Crafting tip for the day:
fake rust
I'm tired of making this year's costumes and already looking into next year's. Lost interest. Finished first though, well mostly.
I think the joy is gone in part to the extensive rusting I had to do to Dave's costume. Dave loves it though. So I thought I would help you all make something rusty today since it seems that's all I've been doing.
Our costumes are from the Wizard of Oz this year, except I can't ever do something straightforward, most definitely if it is not scary. Miley wanted to be zombie versions, but I believe we have dipped into that bucket far too often, so instead our costumes are just slightly twisted versions.
For instance, Dave will be the tin man, a very rusted out version of the tin man. I used silver poster board to craft his suit. (He wouldn't let me buy a rivet gun, so poster board was the next best option) I found it at Hobby Lobby and if you are in need of a similar item it is linked with the pic. It was a pain to find around here, so I thought I'd share if you were experiencing the same problem. ;)
So, since it is a smooth/glossy surface, paint isn't really going to work on it. You can use modge podge and then dump cinnamon onto things to make them look rusty, but I thought that would be messy when it rubbed off and would be quite strong smelling as well. You could seal it with poly spray to maybe contain shedding and the smell, but then you'd lose the difference in matte and gloss finishes. Maybe for a different project it would work better. For me, I stuck with paint.
I used this stone textured spray paint on Dave's costume last year to make his sculptured appearance. Luckily I still had some on hand. I sprayed it in places on the poster board, and varied the intensity of the spray as well. It's gray with black flecks in it so it blended pretty nicely with the silver board.
After that dried it was time to paint. I used acrylic paint in two shades of orange, two shades of brown, and a yellow. That's the key to good rust; texture and varied colors. Also, looking at photos of real rust is useful.
Where the spray paint was lighter I would dab on the paint and then wipe it away to make it stick to the texture and look like smaller rust spots. I used my fingers and now have fresh new skin on my finger tips. I really should remember gloves.
The thicker spray paint got the heavy dose of paint on top, dabbed on, mixing colors together.
Wallah, faux rustiness. You think it wouldn't take long, but Dave is not a smallish person. ;)
