Rusty Tin Monogram

 Good morning everyone! As I said last night in my giveaway, I told you I would be posting the full instructions on how to create this DIY rusted looking tin letter. I love how it turned out and it really looks like an antique right? This is perfect to hang in in a nursery above a crib, in the middle of a collage wall (like I did myself), or don't even hang it! You could just set it on top of a mantle or table. This really works anywhere which is why I like it so much. So what you'll need for this project:

{I found everything at A.C. Moore}

-Cardboard Letter of your choice

-Black paint

- Metallic paint (for tin, name is listed below)

- copper/ brown paint (for rust, name is listed below)

-hanging hardware (if you are planning on hanging your project) 

You'll also need some paint brushes, along with a round sponge brush.

First, paint the entire letter with black paint. It doesn't have to be super thick but just make sure you get a good even coverage. I just used some random left over paint that we still had laying around from our fireplace. Any paint would work for this- even spray paint if you wanted!

Once your black paint is dry, go ahead and paint on a layer of the metallic tin paint. Here's what I got from A.C. Moore.

 The tin color is Americana Metallics and the name of the color is actually "Tin". So that was pretty easy to figure out. As for the rusty color I was going out on a limb here. I ended up using DecoArt Metallics in "Rich Espresso" . I was hesitant to go with another metallic for the rust on top of a metallic. I was planning on getting just a regular reddish/brown color but I'm glad I went with the metallic now that it's finished!

When applying the metallic tin color, work in small sections because this dries super fast. Also, don't worry about getting a thick coat and making everything even! You can always add more. What I'm saying is, you might have some lighter spots where your brush strokes will show. This is GOOD! Once my brush started getting dry, I just kept running over those spots to get some nice brush marks and then left it alone. This gives you more of that aged "tin" look. Once that coat dries, if you think it's too light just go back and add more. You just don't want the entire letter looking a solid color. You want some of the black to show through. 

Once you're happy with your "tin" look, go ahead and start adding some rust. This step seemed to be the most challenging. Is there too much? Not enough? Do my marks look too spotty instead of natural? Listen, if you are a perfectionist like me you have to leave that somewhere else for this part.

First, you'll want to switch to your round sponge brush for this step. With your brush you can make your marks look different. Some spots I used it like I would a paint brush, other spots I dabbed on the paint (where you see the rounded spots with the lighter center). You can get so creative with this and it's all how YOU want it to look! I started adding paint to just certain sections and edges of the sponge to not make my marks so blotchy. You can also let your brush get dry and then go around and make some lighter spots. Go around to the corners and make some rust and blend it into the adjacent surfaces. Make sure you're not just getting the front of the letter, you want to get everywhere. 

If at some point you look at it and don't like how a certain spot looks or you have too many in one area OR you want to tone down the color on some of them, you can go back and apply a thin layer of the tin color again! This saved me because I went back and forth a few times between certain spots whether it was changing the shape/size, or just creating some different tones. 

Once I was finally happy with it and it was completely dry, I hammered in some hardware to the back and hung it up!

There it is my friends! A pretty simple and minimal DIY project! Don't get me wrong though, the result is super cute! Let me know any thoughts or if you have any input. If you make this yourself please tag me on Instagram @farmhouseflare or my Facebook page! I would love to see what you create with yours! Now go get paintin'!

Sincerely, 

{Lauren Travitz}

Farmhouse Flare