Hello friends! Im Lorene, and I work behind the scenes here at Remodelaholic helping Justin and Cassity but about once a year I rear my blogger head and share something with you! Last year for the 12 Days of Christmas, I shared this easy ornament tree to hold the vintage ornaments we inherited from my husbands grandmother. This year, for our black and gold Christmashere, I put together a fun gallery wall full of gold foil prints on old book pages:
Before this project, Id never really used much gold in my home decor but now I am HOOKED! And since I love experimenting, I tried not just one but FOURdifferent ways to create a gold art print for your home. And no, you dont have to be a natural artist to do any of these I even included a free printable (in both black and gold, at the end of the post) just in case youre really crunched for time or your creative energies are zapped! If youre ready to DIY it:grab your x-acto knife or digital cutting machine and lets get started!
(Note: I own a Silhouette cutting machine, the dinosaur-age SD and these projects use a couple different Silhouette products, but this post isnot sponsored by them in any way. This post does contain affiliate links for your shopping convenience, since its so nice to be able to order online and not go to the store! You can read our full disclosure policy here.)
How to Create a Christmas Gallery Wall with DIY Gold Printsby Lorene for Remodelaholic
I used an old falling-apart dictionary I picked up a few years ago as the backing for my gold art prints. You could also use cardstock or any other kind of paper. And before the book purists converge to tell me how terrible it is that I used real book pages: I promise, this dictionary had a full life and had nothing left to give to literacy the binding was shot and the pages were justfalling out. Im pretty sure I heard them sigh happily to be given some new life and new love
(If youre short a decrepit vintage dictionary, you could try these printable dictionary pages from Knick of Time.)
Method 1: Gold Foil
Ill start with the easiest of the four ways to make your own gold print: using this Silhouette printable gold foil. I purchased mine on Amazon (again, no going to the store!) but its also available in most larger craft stores locally, like JoAnns and Michaels. There are other gold foil products out there, but the nice things about this particular one is that 1) its printable (which means you could have a lot of fun variations!) and 2) its already adhesive (no messing with fancy glues).
And it really is so simple just cut the shapes that you want, peel the backing off, and stick it on the paper. (Yes, I videod that in case it was too many steps be sure to subscribe to follow us over on YouTube so youll see all our new videos!)
[embedded content]
So incredibly easy to make something that looks so awesome! The cute family in the car is shape #72147 from the Silhouette store, and you can download the let it snow image at the bottom of the post,to print and trace to cut by hand, or trace in the Silhouette software to cut your own. You could also use a craft punch to cut the foil even just a circle punch for polka dots would be so cute!
Method 2: Gold Leaf
This method of making a gold print turned out as my favorite, but it does take a little bit more patience than the gold foil, since gold leaf sheets are a little more delicate to work with. You could use a glue pen to draw or trace the shape you want, but I decided to try the double-sided adhesive bySilhouette, to make it even a little bit easier. (Again, you can buy it on Amazon or locally at most JoAnn or Michaels stores.) I picked up my gold leaf at Hobby Lobby, but again you can gold leaf sheetson Amazon, too (and for a lower price per sheet than I paid in the store!)
The double-sided adhesivesheet is just a sticky sheet with paper on both sides so you cut, peel, stick, peel, and then adhere whatever medium you want on top. I used atree shape that came pre-loadedwith my Silhouette, and I created my own ho ho ho that you can download at the bottom of the post. Heres how to make your own easy gold leaf print:
[embedded content]
With the white side of the double sided adhesive sheet facing up, cut your desired shape using scissors, an x-acto/craft knife, or your digital cutting machine.Carefully removethe shape from the sheet, keeping both the white and yellow papers attached to the adhesive center part.Peel off the yellow backing and stick the shape on your backing paper with the white paper still attached (and yes, I did it backwards in the video and peeled off the white instead the yellowwasnt coming off, and my shapes were symmetrical, so it worked!)Peel off the white paper to expose the adhesive sheet.Gently lay a sheet of gold leaf on top of the adhesive sheet, as flatly as you can. Press down and rub the foil gently to adhere it to the adhesive sheet.Using your fingers or a brush, remove the gold leaf around the edges of the shape, and gently clean up the edges of the shape so the lines are crisp.
For the more intricate shapes and curved edges of the ho ho ho it just takes a little more time to clean up the edges; the straight edges of the tree cleaned up really easily, just like you see in the video.
Method 3: Gold Glitter
This is exactly like using gold leaf, but sub in glitter! And then silently curse every time you find random pieces of glitter around your house, because no matter how careful you are, that stuff gets everywhere! but the finished product looks amazing, so its all worth it
See the step-by-step directions above (for the gold foil art); the only difference is that I used a spare sheet of paper to help rub the glitter and adhere it to the adhesive shape. You could use your fingers, but then youll really never see the end of the glitter! Once the glitter is stuck to the adhesive, carefully shake and brush off the excess glitter, either into another container or back into the original container.
[embedded content]
I used the angel,shape #14916 from Silhouette, and JOY is font Fonesia, free viadafont.com (and included in the file and image below for you to download ortrace to use with your digital cutting machine).
Method 4: Gold Paint Pen
This is the only method that requires any artistic skill, and you could use a stencil if you want! I wasnt sure how the gold paint pen would look on paper, but I really like the look! It does make me wish that I were a better freehand artist because a hand-letteredsaying would look amazing but Ill keep practicing.
Just shake the paint pen well (I used this one by Krylon, but a gold Sharpie should work just the same) and start drawing! I suggest practicing with the pen a bit before you draw on your final backing, just to get a feel for how the paint flows from the pen. I drew a simple snowflake, because thats about as artsy as I get when freehanding it (although I am pretty proud of how that gift-wrapped bow looks!):
[embedded content]
Hang It Up!
When all of the gold prints were finished, I rounded up a collection of frames to put together my gallery wall.
top left:hand me down, not surethe original source
top center:black clipboard, found on clearance at Michaels
top right:deep shadowbox, from Michaels
middle left:everyones favorite the 8 square RIBBA frame from Ikea!
middle right:1114 floating frame from JoAnns, matted with a gold printed vellum from Hobby Lobby (with a white sheet of paper behind it)
bottom left:washi tape. My favorite way to hang a gallery wall! (Great for other things, too!)
bottom center:$1 craft wood frame from Michaels(not online), covered with gold foil, with a black paper Santa silhouette
bottom right:8 square black shadowbox from Michaels, backed with gold metallic paper from Hobby Lobby
My favorite method for setting up a gallery wall: cutting out paper shapes and sticking them on the wall. It lets me move and rearrange without pounding a bunch of extra holes in the wall!
Dont forget to get your free printables here!
for personal use only; if you want to share, please direct people back to this post
let it snow and ho ho ho printables: black and white | gold
word art files (for digital cutting machines): .jpg | .studio3/.zip
And, giving credit where credit is due thanks to awesome designers for sharing their work for non-design folk like me
Gold texture in printables: Texture 71 by WanderingSoul-Stox on DeviantArt
Fonesia font in printables: by Locomotype, via Dafont
Soft Script font in printables: by FontPanda, via Dafont
Meet the Author:CassityCassity started Remodelaholic with her husband, Justin, to share their love for knocking out walls together. She is an interior designer, wife, and mother of two. She and Justin have remodeled three Read More
http://www.feedshuttle.com/go.aspx?url=http:%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F~r%2FRemodelaholic%2F~3%2FvSV81m--5zc%2F
Before this project, Id never really used much gold in my home decor but now I am HOOKED! And since I love experimenting, I tried not just one but FOURdifferent ways to create a gold art print for your home. And no, you dont have to be a natural artist to do any of these I even included a free printable (in both black and gold, at the end of the post) just in case youre really crunched for time or your creative energies are zapped! If youre ready to DIY it:grab your x-acto knife or digital cutting machine and lets get started!
(Note: I own a Silhouette cutting machine, the dinosaur-age SD and these projects use a couple different Silhouette products, but this post isnot sponsored by them in any way. This post does contain affiliate links for your shopping convenience, since its so nice to be able to order online and not go to the store! You can read our full disclosure policy here.)
How to Create a Christmas Gallery Wall with DIY Gold Printsby Lorene for Remodelaholic
I used an old falling-apart dictionary I picked up a few years ago as the backing for my gold art prints. You could also use cardstock or any other kind of paper. And before the book purists converge to tell me how terrible it is that I used real book pages: I promise, this dictionary had a full life and had nothing left to give to literacy the binding was shot and the pages were justfalling out. Im pretty sure I heard them sigh happily to be given some new life and new love
(If youre short a decrepit vintage dictionary, you could try these printable dictionary pages from Knick of Time.)
Method 1: Gold Foil
Ill start with the easiest of the four ways to make your own gold print: using this Silhouette printable gold foil. I purchased mine on Amazon (again, no going to the store!) but its also available in most larger craft stores locally, like JoAnns and Michaels. There are other gold foil products out there, but the nice things about this particular one is that 1) its printable (which means you could have a lot of fun variations!) and 2) its already adhesive (no messing with fancy glues).
And it really is so simple just cut the shapes that you want, peel the backing off, and stick it on the paper. (Yes, I videod that in case it was too many steps be sure to subscribe to follow us over on YouTube so youll see all our new videos!)
[embedded content]
So incredibly easy to make something that looks so awesome! The cute family in the car is shape #72147 from the Silhouette store, and you can download the let it snow image at the bottom of the post,to print and trace to cut by hand, or trace in the Silhouette software to cut your own. You could also use a craft punch to cut the foil even just a circle punch for polka dots would be so cute!
Method 2: Gold Leaf
This method of making a gold print turned out as my favorite, but it does take a little bit more patience than the gold foil, since gold leaf sheets are a little more delicate to work with. You could use a glue pen to draw or trace the shape you want, but I decided to try the double-sided adhesive bySilhouette, to make it even a little bit easier. (Again, you can buy it on Amazon or locally at most JoAnn or Michaels stores.) I picked up my gold leaf at Hobby Lobby, but again you can gold leaf sheetson Amazon, too (and for a lower price per sheet than I paid in the store!)
The double-sided adhesivesheet is just a sticky sheet with paper on both sides so you cut, peel, stick, peel, and then adhere whatever medium you want on top. I used atree shape that came pre-loadedwith my Silhouette, and I created my own ho ho ho that you can download at the bottom of the post. Heres how to make your own easy gold leaf print:
[embedded content]
With the white side of the double sided adhesive sheet facing up, cut your desired shape using scissors, an x-acto/craft knife, or your digital cutting machine.Carefully removethe shape from the sheet, keeping both the white and yellow papers attached to the adhesive center part.Peel off the yellow backing and stick the shape on your backing paper with the white paper still attached (and yes, I did it backwards in the video and peeled off the white instead the yellowwasnt coming off, and my shapes were symmetrical, so it worked!)Peel off the white paper to expose the adhesive sheet.Gently lay a sheet of gold leaf on top of the adhesive sheet, as flatly as you can. Press down and rub the foil gently to adhere it to the adhesive sheet.Using your fingers or a brush, remove the gold leaf around the edges of the shape, and gently clean up the edges of the shape so the lines are crisp.
For the more intricate shapes and curved edges of the ho ho ho it just takes a little more time to clean up the edges; the straight edges of the tree cleaned up really easily, just like you see in the video.
Method 3: Gold Glitter
This is exactly like using gold leaf, but sub in glitter! And then silently curse every time you find random pieces of glitter around your house, because no matter how careful you are, that stuff gets everywhere! but the finished product looks amazing, so its all worth it
See the step-by-step directions above (for the gold foil art); the only difference is that I used a spare sheet of paper to help rub the glitter and adhere it to the adhesive shape. You could use your fingers, but then youll really never see the end of the glitter! Once the glitter is stuck to the adhesive, carefully shake and brush off the excess glitter, either into another container or back into the original container.
[embedded content]
I used the angel,shape #14916 from Silhouette, and JOY is font Fonesia, free viadafont.com (and included in the file and image below for you to download ortrace to use with your digital cutting machine).
Method 4: Gold Paint Pen
This is the only method that requires any artistic skill, and you could use a stencil if you want! I wasnt sure how the gold paint pen would look on paper, but I really like the look! It does make me wish that I were a better freehand artist because a hand-letteredsaying would look amazing but Ill keep practicing.
Just shake the paint pen well (I used this one by Krylon, but a gold Sharpie should work just the same) and start drawing! I suggest practicing with the pen a bit before you draw on your final backing, just to get a feel for how the paint flows from the pen. I drew a simple snowflake, because thats about as artsy as I get when freehanding it (although I am pretty proud of how that gift-wrapped bow looks!):
[embedded content]
Hang It Up!
When all of the gold prints were finished, I rounded up a collection of frames to put together my gallery wall.
top left:hand me down, not surethe original source
top center:black clipboard, found on clearance at Michaels
top right:deep shadowbox, from Michaels
middle left:everyones favorite the 8 square RIBBA frame from Ikea!
middle right:1114 floating frame from JoAnns, matted with a gold printed vellum from Hobby Lobby (with a white sheet of paper behind it)
bottom left:washi tape. My favorite way to hang a gallery wall! (Great for other things, too!)
bottom center:$1 craft wood frame from Michaels(not online), covered with gold foil, with a black paper Santa silhouette
bottom right:8 square black shadowbox from Michaels, backed with gold metallic paper from Hobby Lobby
My favorite method for setting up a gallery wall: cutting out paper shapes and sticking them on the wall. It lets me move and rearrange without pounding a bunch of extra holes in the wall!
Dont forget to get your free printables here!
for personal use only; if you want to share, please direct people back to this post
let it snow and ho ho ho printables: black and white | gold
word art files (for digital cutting machines): .jpg | .studio3/.zip
And, giving credit where credit is due thanks to awesome designers for sharing their work for non-design folk like me
Gold texture in printables: Texture 71 by WanderingSoul-Stox on DeviantArt
Fonesia font in printables: by Locomotype, via Dafont
Soft Script font in printables: by FontPanda, via Dafont
Meet the Author:CassityCassity started Remodelaholic with her husband, Justin, to share their love for knocking out walls together. She is an interior designer, wife, and mother of two. She and Justin have remodeled three Read More
http://www.feedshuttle.com/go.aspx?url=http:%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F~r%2FRemodelaholic%2F~3%2FvSV81m--5zc%2F