Gold Leaf to Decorate Decor Accessories
There are plenty of ways to use gold or silver leaf on decor accessories and it's an inexpensive way to glam up the home.
05/09/2021
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I am not a huge follower of trends, other than what I feature on Home-Dzine.co.za or what I think my readers might find interesting, but I do like to look around for craft and DIY projects that are easy to do and that I would like to see in my own home.
One craft that I do enjoy, and that I have featured before, is that of using gold or silver leaf for all types of projects. We have previously looked at how you can use gold leaf to dress up a plain piece of furniture to add glam factor, but in this article, we look at how you can use gold leaf to transform ordinary decor accessories into eye-catching statement pieces.
At a cost of around R70 per pack of 25 gold leaves (@ Builders), it's not expensive to bring a touch of gold into a home. Whether you use it on candle votives or candle holders, apply it to statuary or picture frames, or use it to dress up an old lampshade, working with gold leaf is easy and fun.
Want some ideas on how you can use gold leaf to upcycle accessories in the home? Take a look at the following ideas.
Glam up a lampshade
martha stewart
Love, love, love this idea of using gold leaf to glam up a plain lampshade. So simple, all you need is a pack of gold leaf and size (glue). Use a compass to draw circles on the shade and then use a foam applicator to apply size inside the drawn circle. Now carefully lift a sheet of gold leaf - a pair of tweezers work well for this - and place it over the size. Use a soft brush - a makeup brush is great - to press the gold leaf into the size and remove any excess gold leaf. Collect this for use later for other projects.
Purchase an inexpensive light fitting for the home and then transform it with copper leaf. It works out far cheaper to do it this way than to buy a genuine copper light fixture and no one will be the wiser. When applying any type of leaf to projects, you need to use size - an adhesive that is used with leaf sheets. Apply the size wherever you want the leaf to appear, in this case copper leaf, and place the copper leaf on top of the size. I like to use a soft makeup brush to press the leaf into the size and remove any excess leaf.
Create art with gold leaf
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Every home should have at least one work of art on the wall, and it doesn't matter if you put your own creative talents to good use or invest in artworks. You could even buy an affordable piece of art at a home decor store. What is great is that you can create wonderful art using acrylic paint and gold leaf and it doesn't require that much talent.
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Upcycle an antique chair
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We've previously looked at how you can apply metal leaf to furniture, but you can also use gold leaf to highlight a piece of furniture, such as something you found while browsing second-hand or antique stalls or perhaps even picked up on one of the online auction sites.
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Have vintage furniture in a dark wood? Use gold leaf to not only lighten up the dark wood but also add timeless elegance to the piece. Unlike metallic gold spray paint, gold leaf also gives a textured patina to ordinary items.
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Glitz up some glass
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If you love to recycle glass containers, you will most definitely enjoy adding a bit of glitz. Gold leaf can stick to almost any surface to give it a beautiful gold lustre, and you can transform everyday glass containers or glasses into dramatic centrepieces.
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Gold embellished flowerpots
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Pretty pots with gold leaf designs... upcycle your plastic or clay flowerpots with a bit of glitzy glam. You can apply almost any design whether straight lines or circles or you can go for a more rustic finish like the flowerpots shown below. Apply size randomly on the flowerpots and then press and brush away excess gold leaf to replicate this look.
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