Glazed and (Not?) Confused

I'm going to just jump into today's post. This is exciting, so grab a seat and hang out for awhile.

Here is my fugly key wall decor thingee

it needed cleaning (it was in a garage for probably 40 years), and priming

and a couple of coats of white spray paint

and it sat until I gathered the courage to glaze it. It was just a little too stark as bright white, and didn't show off any of the details. My fear of glazing was so great that there was a moment where I thought to just paint it a different color, but the fleur-de-lis needs to stand out.

After a lot of research, I finally found an easy tutorial on The Speckled Dog. It's nice when there's a good step-by-step tutorial and this one deserves a shout-out.

Well, after my first attempt of glazing on my "Printemps Tote", I thought I was ready. Riiiiight. The tote is flat, and my key is, well, not. The glaze-wipe method wasn't working, and since this was my only fugly key, I panicked and broke out a wet foam brush. After wetting it down, wiping again, and hating it, I tried again (persistent, aren't I?) This time, wiping was only on the top of the piece, and not so vigorously. More like my regular dusting style - just swipe at it, don't clean it.

Sorry there aren't any epic fail in-progress pics, but in panic mode, I didn't know how long I had before the glaze dried. I know now that it takes a couple of minutes and water saves the day, but in the moment...

So, here's the finished product - all glazed up.

The details definitely stand out now. Glazing is not confusing anymore, but I might stick to less intricate pieces in the future.

Any glazing tips for the Dazed and Confused crowd? What's the best way to get it into the nooks and crannies? How about the ratio of glaze to paint to water?? Ow, my head hurts...

Linking this up to:



 there's a great tutorial - Glazing 101 - check it out if you're curious about the technique and projects other have done!