Do you like quick crafting? Well you are in luck because this week I’m taking part in another round of Craft Lightning where a group of craft bloggers get together to share crafts that you can make in 15 minutes or less (minus drying time). For this round I decided to share a fun idea for making a hammered metal look technique with you. I saw this years ago but then had forgotten about it until I participated in a crafting event where I had the chance to make a project designed by Tiffany Windsor.
For this particular project, you’ll need: A form to use for the bracelet. You can buy wooden forms at many crafting stores but I’m recycling the cardboard roll leftover from a roll of duct tape. You also need some craft foam shapes – you can buy them pre-cut or cut them out yourself from a sheet of craft foam. These will form the dimension on the bracelet. Other items needed are – acrylic craft paints (one color should be black), white glue or Mod Podge (I love Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue), a small sponge for each paint color, an old rag, and some aluminum foil or aluminum tape such as I have here. The aluminum tape is a really thin foil tape used for sealing duct work – it’s self adhesive and eliminates much of the glue needed for this project. It’s fun and easy to work with and it’s a staple in my art studio. You may also want a pair of scissors on hand but the aluminum tape does tear quite easily.
First step: glue your foam shapes to your bracelet form. They don’t need to be perfectly flat or secure – they just have to hold long enough to get the foil over top.
Second step: You need to scrunch up the foil or foil tape. DO NOT scrunch it up into a ball or you will be adding a lot of time onto this project as you try to “unscrunch” it again without ripping it. It’s better to scrunch from one side to the other carefully so that you can easily pull it open again. The tape is easier when it comes to getting it all nicely crinkled without making it difficult to work with because of the paper backing adding stability.
Third step: Cover the bracelet form with foil/foil tape. You can do it a section at a time, overlapping each and making sure that the edges are secure. You don’t want to flatten out the crinkles too much – they add texture to your piece – but you do want to really get in there around the edges of your foam shapes. I use something blunt like the eraser end of a pencil if I can’t get in there with my fingers alone.
Fourth step: Sponge on some black paint working it into the creases. Use the rag to dab away the excess. You want the silver to still show through.
Fifth step: You can leave it as is or add another color on the raised shapes to make them pop a bit more. I’ve used a pink here but other metallics like copper and gold look really great here too. Experiment with little bits of color – if you don’t put on too much at once, it’s easy enough to wipe away until you find the look you want.
Here’s an example of another use for this technique. This is covering a tin can that you can use for storage or as a pen and pencil holder on your desk. You can see that I added a heavier amount of the paint on this and it gives a somewhat different look that that of the bracelet on the right. You could get quite elaborate with this by adding more shapes (buttons would work too – you need items that are fairly lightweight and dimensional but flat) or playing with the colors and paints. What about adding some alcohol inks to this? That could make for a really fun effect! Best of all, if you limit this to the craft paints, it’s certainly something that older children could handle too.
Want some more great quick crafting ideas? Check out the rest of the Craft Lightning Week posts here:
Gina Blomgren says
What a cute idea! I would love to make these.