distressed letter

After seeing this clever technique for creating an aged, peeling look on something I thought I'd transform this L in our little one's room.

It is a paper mache letter I got from JoAnn's.  I decoupaged this owl fabric on it before our son was born and it has been on his wall since.

I love those little owls but my Mom also used this fabric in a quilt for him so painting over these birds doesn't mean goodbye.

Out the L came to be sprayed in the yard.

I wish I had better photos of the steps I took but the process just kept going until I liked what I had. 

I sprayed a coat of silver spray paint.  Then I sprayed a little black here and there.  Then I rubbed a bar of soap on it like Megan explained.  Then I painted the whole thing with red paint.

See the bar of soap in the box?  At this point it kinda looked like a mess.

but THEN I started sanding it and the red chipped away to reveal the silver and black underneath and it looked like old metal and it was really cool with the sun sparkling down on it.  So I ran it inside to see what it looked like in my son's room.  It looked dark and not nearly as interesting as it did in the sunlight.  Hmmmm.....     I don't have a photo of this phase because I frantically decided to rub more soap on and paint a layer of white semi gloss paint on it.  The same paint we use for all the trim in our house.   When I say "paint" I mean slap a messy layer on with a foam brush. 

Once it was sort of dry I started sanding it again and peeling and chipping and it began to take on the look of old weathered wood.  It looked like some old letter you might find at an antique store and get all excited about until you take a look at the price tag and they want $100 for this old chipped letter and you walk away bummed because you love it but $100 is crazy talk. 

I ran inside to see if the awesomeness that I was seeing outside would translate to inside and well you be the judge...

 I kinda love it.  The colors against the blue wall and the way the red, silver and black peek through the white paint.  With all the other changes we are making in there it really works.  The best part is it looks like this heavy wood or metal letter but it is just paper mache and we can hang it over our little one's bed without any worries of safety.

The big boy room is coming together and I love how it is looking.  I'll be sharing more throughout the week.

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