Distressing with Acrylics

Before this project, I had only distressed with chalk and milk paints that are specifically designed to be easily manipulated. You can change textures or distress those paints with sandpaper, a hairdryer, water, or different brush strokes. But when my G-little, Alex, asked me to make her a sign for her new home with her new last name on it, I wanted to try using acrylic paint instead of chalk paint. Part of this reason was a little selfish...she was looking for a sign just like the one below and I already had those colors in acrylic paint. Obviously, "Beach" would be replaced with "King" and she said to not worry about the starfish.

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What was the distressing fix?? Vaseline! Read below for the steps.

1. Cut, Stain, Seal. I found a spare board in the basement, had the hubby cut it, and then stained it with Minwax Red Mahogany. Oh, and then I had sealed the stain with Minwax Polyurethane just to prevent bleed-through.

2. Paint and Distress. With chalk/milk paints, the distressing happens after you paint, but with acrylics, you do some prep work first which is where the Vaseline comes into play. Essentially, you rub Vaseline anywhere on the piece where you don't want the paint to stick. I used a paper towel and tried to eyeball some spots all over the piece and moreso around the edges. Then I applied several coats of the blue acrylic paint. After each coat dried, I went back and rubbed areas where I applied Vaseline to remove the paint.

3. Paint Text. Once I was satisfied with the base, it was time for the K I N G! And I totally cheated by printing off the letters and then tracing them onto the board. Spacing and centering are key. And before painting, I reapplied the Vaseline to the areas that I wanted to be distressed in case the earlier Vaseline wiped off.

4. Distress and Seal. I still wanted the letters to be a little more distressed so I toyed around with some sandpaper. It made for a more scratchy look, but I liked it in the end. After that I sealed the whole thing with Polyurethane and I nailed in some saw tooth picture hangers on the back so Alex could actually hang this.

And that's that! A fairly simple project that took me FOREVER to do and I am so grateful for Alex's patience! Happy Housewarming and Wedding, G-little!