Earth Day Upcycled Project with Stencils and Earth Safe Finishes

Hi everyone, welcome to my stop on today's blog hop with StencilGirl and Earth Safe Finishes! This year, to celebrate Earth Day, we have a fabulous bunch of posts bursting with upcycled projects. What better products to use for this than stencils and Earth Safe Finishes? These are "green" paints and mediums that I enjoyed using without worrying about whether or not I could pour my paint water down the drain. 

For my project, I decided to do something new - a window! I had a lot of fun with this one... the only downside is that glass is super hard to photograph, so hopefully these pictures will be good enough to get the point across :)

Here's my finished window with a big sheet of mat board behind it so you aren't looking at all the junk on my desk :)

For those who are interested, I also put together a little tutorial so you can see how this all came together.

First, I started with a window that I picked up at a local salvage yard. Aside from being dirty, it was in really good shape and didn't have a lot of paint layers, so I didn't strip it (hopefully that doesn't come back to haunt me later!)  I cleared a space to set it on my desk (where it barely fits!) and taped off all the windows with painter's tape. Since it already had such a nice color on the base, I went straight to a layer of Earth Safe Finishes crackle medium and then let it dry.

Since I was pretty much flying by the seat of my pants on this project, I decided that I needed a layer of gesso on top of the crackle medium, so I added that. 

Next, I received a little jar of Earth Safe Finishes black chalk paint and it just seemed like a good idea to use that next so I put down a nice, solid coat of that and let it dry.

Turns out that was actually a really good decision because when I put the Ann Butler Designs bronze iridescent paint on top of it, it was like magic. I just rubbed it on top with my finger, not completely covering the black but blending it out. It's hard to see in the picture how cool it actually looks.

Next up, I took some of their liquid pigment additives and mixed a few drops into the Earth Safe Finishes gel medium to make up a nice dark turquoise. I painted that on the inside edges of the window panes (you can see this below) and then I coated it with a layer of Ann Butler Designs Iridescent paint in Lagoon which was about the same color only with that beautiful shimmer (which you can sort of see above.)

Finally, I used my gold Sakura Pen-Touch pen to go around the bevels on each of the window frames (above.) I did a little paint touch up, then it was ready for stenciling.

There are a few different ways that you can stencil glass. Since I didn't have the supplies for etching I didn't go that route, although that would look amazing! I didn't want to paint directly on the glass because I knew it would just peel off. Instead, I found a picture on Pinterest where someone had cut shapes out of contact paper and applied them to the window as a kind of privacy screen. I thought that could be translated here, only I used deli paper instead and stenciled on top with Onyx Ann Butler Designs Iridescent Paint. I used my Decorative Curvy Ornament Repeating Corner stencil to stencil the ornament in halves as shown below.

I did this six times - two halves for each set of window panes. Then I cut them out and used spray adhesive to apply (matte medium makes it harder to see the design in this case, and it seemed like the spray adhesive stuck pretty well.) I used a credit card to try and get out bubbles. You could also stencil on contact paper and apply that, I just didn't have any handy. I went back through with my gold pen and did a little coloring, and I also added some dots outlining each ornament with a fine yellow Sharpie paint pen.

The very last step... time to embellish. I wanted this to be simple, but to have a pop of color that would really stand out from the darker colors and I wanted something that would pull the whole thing together. It's April and it's Earth Day, so I dug into my gigantic stash of Prima flowers and pulled out a bunch that I thought would work (because "the Earth laughs in flowers," right?) I cut a long strip of cardboard and painted it both sides with black gesso. When it was dry, I added a strip of a red-violet vintage beaded trim, then adhered the flowers on top in a row.

Because the wood between the windows is fairly thin and beveled, this worked well to give me a flat surface to adhere the flowers. Then I just adhered the whole strip to the window frame right in the middle.

Close up...

I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out... now I just need to find the perfect place to put it!

That's it for me, I hope you enjoyed my project!

Of course, that's not all for this post... we simply can't resist giving something away!

Please take your time and visit each blog showcased today through Wednesday and leave a comment. The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN this one of a kind, 9x9 inch Cold Wax painting on Arches Oil Paper by Mary Beth Shaw! 

One comment per person per blog please. You will have until Monday, April 25th at 11:59 pm Central Time to leave your comments.

The winner of the give-away will be announced on StencilGirl's Facebook page on Wednesday, April 27th.

Here's the list... make sure you click through to see all of the other upcycled projects in today's special Earth Day blog hop to be inspired, and comment for your chance to win!

• StencilGirlTalk
• Mary Beth Shaw
• Janet Joehlin
• Mary C. Nasser
• Carol Baxter
• Gwen Lafleur <-- you are here!
• Chana Malkah Harris
• Irit Shalom
• Steph Ackerman
• Martha Lucia Gomez
• Larissa Pittman 
• Vishu Reberholt
•  
  Jeanne Streiff

 

Comments

[lisa dobry]

Wow a fabulous and creative piece! How do you come up with all of these ideas!!!

[Patty bocc]

Love this! I want to make one. That trim looks familiar....lol

[Susan Pratt]

I see a picture frame with that gorgeous window. It's beautiful. mcsuetexas at yahoo dotcom

[Cecilia Swatton]

I know I've surely said this before, but Gwen, you have absolutely outdone yourself! I love everything about this -- from idea to follow-thru! What sweet eye candy!

[Carol Baxter]

Glad you found desk space to do this lovely project!

[Mary C. Nasser]

I swear, you are a Renaissance Woman, Gwen!!
You never cease to amaze and inspire me with your unique and detailed creations!
This would be so lovely hanging in a home.

[Gwen Lafleur]

haha... yes, it would! It's the same trim I bought at Partners :D

[Gwen Lafleur]

Thank you so much Cecilia... I really appreciate it :)

[Donna k]

Fabulous - really want to dig through the flower stash with you!

[Chana Malkah]

Nice technique and beautifully executed!
Hugz,
Chana Malkah Harris
Earth Safe Finishes, DT

[mjmarmo]

This is stunning! My sister would love it!

[Maria Pilar]

What a beautiful window. Really awesome!!!

[sandy k]

Wow! You've taken on a huge project. Such a neat idea to use a window frame for the project. Great instructions were easy to follow. Thanks for sharing.

[Allison]

Awesome - makes me want to do one!!!

[Claudia Nelson]

Your projects are always amazing, and inspiring. Thank you, [email protected]

[Dee]

Gwen, beautiful project! Love everything about it. I have been looking for old windows with no luck. Fabulous.

[Ann Butler]

This is a Stunning project, I am glad that you like my Iridescents! Thanks for being part of the Hop!!

[Glenda Hoagland]

What a wonderful project. This is a wonderful idea for repurposing an item. Thank you for sharing your brilliance.
ghoagland(at)msn(dot com)

[Mans de Fada]

What a beatiful Window...awesome!

[Caro Lef]

How lovely. Hope you found a good spot to hand it

[Jill McDowell]

Gwen everything you touch turns to gold! This is sooooo beautiful. Thanks for sharing how you made it in such detail.

[vishu]

What a stunning project

[steph ackerman]

This is beautiful

[Lori]

Very pretty. I really need to try these paints ! Thank you for sharing.

[Mary Beth Shaw]

I really love the way this turned out, Gwen. I've been seeing lots of windows at vintage shops lately and this would be a great project.