Thursday, March 10, 2016

Second Thursday Tutorial: Easy Faux Rust


For my March, 2016 tutorial, I will share how to create faux rust when you don't want to deal with real rust.

Several years ago I was in a swap and my theme choice was rust.   I somehow ran across this "recipe" for faux rust, but at that time it was summer, so rusting both fabric and paper was easy.  No need for faux rust when the sun and heat made it possible to rust items in two days maximum.  So I filed the faux rust recipe in my folder and completely forgot about it.  That is, until I decided to try some faux rusting techniques.

Like many things I write down, the instructions are often vague or incomplete, and I forget to include where I found the technique.  So unfortunately, I can't give credit to whoever came up with this brilliant technique, only that you can be assured it is not mine.  And of course, I have no idea if I am recreating the technique like the original person who created it, because I had to "fill in the blanks" of what I was supposed to do, and when.

Let's begin with the supply list (from back left clockwise):
Cinnamon
Black acrylic craft paint
Brown (I used maroon, because it's all I had) acrylic craft paint
Chipboard cut outs
Plastic palette knife for mixing and spreading paint
Corrugated cardboard die cuts
Plastic (flexible) animal from a child's toy game
Fun foam die cut
Scrap paper to cover work space and place the painted pieces on
Mod Podge (not shown in this view)

I began by placing some black paint on the scrap paper.

Covering the fun foam, chipboard, and plastic animal was easy.  The hard part came when I tried to cover the corrugated cardboard.  It was a disaster that followed me through all the steps in the process.

So instead of laying the maroon paint on the scrap paper as I did the black, I glopped (it may not be a word, but it fits) and slopped the maroon paint on the various painted pieces.  Note the black paint was not completely dry.  I have no written instructions as to whether this paint needs to be dry before the second paint is added.  So, I went with my intuition and painted the maroon directly over the partially dried black. 

I began to worry that I should be adding the cinnamon to the still wet paint, so added a lot to the still wet pieces I had already painted with maroon.

Here is where a paint brush would probably have come in handy, but all I had in the basement was this palette knife.

Once most of the pieces had been covered with cinnamon and were sticking well, I went over two of the birds with Mod Podge.  Then I removed all the cinnamon from the background paper because it had gotten so nasty, I couldn't tell what I had.

I kept adding Mod Podge and cinnamon to the corrugated cardboard, but much to my chagrin, I felt I was just compounding the problem I had created when I chose the wrong material to "rust."

Hours later
these were dry, but I actually liked the pieces without the added Mod Podge best.

Ruminations:
1. Use any and all types of materials, including plastic, fun foam, chipboard, wood, etc. for this project.  It should make little difference.
2.  Do NOT use corrugated cardboard, because the paint and cinnamon don't settle well in the grooves of the cardboard.
3.   When "rusting" chipboard pieces, be sure to remove the chipboard from the backing before you paint and apply the cinnamon.  I learned that the hard way.
4.  Always write down the name of the blog or web site where you originally found the "formula," so you can a)give proper credit, and b) so you have something to refer back to.

Now you're going to want to see these pieces in action, so here they are after they were completely dry and some of the pieces put to use.

I call this "Homage to my rusty friend."

As always, I appreciate you taking time to visit and staying for my March tutorial.  You will be able to find it on my Tutorials page under "Easy Faux Rust" as soon as this post goes live.  And please join me again next month on the second Thursday for my next scheduled tutorial.  In the meantime, I am delighted you dropped by today.

16 thoughtful remarks:

Valerie-Jael said...

Thanks for sharing the ideas again, this is one I will try when I can stand on my feet for longer. Love the effects, and the idea of using cinnamon - can you still smell it on the finished pieces? Have a lovely day Sweetie,
hugs,
Valerie

froebelsternchen said...

What a fantastic idea with cinnamon Elizabeth!
Great! A wonderful page is this!
Happy Thursday!
oxo
Susi

voodoo vixen said...

Hmmmm, methinks I may be needing this faux rust technique in the very near future! Love the idea of cinnamon to make the powdered rust effect. Don't give up on the corrugated cardboard though, you just need to give it two three coats of watered down black to get into the grooves, the dampness then makes the edges of the paper coating on the corrugated chipboard curl in a very rustlike fashion!!

Valerie-Jael said...

Thanks for answering my query, my mod podge doesn't smell good either!

Frannyaitch said...

Thanks for the tutorial, I shall store it away so I can see exactly what you did, as this version is yours, even if the idea is not and it looks so realistic when finished. Love the page too.

My name is Erika. said...

I think this technique worked great. I never heard of it but what a great way to make faux rust. I wonder if you spray painted the corrugated painted and then added the cinnamon, would it give the top of the corrugations a rusty effect? I think I'd like to try this...might make it my weekend project if my husband doesn't fill up my weekend with "our" plans. Hope this is a great Thursday for you. Hugs.

Meggymay said...

A super tutorial, The aroma of cinnamon sounds good especially as some of the substances have quite unfortunate smells. The results look great.
Yvonne xx

Jo Murray said...

Such an interesting process....bet it smells good too.

Divers and Sundry said...

Cinnamon! Wow! I'm always impressed by your creative use of materials, but I think I like this best of all :)

pearshapedcrafting said...

I bet this smells good too! What a brilliant way to make faux rust! I might just have to try this!!!! Hugs, Chrisx

Anonymous said...

Wow, faux rust it is. I guess since they use cinnamon to color prim dolls and give them that grungy rusty old look it would work on paper too. Wonderful technique demo!! xox

Halle said...

That looks very cool and I bet smells delightful.

Linda Kunsman said...

thanks for taking us through this marvelous technique Elizabeth! Your faux rust pieces on your page look great!

Dianne said...

Oh wow...turned out fabulous!

Nancy said...

Interesting! Nice results.

Jeanie said...

You do the most fun things! Nice results and very good tips in the tutorial. The photos help so much!