Gold Leaf Star Decor

I am a perfectionist.  I was convinced I could never enjoy gold leafing.  The very thought of flaky gold paper bothered me.  But, for some reason, I was drawn to doing a gold leaf project for the guest bedroom.  Blame it on the red and gold fine art paper I framed for the room.

I found these brown kraft stars at Paper Source, the same day I bought the red and gold paper.  I immediately imagined them gold leafed.  Then, I chickened out, just short of buying the gold leaf.    The craft store had a Gold Leaf Rub ‘N Buff next to the gold leaf.  I thought rubbing gold leaf evenly all over the stars would be much better, at least for a perfectionist like me.

It wasn’t better.  I did not get the effect I was after.  The Gold Leaf Rub ‘N Buff left the stars looking more bronze, than gold.  They were also very dull.  So, I went back and got the gold leaf.

During a wonderfully long afternoon nap for my youngest, I gold leafed both stars.  I embraced the imperfection of it all.  As a self-diagnosed perfectionist, I found gold leafing to be a very freeing experience.  I knew the look I was after was not perfect.  I wanted something shiny and gold, yet gritty and grungy.  With this aim in mind, I applied the gold leaf in the most imperfect manor possible.

Gold Leaf for a Perfectionist Embracing Imperfection

Apply gold leaf adhesive sizing to the stars with a foam brush.

Allow the sizing to set for 30-45 minutes, until tacky.  It will go from milky white to clear and be sticky to the touch.

I opted for the “ready gold leaf”, which already had a paper backing on each piece of gold leaf.  Alternatively, you need to press a piece of wax paper onto each sheet of gold leaf to transfer it to your project.

Because my stars were very angular and I wanted to minimize any gold leaf waste, I cut triangles from the gold leaf sheets.

I gently pressed the gold leaf onto each triangle on the star.  I used a foam brush over the paper to transfer the gold leaf.

Once the gold leaf was stuck to the star, I removed the paper backing.  Then with the same foam brush, I gently brushed over the gold leaf.

I cut some of the triangles larger, so the gold leaf would wrap around.

For any gold leaf hanging over the edge, I gently wrapped it over with the foam brush.

Since I wanted a grungy, aged look, I went over the gold leaf again a little harder with the foam brush.  I rubbed the brush more along the edges and crevices to make the gold leaf flake off.

Once all sides of the star were gold leafed, I went over the whole thing again with the foam brush to remove any loose gold leaf flakes.  I used gold leaf sealer to coat the stars and prevent the gold leaf from flaking off.

Unless you are a much better perfectionist than me, you will end up gold leafing your fingers.  No worries…it washes right off.

The Perfection is in the Imperfect

I never thought I could love gold leaf so much.  I really don’t even like gold, but the blue and red bedroom I am working on called for a splash of gold.  The imperfection of this project is what makes it perfect.  I also was glad I applied the Rub ‘N Buff first.  The bronze base color shows through the cracks in the gold leaf.  It enhances the aged look.  These turned out exactly how I wanted.  Here is a little sneak peek of one of them in the room:

Have you ever gold leafed?  Do you consider yourself a perfectionist or free-spirit?  Does it effect your crafting?

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