Gold leaf project

Okay, before I get started today I just wanted to congratulate fellow OC bride, Laura on becoming a Mrs. this past weekend! Yay. Enjoy your honeymoon my dear.

Now onto the usual business...I saw this bowl trio at Pottery Barn. Beautiful, right? One thing I didn't like about it though is that the bowls are cast together, and it's a final sale item (I'm always leery about online-only final sale items). Anyway, I wasn't about to shell out $40 for 3 tiny bowls so I began scouring Home Goods for some pretty alternatives that could use a little DIY goodness...

 These are nice. They kind of have an organic feel.

This flower bowl is the most similar to the Pottery Barn one. It's delicate. The cutouts on the other one gives it an interesting appeal.

Ultimately I chose the one on the right in the first group to transform. Now how to get it that super shiny gold tone? I tried applying tiny bit of metallic gold craft paint to the bottom. Too brassy. Next I considered spray paint, but that would be too shiny and synthetic, not that raw gold tone that I was looking for. Then it came to me...Gold leaf. And guess what? It comes in liquid form. Much easier than the gold leaf sheets. This project was super simple and inexpensive. You will need...

A small foam brush (had on-hand), liquid gold leaf $5 and a sealer. I used this clear finish gloss, $7. Also an object to gold leaf! The bowl from Home Goods cost $6.

I also recommend latex gloves and a face mask. The gold leaf smells like a paint marker & it could irritate your skin if it gets on you. Also, do this project outside, making sure your surface is protected with taped butcher paper or something like that. There's not much to the technique, really all you have to do is dip the tip of your foam brush in the gold leaf and apply long even strokes along the object. My bowl had lots of detail, so after I applied one coat I went back and pushed the sponge into the little crevices I missed. Let dry for about 12 hours. Then spray 2 coats of the sealer and YOU'RE DONE! And just look at the results...

It's so shiny when the light hits it. So luxurious.