Saturday, June 20, 2009

Somewhat tutorial in Aged Windows, Walls and Door....

So I am not really going to call this a Tutorial because I am not giving step by step instructions... just kind of sharing my tools and thoughts on how I made the wall in the previous post.

Below you can see the new door that I bought. The Alison Jr. door just didn't have enough character for me and I didn't want to spend a ton of time bashing it so I just spent the $7 on a new door at hobby lobby. I aged it with the same tools you can see below that I used on the window frames. I still need to add some plexiglass to the top tiny four windows and maybe some more leading.... anyway it functions as an opening door and everything... need to find a decent door nob though...


Below you can see how I modified the original Alison Jr. windows. They came with a pine colored frame and white painted stripes to look like window mullions. What I did was banged the frame up a bit, stained it, sanded the edges of the plexiglass to make it look foggy/older, and then went over the white painted lines with fake leading (I posted a pic of the bottle of that stuff below). If you want to do this remember it is important to SAND THE PLEXI BEFORE YOU DO THE LEADING or you will most definitely have to slap yourself on the forehead.


Here are the basic tools I used to beat up the wood frames of the windows and door. A box cutter (or a xacto will work too but the box cutter is bigger and doesn't hurt my hand as much), a couple files, and some sand paper. I dig the big gouges you see in the frames with the box cutter and then I make lighter gouges with the files. Then I sand the whole thing over to make it look rounded and well worn. don't be afraid to gouge into the sides of the frames either... make it look like someone rounded the corner too fast with a peice of furniture and took a chunk out :) PS. I do this all before I put it into the wall.... I just happened to show the window already in the wall here for some reason...


Here you can see the fake leading I used. This is the big bottle... you can get a smaller 3 or 4 oz. bottle for smaller projects. You can find it in the isle with the peices of glass and plexiglass most of the time.


Also, very last tip. So I wanted to age this sheet paper (scapbook paper) that I am using as wall paper with my stain. BUT the paper absorbed the stain so quickly that I couldn't work and let me do it in layers as I wanted to. So i decided to paint on it. So anyone wanting to do this DO NOT use acrylics. They are water based and will crinkle and wrinkle your wall paper. If you want to use paint, use oil paints. My suggestion is look for a tube of 'yellow ochre' OIL paint. It will grunge and yellow anything up :). Then you add a bit of turpentine to the paint slowly and it will thin out the paint so you can paint in thin layer and build up to the intensity of color you want. My suggestion is to add the turpentine by getting a bit on your brush and then putting your brush into the paint and keep doing that 'til its thin enough for you.

Feel free to ask questions if none of this makes sense. Also, I wouldn't suggest painting anything else in your house with oils as oils take FOREVER to dry. This is really the only thing I would use oils for - just to 'tint' a wall paper without wrinkling it. And the turpentine is smelly so beware...


Ok - that's it. Sorry for the long winded explanation. Look like I still have some touch ups to do on the windows looking closer at the pictures..... anyway happy dirtying :)

10 comments:

  1. Fantastic tips! I would not have thought to use oil paints. What a neat way to transform the wallpaper. I do like the yellow, since It will be a good backdrop for things in the Addam's house. And gosh darn it, you make me go over to hulu and watch an episode. I have never actually seen an entire Addams Family episode before, although I was familiar with the characters. They are a cheerful family indeed!

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  2. Ah-hah! That's a Hobby Lobby door, I knew it!

    Thank you so much for sharing these tips. I'll be aging up my plexiglass from now with sandpaper. Bless you Ara, I've been having lots of woe with trying to age windows via tacky glue...

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  3. Very cool! I really like the windows. Oh yeah, you made me go over to hulu too. I got two episodes in before I had to pickup the hubby on Friday. ;-)

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  4. Thanks for all the advice Ara, will come in handy on our spooky projects! Did you wood stain or paint the windows and doors that lovely dark colour?
    Kate xx

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  5. Ara, thanks for the explanation, The longer the better :). I have been wondering about using stained glass and your tip on the leading etc will help in my next project. I need major mod on my next house as well. This kind of post is good :).

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  6. Great tips Ara. For light aging I make a cup of tea and use the teabag on the walls.
    Debie xxx

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  7. Thank you so much Ara for sharing this with us! :) Marsha

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  8. You are so freakin' talented! It's a pleasure to watch you create! :)

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  9. Thanks everyone - glad I could share a bit!! I am so glad a few of y'all have gone to Hulu and watched a few episodes! They just brighten my day!!

    Kate, its stain that I used. Its #2716 Dark Walnut by Minwax in case you are interested

    Sans, they have several things in that same isle that would help make a stained glass effect for you without having to use real glass. Its amazing what they come up with!

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  10. It must be so much fun to get to "age" your work, getting to take out all your aggression on a few pieces of wood, lol! And thanks for all the tips, especially about aging the wallpaper. It looks great!

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