Mixed Media Tealight Holder Alteration

Good morning everyone. It's my turn (Julia) to share an ATP Exchange Post where we do something a little different for your inspiration.

One of my favourite things to do is to alter new or secondhand items so they look more to my taste, may be given as gifts or alternatively used in my own home.

This week, I'm going to show how I've altered two small tealight holders which are available from Artist Trading Post.

These tealight holders are hollow so not as heavy as they look.

I wanted to make them look old and somewhat beaten up so chose to use paints and mediums to help. Here's what they looked like after I finished:

They are a little in shadow here but you will be able to see more detail in later images.

Both holders are given two coats of gesso and a light sanding in between coats. This is followed by using a stencil (find similar here) and modelling paste to create a design on three sides of each holder.

The holders are given two coats of Fresco paint in Snowflake. I want to have a good surface for the mediums to follow.

Initially I wanted to leave the metal candle holder as it was but this wasn't my best idea!

Each metal holder is given a coat of Snow Cap Alcohol Ink. To age the container, some Espresso Alcohol Ink is applied.

The alcohol ink is applied with a baby wipe. For some reason it seems to help the colour to split and the Espresso becomes a lovely rusty colour.

The blocks are now painted with Fresco Vintage Lace.
The next step is to add colour to the modelling paste. Fresco paint in London Night is added first followed by a light dusting of black Pan Pastel (find similar here). A good tip is to replace your stencil over the design and add your chosen product through this.

A light touch of Treasure Gold White Fire is added with foam through the stencil. This mixes nicely with the pastel to create a grungy look.

Each face with the stencilled paste is then coated with crackle glaze which is antiqued with acrylic paint when dry.

The fourth side on each holder is stamped with a PaperArtsy Mini Stamp (find similar stamp here) Versamark (or similar) then embossed with detail gold embossing powder - sorry, I forgot the photo for this stage! A coat of crackle glaze is then applied which is antiqued with acrylic paint once dry. Strangely, the gold embossing powder turns quite a pewter colour under the glaze but I like this very much.

To age the blocks, small pieces are cut away with a sharp knife.

To age the cut areas and edges of the holders, Archival Ink is applied with some cut n dry foam.

Two butterfly charms are coated with Snow Cap Alcohol Ink - I used an old cheap paintbrush for this task as it can be difficult to remove. This is followed by lots of Espresso Alcohol Ink, various acrylic paint colours and crackle glaze.

When the crackle glaze is dry, some antiquing cream or acrylic paint is applied and left to dry a little.

The paint is wiped away with a baby wipe leaving it behind where required. It slips into crackle glaze cracks really well and gives a great look. I will probably dirty this up a little more with some black acrylic paint and finish with some matte medium just to tone down any shine. I rather like the butterfly on the left too but perhaps it's a bit shiny for this project!

A hot glue gun is used to fix the butterflies to the embossed face of each holder. Acrylic paint is then used sparingly to give the effect of rust runs from the butterfly. This image clearly shows where the holder has been cut with the knife to give it that aged appearance - once the archival ink is added of course!

Once the holders are finished, a nightlight is added. I'm pleased with the rusty effect created by the alcohol inks.

Always difficult to see any sheen in a photo so I thought I'd hold this one and photograph it at the same time! Interesting to see the different tones in the Treasure Gold - I've probably mixed my colours a little in the pots!

Finished holders complete with lighted candles.

A night time photo so not perfect but here are my grungy, altered candle holders on the fireplace in my lounge.

Really pleased with these and even Husband says they look good there!

I hope this post inspires you to either buy a product ready for altering or perhaps have a look around the house and see what's hiding there just begging  for a makeover! Check out the stock at the Artist Trading Post for all your alteration needs and products.

Julia
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