I had every intention of finishing the signs for the wedding the weekend prior to the last one… unfortunately that didn’t happen. Why is it that DIY projects always take longer than expected? Anyway, I was able to find some time to paint this last weekend (and Monday afternoon) and I’m *almost* done. One more coat of chalkboard paint to go! Oh how I loathe painting… actually I don’t hate painting that much, just the clean up part. I never seem to clean the brushes and rollers properly.
The salvaged window panes are already redone, too. (You might recall that I blogged about a couple of old window panes a friend gave us). I finally decided to try my hand at giving them a faux mercury glass treatment and painting the frames white. So I sanded the frames really well, cleaned the actual window pane, and went to town with the Looking Glass spray paint. The most important part of the mercury glass tutorial was to finely mist the glass with water before spraying the mirror-like paint on top of it, and then letting it dry. But given my lackluster results, I’d recommend you check out the actual tutorial…
After spray painting the glass, I taped everything down and primed and painted the frames. The windows were old and you could tell, so I decided that instead of fighting it by trying to make them completely white and bright, I’d sand down the edges and rough ‘em up a bit to give them a distressed look.
The window before. I removed all the hardware, patched all holes and sanded it. Since it had a couple of big holes from the hinges I had to paint it (versus staining it)
Sanded and holes from hinges patched
Glass is already spray painted and frame is primed
And here they are all finished! My boyfriend says I should distress them a bit more, what do you think?
It’s hard to take a picture that reflects the mercury glass/silvery finish because it needs to bounce off light, so that’s why I can’t take a picture from the front
The mercury glass treatment idea didn’t work that well, but I’m happy with the end result and I’ll think that when the window pane is scribbled all over you won’t be able to notice the sort of failed spray paint project. I plan on using them for the menu and/or seating chart, something like this:
Image by Elizabeth Messina from Kiss the Groom via Pocketful of Dreams
The only (big) problem… the tape I used to cover the glass while I painted the frame left goo… and if I try to remove it the spray paint comes off. Sigh. I’m still trying to work around that. Any suggestions?
As for the arrows, they’re still not completely done, but they’re finished enough that I can show you pics. My boyfriend cut some wood scraps at a 60º angle to make the pointed side, and I primed and painted them with chalkboard paint. We’ll be using them to write down things like “Wedding”, “Bathrooms”, “Ceremony”, “Reception”, etc. and since they’re a chalkboard, I’ll be able to reuse them in the future.
Best of all? The only purchase we made for these two projects was the spray paint, that came in at around 15€. I love the something-something they’ll add to the reception area and they’re actually pretty affordable decor options (at least for us, since we already had everything else. Otherwise the wood, chalkboard paint, prime, etc will add up fast).
So what do you think of the latest decor items for the wedding? Any other DIY projects I should tackle for decor?
I think it looks great! I wouldn’t worry too much about the goo – it’ll all just look like distressed glass to your guests. The signs are cute and simple. Love!
Thanks Annabel! I’m glad you like them. And you’re probably right, no one will notice the goo except me haha.
They look great! I’m sure you’ll be the only one that notices those tiny imperfections. Overall it’s a very cool look. I really enjoy painting, but just the actual painting part and not the prep or the clean up.
Yeah, the prep work and clean up are awful…
I love how those window panes turned out! I like them as is (I don’t think they any more distressing). I think your guests will be very impressed by them
I also love those signs you made with the chalkboard paint (I hear you on the post-paint clean up annoyance)!
Thanks Kristen! I’ll probably wait for a bit before deciding whether to distress them more
Love these! I think your faux mercury glass turned out well. I love the idea of using an old window frame for the seating chart- I had that idea pinned but ended up going another route as I couldn’t find frames I liked. I love the shape of the window frames you have! I think that you could distress them a little more (maybe take some paint off the edges to show the stain underneath?) or not and they will look good both ways!
The chalkboard signs are cute too! Im meeting my maid of honour tonight after work to work on some of our signs. I’m looking forward to checking it off the list!
I like the shape, too
And yay for crossing things off the list! Can’t wait to see what you do for signs.
Love them! The window frames turned out great! I love the shape of those frames! I think you could distress them a little more (maybe take the paint off the edges in spots and have the stain show through slightly?) or not and they will look good both ways. The chalkboard signs are really cute too!!
I am meeting my maid of honour tonight after work to work on our signage for the wedding. Looking forward to checking it off our list!!
They looks great! I am with you, I hate the clean up after painting! Keep up the hard work; everything is going to be amazing!!
Thanks Kelly! I really hope so!
They look great! You could probably distress them a little more, but they look good as is too! I really love the arrows! They look so fun!
Thanks Ashley! I’ll think I’ll try distressing them a bit more, at least on one side, and see how it goes.
These look great, I especially love the windows. Well done for getting something on your list ticked off. Our wedding isn’t until next May so we are doing all the big things like photographers and caterers etc all I really want to do is the fun crafty things!! xox
Getting the big things done is awesome! You’ll get started on the crafty things eventually