Glaze, glaze, and more glaze

Today's post is all about the glaze- "antiquing", if you will- and what a difference it can make.

This table was purchased at an estate sale and even came with a mirror for the top.

It had such beautiful details, but they were kind of lost in the tired, dark wood finish that it had.

Getting primed and painted made it look better, but those details were still not popping. The table was just looking kind of flat.

But when you add some black glaze to those carvings and turnings, they just jump right out.



This table has found a home in the office of my friend's husband and will proudly display his television.



I found this foot stool at another estate sale. The cross stitched pad had become very worn and the wood finish had seen better days.

Once again, primer and paint helped...

... but a new fabric on the pad and a little brown glaze in the carved details makes it special again.



Like how it matches the cushion on my chair? I think it if were staying at my house they'd become good friends.





Finally, one more example of how paint and glaze come together to make something unique. I bought several of these birds at our local Dollar Tree a while back and loved them as-is. But after my husband admitted to me how often their life-like appearance had startled him, I considered giving them a little re-do.

It took a couple of coats of spray paint to cover the bright colors that they used to have, which of course just washed all of the detail right out of them. But with some brown glaze painted on them wiped off, all of the detail came right back.

Glazing gets easier with practice, and though I haven't used it much yet, I sure plan to! If you want to give it a try, take a look at this tutorial.