I do to remedy this problem? SPRAY PAINT them, of course!
The ivory was going to be too clean looking, though. So, what did I do to remedy this issue? DISTRESS them, of course!
There are many ways to distress things, but one of my more used methods is to use a dark wood stain. Minwax had a stain called dark walnut that I prefer to use when I am distressing wood. Now, please note..if you are using this stuff, there are a few things to do… 1. wear gloves 2. wear a mask (ok, I confess…I don’t always wear one, but if you are pregnant or think you may be…wear one) 3. use it in a well ventilated area. Wood stain isn’t as forgiving as glaze, so you have to work a little quicker too.
I use any clean cotton cloth when I’m wiping it on my items. In this case, that was an old tank top. Yes, I’m serious! When you DIY, you use what you have, people!
So, on to the distressing… I dip the cloth in the stain and then just wipe it down. Yep, that’s all there is to it. Next, I let it sit for a minute. The darker the look I’m trying to achieve, the longer I’ll let it sit. I didn’t want these dark, though, so I left it on for about a minute before I began to wipe it off. Using a clean cloth, I wipe it off and then rub the cloth into the wood to make sure I get an even coverage and also to make sure all the little nooks and crannies soak up the stain so that it looks truly aged. The more you rub it into the wood, the more distressed it will look. It just takes a little elbow grease.
And…that’s it! Once they are just about dry, I spray on a coat of Minwax fast drying polyurethane. This seals the wood and protects is from the elements…water, etc. Minwax finishing wax can also be used for this, but in this case, I used the fast drying polyurethane because I’m impatient…very impatient!
Now, on to the next step..filling these vases! I will post the final finished product once they are completed.