An old glass vase gets a hip metallic foil treatment for spring.

Two weeks ago was Spring Break, and granddaughter Kate was here helping me with Efex projects all week long. Well, she is here all week long, not just doing Efex all week.

One of the easiest ways to add to your signature style is metallic colors. Two on-trend colors today are copper and brass. Yes, you could go to your local hardware store and buy spray paint, but that is soo.. tacky.

We love just taking our object of interest and applying foils for a beautiful old world look that still has a hip flair to it.

Foiling your efex is easy. As we will shop you with these samples of our Rosette (R4) and on a glass vase with our Art Deco trim (R47)

1 – Paint a base coat on the Efex. Because we were using a copper foil we used a green undercoat. In fact, you don’t have to paint the Efex, but we like the look if any of the foil does not adhere.

2 When the base is dry apply foil size. Size is the glue based substance used to adhere the foil to the object.

When size is tacky, approximately 20 min apply the foil

3- Apply the foil by laying it back side down on the Efex and rubbing the foil onto the surface. I use all sorts of tools to burnish, but for the Efex I like the back end of an artist paint brush. This allows you to get into the creases and work the foil into the crevices.

Once you have burnished the foil on, pull off the paper, and voila, you’re ready. Well maybe. Often they have little blotchy spots. To fix these take either add more size and apply again or test to see if still tacky then reapply the foil. Failure to burnish well will result in less gilding on the object at hand.

4 – Finally to finish, apply a light top coat because as we said the foil stays tacky.

Voila, a perfect hip design for spring. Our final project was this lovely vase. Thank you Kate.

xoxo Lydia