Showing posts with label gold. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gold. Show all posts

5.22.2012

DIY Gold Chevron Computer Case

Pin It Print Friendly and PDF


When I purchased my Macbook Pro, I bought a black case (this one). It was thrilling for a while but then lost its sex appeal... as with any good teen movie, it was time for a makeover! Thanks to a random purchase of some Gold Leaf paint on my last trip to Home Depot, we were ready to rummmmmmmble (hear: daaaa bulls)!

What you need:

What you do:

1. Remove the case from your computer. Be sure to paint your computer case and not your actual computer. Seriously. 

2. Tape your design on the case. I went with a slightly off-center chevron stripe. Be sure to wrap the tape around the edges to make sure you get everything!

3. Paint! Shake up the gold leafing first, then stir it a bit with the brush. Slowly spread the leafing paint around the designated area.
*Note: Depending on the material of your computer case, you should end up with some really neat crinkling of the paint, which is what creates the typical crinkly-leaf look that most gold-leaf-covered items have (though, for the record, painting silver hoop earrings did not produce the same effect. I suspect that painting metal allows the paint to dry much more smoothly).



4. Remove the tape. The active chemicals in this gold leafing paint dry quite quickly (even in 15 minutes). Check the paint with a towel or finger to be sure it's dry, then begin peeling the tape off on one of the ends, just in case it's not fully dry.


And... Voila!

 

3.28.2012

DIY Silver & Gold Hoop Earrings

Pin It Print Friendly and PDF

Warning: If you love your hoop earrings, you might hate this post. I'm about to defile them by adding gold.

Here's the thing: As my going-on-23-year-old brain can remember it, Silver Hoop Earrings first became "all the rage" when I was in Middle School. Everyone had them. Some were smaller. Some were larger. But, by gosh, if you were a student at my school, you had a pair.

I even remember wearing them a big in high school. But then college... oh, college, you were the bane of the silver hoop trend. You killed it. Suddenly, I didn't see them around quite as much... and I only saw them in jewelry windows at WalMart (which I'm not judging -- didn't I just say I was there in the first place?!).

Moving forward to today... gold and bronze are big parts of my wardrobe. My favorite watch is rose gold. My David Yurman bracelet is silver and gold. I have a few bronze necklaces. It's suddenly okay to mix and match metallics like it was never okay before (or was I missing out on this trend for all of eternity? I should ask my friend Jordan over at ExclusivelyChic...).

So I realized a few weeks ago that, despite owning more than one pair of silver hoops, I was no longer wearing any of them for two reasons... (1) I just wasn't finding them cool anymore... and (2) They always felt weird to wear with other metallics because they somehow just don't mesh in their original solid-silver form.

My solution? Paint them. Using some Superlite Gold Leaf Finishes and a tiny paint brush from CVS (yes, they sell paintbrushes), I hand-painted gold-ish-bronze-ish stripes on one pair of my silver hoop earrings.

It reminds me of Dr. Seuss for some reason... but in a good way.



Here they were, naked and bare, solidly silver without a care in the world...


And here, in this tiny edge of the earring, you can see my reflection... there I am, sitting at Justin's kitchen table, holding up my trusty Nikon, just before I begin to alter everything these poor Silver Hoops know about the world...


My weapons of choice: Superlite Gold Leaf Finishes (from Home Depot), a paintbrush from CVS, and paper grocery bags to protect Justin's table.


Post-painting: The gold leafing dries pretty quickly. I'd estimate that I shot these about 5 minutes after painting. That's a darn good turn around time for a fast-paced person like me.


I know. Beautiful, right? :) I decided not to tape off my painting sections, because I wanted to retain a bit of a handmade edge to them. After all, it's jewelry... and the painting was hand done... so why not let it look that way?!


Ah. And there they are. Sitting in their home (a blue and gold jewelry bowl I just made... stay tuned for the tutorial). Rest tight, little hoops. It's been real.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Blogging tips