Trash Talk Thursday: Faux Pewter

As featured in my former Trash To Treasure column, Fall 2012 issue of A Primitive Place & Country Journal Magazine (page 101) here is an easy way to fake pewter!

By using paint, I recycled this .50 ceramic 1980’s goose pitcher to what now looks like old Pewter...

 I sprayed a liberal coat of flat black generic spray paint, then added a light coat of Rustoleum Texture spray. When completely dry, I used my electric palm sander with medium grit paper to sand the texture just enough to create what looks like pitting on old Pewter, then painted the entire surface with Deco Art Metallic Dark Patina craft paint (purchased at Michael’s Arts & Crafts). For a darker patina look, I rubbed watered-down black acrylic paint over the ridges with a cotton rag.

This same process also works on plastic, metal, or wood ~ experiment on different surfaces. My own experimentation included plastic disposable serving utensils & spoons ~ the 'pewter' spoons came out looking just like the real thing for displaying on a spoon rack! 
(Note: once painted, wares are for decorative purposes only; not for food or beverage use)

 

Trash Talk Thursday: Shake It Don't Bake It Prim

 

With a can of flat black spray paint and a plastic bag of ground spices, almost anything can be made prim. Even plastic perfume decanters such as these baby shoes, a .25 yard sale find.

After wiping clean with a damp rag, I waited until the shoes were dry before spraying a light even coat of Walmart’s $1.00 flat black spray paint. When dry, I placed one shoe at a time into a Ziploc bag half full of cinnamon, ginger, and allspice (all purchased at Dollar Tree) sealing the top before shaking & rubbing the spices over the painted finish, as if breading a chicken leg with Shake & Bake for oven-fried cooking. When the surface was well coated, I shook the excess spice mixture over the bag. The bag of spices can be used over & over again! This process also works well for transforming other surfaces which will be used for display only, including wax, metal, wood, plaster, glass, ceramic, clay, plastic, fabric, and even paper. Just think of all the recyclable junk you can shake prim!
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