Painting with Vaseline

 

 

 

 

Happy Wednesday everyone!  The sun is shining here, I think it finally feels like time to get the Easter decorations out.  I've been a bit of a slacker on that!   I had this unfinished plate that I wanted to make pretty.   Having read about using Vaseline to distress paint, I thought this little plate would be my guinea pig. 

 

 

I started out by brushing on some dark aqua and brown paint randomly around the edge....

 

 

 

Let that dry and glob on a bit of regular old Vaseline.  Depending on what look you want, you can use more or less.  I used more to get the paint to really look chipped and worn.  If you want it to just crackle a bit, use less.

 

Brush on your topcoat....

 

 

 

 

You can see in this picture how the paint isn't adhering as well in the areas of Vaseline...

 

I was bummed when I uploaded pics and this one came blurry.  By the time I realized it I had already passed by this step.   You can make out where the paint is rubbing right off.  Now at this point you can call it good and stop if you like the look.   I opted to do another coat of paint to whitewash over the sanded areas again. 

 

 

 All in all I used about three coats of paint, sanding inbetween to get a layered, worn effect.  

 

 

I love how it looks naturally timeworn unlike the crackle medium which to me just doesn't come out with a truly vintage look.  

 

 

After I was satisfied with my paint I cut a circle of chalkboard vinyl.  Have you used that stuff?   Amazing, love it!  So easy and it washes up beautifully.   And much less work than chalkboard paint...although I still use that too. 

 

 

I've been experimenting with Elmer's glue too.  I'll post about that after I mess around a bit.  So far I'm finding the cheaper glue works better for that method.  More to come....