Make Plastic Look Rusty This Easy Way

I like to use rusty accents for my primitive Santa dolls. The rusty look is perfect with the vintage quilts I use for their outfits. But it seems that anything rusty in the crafting world costs extra, so I came up with this easy, cheap and totally neat way to fake that old, rusty patina.

Here are some pastel plastic star buttons from The Dollar Store. Score! I knew I could work some rusty magic on these.

For this project I used spray paint in gloss brown and Dollar Store cinnamon. That's it!

We did this outside since the spray paint is stinky. I sprayed the buttons til the pastel colors were completely covered. While the paint was still tacky, my grandson and I sprinkled them  with cinnamon. Easy peasy! How wonderful authentic and rusty they look now! After the first few buttons we learned just how much cinnamon to dust on each one for this fabulous look. 

Next, I grabbed the favor star necklaces I'd found in the party section at Walmart. Four for ninety seven cents is a real deal! We hung them up and spray painted them brown, making sure we got all the  surfaces covered. Instead of sprinkling the cinnamon on each necklace, I put about two tablespoons of cinnamon in a plastic sandwich bag and dropped the sticky necklaces inside and shook them around thoroughly.

Then I took a bit of pumpkin orange craft paint and ran my paint brush down each string of stars, so the color hit the high spots. Ooh aah!

I also tried this with brown craft paint first and then the cinnamon, but it was too persnickety and slow for me. I love the convenience of the spray paint and it is much stickier for the cinnamon step. I call this a win win.

I spent $2 on the buttons and the cinnamon from the Dollar Store.

I already had the glossy brown spray paint in my stash.

And I am totally pleased with the way this come out! Now I'm considering a Christmas tree totally decked out in rusty, vintage style ornaments. How cool would a beaded garland look all rusted up like this? Gotta try it!

I'll be joining some link parties on my sidebar soon. Come visit and see where creativity reigns!

Making a Grungy Prim Pumpkin from a Styrofoam Ball

I sold one of my primitive witch dolls on Etsy and found, when I went to pack her up, that she was missing a prim pumpkin in her basket. Vanished! I make almost all the accessories for my witch and Santa dolls so I just decided to  make another one... and for once took enough photos to capture the process. 

Yup, he's not a cute and pretty Jack like you see everywhere at Halloween. My pumpkins have character!

So here we go.....

I have a stash of styrofoam balls and grabbed one in the right size. This process will work for any size foam ball. I flattened the top and bottom with a saucer to make it less round and more pumpkiny. Then I scored it with a small paint brush handle.

Using my clay tools I carved out a face. You can also use the tip of a steak knife, an X-acto blade or anything that will give you the holes you want. Crumpled up tissue torn into small pieces will cover the curves of the ball and Mod Podge sticks it on. Use a soft paintbrush and just smooth the tissue on gently. This takes the styrofoam look away from the ball and makes it look more pumpkiny and gourdy. You know what I mean!

 Here I've used pumpkin orange and red to paint the whole pumpkin. You can let this dry naturally or, if you want a bit of warty skin texture, use your heat gun to dry the paint. Hold the heat close to the pumpkin surface and you will get a bubbly, bumpy effect in no time! Go slowly and steadily so the warts form but your styrofoam ball does not melt. Soon your paint will be dry and textured.

Next, add a bit of burnt umber paint to your pumpkin then blot it off with a rag while it is still wet. Use a damp q-tip to clean up the details. If you take off too much just put more paint on and blot, q-tip it again until you get the contrast you want.

                             

I wanted my Jack to have some grungy teeth and I used the tip of a butter knife to press them into the mouth seam. Then I added black paint deep inside the eyes and nose holes and along the mouth. Use a damp q-tip again to clean up your details but not too much. Don't worry, you can keep adding and taking away paint until you get just the right grungy prim look you are happy with!

I have a jar o' twigs in my stash and found one just for this guy. What, you don't have twigs in your stash? A stick from the yard will do or even a small  cinnamon stick. I added two silk leaves (which I grunged with a little burnt umber paint since they were too bright) and a bit of curly rusty wire to my Jack and voila!

My prim Jack looks happy in his new home and tomorrow he'll be travelling with his witchy mistress to a far city.

This process works for any size styrofoam ball and you don't have to carve them like jack o' lanterns at all. You can make some grungy primitive pumpkins for your Halloween and Thanksgiving decor. I guarantee no one will have pumpkins just like yours!