Friday, January 22, 2010

Tutorial for the Prim Lovers - aging wood

In honour of my 100th post I thought I would share one of my favourite prim secrets with you...

One of the most frequent questions I have been asked since doing this is how to age things... this method works especially well on old cutting boards or hard wood... this does not work on soft pine


This is the board that I will be working on... note the colour now
I purchased this at a thrift store for a couple of dollars...

LET'S GET STARTED
put something down on your work surface this will get messy...
Tip: I use an old shower curtain as a drop sheet

STEP #1
give your board a light sanding to open up the pores 


this is our secret weapon... Ebony (black) stain


STEP# 2
apply the stain liberally with a sponge brush
let it soak in for a few minutes

Tip: put your board on a couple of scrap wood pieces to prevent pooling
it will also make staining the sides much easier


STEP #3
wipe excess stain off with a cotton rag
don't forget your rubber glove



after wiping the stain... hmmm doesn't look very aged to me... too perfect


now we get the big guns out... an old ice pick and hammer...


STEP #4
give the board a few whacks with the ice pick and hammer... this will depict worm holes... we are talking really old wood here people

add more stain on top of your holes... let it soak in for a bit


viola...now you have some authentic looking worm holes...

do this randomly over the whole board...


STEP #5
take a hammer and whack it all over with both the head and the claw part
restain - be sure to work the stain in the holes
wipe clean

 Tip: I would normally do this first but for this tut I wanted to show you the difference with and without... consider this step frustration therapy


now let's have another look at the before


and the after... beat to death and restained
I also sanded the edges and anywhere you think it should have some wear and tear


close up... now doesn't that look much better than a plain ole boring board


let's try another one
a $2.00 thrift store find


using the same method as above... could you tell the difference between this and an antique one
I have seen these in antique shops as high as $45.00 for the old ones

I hope this answers your question on how to age wood
this is just one method but the easiest and quickest.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask I will be more than happy to help you.


8 comments:

Firecracker Kid said...

Hi Deb! Very good tutorial:) That board turned out great lookin'. I'll have to try that sometime. When I get the garage cleaned out. LOL. Thanks gal. Hugs,Carol

Crafty Sisters said...

Thanks for the tutorial. I like the black ebony stain, I would never have thought to try that!

Funky Junk Interiors said...

LOVE this! Tried to cut and paste a pic to feature on my sidebar but the option is disabled. Phooey! :D

Ice pick eh? On my shopping list!

Thanks for linking up to SNS!
FJ Donna

www.thewhitefarmhouse2.blogspot.com said...

Love the look you get. Really like that stain color. Great job you did. I have also whacked stuff with a chain to age it. Helps to get out frustration!

Pam said...

Thanks for the tutorial! I am going to have to give this a try sometime. Now I'm off to craft! Have a great day!
Hugs,
Pam

DeeDee said...

great job Deb..you look lke apro at this...I love distressing for frustration relief...lol..I like the ebony stain also..

Lynette said...

Thanks for the info - would never have thought of the black stain! Will remember to add that to my arsenal - ha!
Love how they came out!

Thanks for sharing -

Happy Saturday!

Beverly said...

Thank you for sharing! I love the look of old wood. I have a dining room table that in the spring is getting a makeover. Now I can't decide wether to paint or make it look old.