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Cheap unfinished wooden furniture piece (like cabinets from Michael's)
Weldbond glue, white acrylic paint, colored acrylic paint of your choice, emery boards, bristle brush, gel pens (silver, gold, colored)
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Using the coarsest side of an emery board, sand all the roughest edges. Concentrate on the ends of the pieces of wood, where it's really rough. Speaking about the furniture pieces from Michael's, the pieces are so porous, that further sanding and smoothing will be done in later steps. Concentrate on the edges and ends in this step.
Mix equal amounts (1 tsp. each) of Weldbond glue, flate white acrylic paint and water. Stir it to mix, but do not shake, as it will froth.
NOTE: Weldbond is formulated to mix well with water, and is recommended for this technique. Experiment on a scrap piece of wood if you wish to use a different type of glue.
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Using a stiff brush, apply the 'white wash' to all the wood surfaces, scrubbing it in. If you have moving parts on your particular piece (doors that open), apply to one area and allow it to dry before you apply to the other area. REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE GLUE IN THIS WASH, and if you don't allow it to dry thoroughly you may end up permanently gluing your doors shut.
Once this has dried, sand again, using the smoother side of the emery board. If there are still parts which are too rough, sand and apply the wash mix again. You can sand the smooth plain areas with a paper bag if you wish. Just rub the bag vigorously over the area, in direction of the grain.
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Using a stiff brush, scrub the color of your choice over the white-washed areas. Thin your paint if necessary. It is better to use 2-3 coats of the color than one thick coat. Do not allow the paint to puddle into corners. Sand lightly between coats.
For a one color piece, choose a flat acrylic and apply one coat, sand, apply a second coat. To distress your piece, go to Step #4.
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To distress your piece, and make it look aged and worn, use the smooth side of the emery board and sand the top color away, along edges, knobs, or where you feel that paint would have been worn down through the years. Sand lightly. The amount you remove is entirely up to you. If you have removed too much, you can re-apply your paint color and re-sand.
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The cupboard on the left has just the white-wash mixture on it. The other two cupboards have the color on them, and have been distressed. They can be left like this, without further decoration, and can then be sealed, as in Step #7. If you would like a design, go to Step #6.
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The inspiration for this design was taken from a book of 17th century furniture. With a picture in front of you, and gel pen in hand, you can apply as much or as little decoration as you'd like. Decorations like this are a series of triangles, squares, circles, rectangles, lines or dots. Start off with a gold pen, and draw triangles, then draw squares. With a dark gel pen, accent these areas. Accent the edges in gold. Isn't this fun? You CAN do it. If you don't like what you've done, just sand it off, re-apply color and try again. You may surprise yourself!
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If you don't have the confidence to try the cupboard on the left, how about the design on the cupboard on the right? Remember as a child making simple stick-stars...make a cross, and on top of that make an X? With a gold gel pen on a darker background, this can be very effective. Add a few 'dots' here and there, and voila! - you've created a masterpiece!
To finish, you can just buff your piece with a paper bag (sac). If you wish to use a sealer, like a satin acrylic, just be careful that your gel pens don't smudge. Some will, some don't. Test on a scrap piece of wood or on the bottom of your piece.
If you want an economical 'glass' window, use either clearn shrink art, or cut out windows from clear lids from containers one would get at the delicatessen. Don't forget to sign your name on the bottom of your piece!
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