Annie Sloan Christmas Shelfie: Concrete Candle Holder

In my previous blog post I spoke about how, at this time of year, I love gilding. So here is another project that uses a little metal leaf, but this time with a stencil.






























This candleholder was a gift from the wonderfully creative blogger Hester, who ingeniously made it by hand from concrete. I loved its handmade-yet-industrial feel, and wanted to give it some festive pizzazz with a little paint, some stencilling and some gilding.

You will need:

• Concrete Candleholder 
• Gold Size 
• Masking Tape 
• Amsterdam Green Chalk Paint®
• Stencil Brush
• Small Flat Brush
• Brass Leaf 
• Valeska stencil

To recreate this look, first paint a solid line almost halfway up the piece, all the way around the candleholder, using masking tape and the small flat brush to create a straight line. Once dry, work out exactly where you will place the stencil. Here, I've reversed the stencil to create a cross, however you could flip it to create a diamond shape. The choice is yours! Using the masking tape to hold the stencil down, paint the design on the concrete all the way around.

Once the paint has dried, use your stencil again to dab a small amount of the Gold Size onto the painted stripe. As soon as the Gold Size has turned from pearlescent to clear, press the Brass Leaf down gently. Leave the leaf on for 5 minutes before wiping away the excess. You can now seal in the leaf and paintwork with Clear Chalk Paint® Wax.

And there you have it! I love the way it looks traditionally festive with the green and gold, yet the concrete makes it modern. What do you think of this project? And the projects for my Christmas Shelfie so far? Please do let me know!

Yours,

Annie