Annie Sloan Christmas Shelfie: Gilded Wooden Logs

During the holiday season I find myself wanting to create all things shiny and bright, so you'll usually find me gilding anything in sight! These wooden logs were destined for the fire, but with just a little Gold Leaf they've turned in to something precious and worthy of their place on my Christmas Shelfie.

You will need:

• Metal Leaf (I've used Brass here, but Aluminuim or Copper would look equally grand and festive.)
• Gold Size
• Stencil Brush 
• Masking Tape 
• Dry (very important that they are dry!) wooden logs 

I love highlighting one texture by contrasting it with another texture that's the complete opposite, and knew that adding a 'bling' strip of gold across the bottom of my logs would bring out the gorgeous natural patina beautifully. 

Using masking tape to create a crisp, clean line tape off your design and apply Gold Size with a small brush (I used my Stencil Brush to push the Size in to all those nooks and crannies) to the area that you'd like to gild. The Gold Size looks pearlescent in colour when first applied and will become clear after 5-10 minutes - this is when you should apply the leaf. Place the leaf on to the wood, gently pushing it in to the crevices using your fingers, and then 5-10 minutes later brush the excess leaf away with a soft brush. 

Carefully peel off the masking tape and then apply a little Clear Chalk Paint® Wax, or if you want to tone down the brightness try adding a little Dark Chalk Paint® Wax too.

Here they are, don't they look glorious? It's such an easy, simple and inexpensive way to create gorgeous festive ornaments, and they've received lots of compliments already!

As always, I'm going to be posting them looking all fabulous on my Christmas Shelf later tonight over on my Facebook page, so make sure you keen an eye out for them!

Yours,

Annie.