A few years ago I bought a set of Martha Stewart plastic skulls and bones. The picture on the front of the package showed the skulls glittered, but I knew I wanted to try something different. I just didn’t know what! Fast forward to a few years later… I finally figured it out! I love love love the look of pewter, and decided to try and replicate it on these plastic skull and bones decorations.
I LOVE the result! I think I took the plastic bones up a notch with this easy technique, and I love the metal look they now have. You probably don’t have the same set of skeletons in the closet (haha, couldn’t resist), but you could use this technique with most plastic, ceramic, or glass Halloween decorations that you might already have or that you find at the store. Here’s what you’ll need…
How to Create a Faux Pewter Finish:
Supplies:
- Item to Paint (for me it was my skull and bones)
- Metallic silver paint (I used Krylon)
- Black craft paint
- Paintbrush
- Paper towels or rag
Directions:
1. Clean the item that you will be painting with alcohol or a damp cloth, and let dry. Spray a light, even coat of silver metallic spray paint onto the item. Let dry. Repeat until the item is fully covered. With spray paint, it’s always better to spray multiple light coats of paint, rather than one or two heavy coats- you’ll get drips and it just doesn’t look good!
2. Brush a light coat of black over a section of the item that you are painting, focusing on any edge or detail area. Rub off most of the black paint with a paper towel or rag, but leave enough on to give it that pewter look. Repeat with the rest of the object- paint, then rub some off- until the entire object has been painted and rubbed.
The result will be a metallic look that isn’t as shiny and new looking as it was when you painted it with the metallic silver, which is just what you want. You want it to look worn and old and used, like pewter!
I love how my plastic bones were transformed! They are much more substantial now. I put some moss on one of my cake plates, added the skulls and bones to the top, and put my cloche on top of it all. This is about the spookiest the decorations get at my house 😉 I’m not one for scary, but I’ll make an exception for these guys!
Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! There are so many different things that you can use this technique on. I already have another one in the works! Stay tuned!
xo, Laura
Lizbeth McGow says
Impressive transformation! They went from common and cheap looking to glamorous and sophisticated with just a few coats of paint! Brilliant Laura! Thank you so much for showing us how at the Fluster Buster party, please join us again next week with more of your creatives ideas, Lizy party co host
Laura @ Make Life Lovely says
Thanks so much Lizbeth! I love the trasformation, too, especially since I love anything silver or metallic.
Bella@artclubblog says
The results are amazing. This looks, very, very cool!