DIY: Faux Agate & a Giveaway

Oh Agate. I have been promising a tutorial forever now, so here we go. 
I know I promised it on my entry wall, but I have issues:

1- Been crushed for time lately, sorry it a lame excuse, but stripping the old painted wallpaper, priming and painting makes me exhausted just thinking about it.
2- The Mr. has recently given me carte blanche to do whatever ever the hell I wanted to with our bathroom since he decided we are gutting it in a year.  
I know most of you would say why bother doing anything if you are ripping it out.  
I have a blog to run and I need shit to paint so this is one huge "blank canvas" score for me 
(and lets not forget I get bored with stuff FAST, so the reno will be perfect timing for change.)

So agate in the bath, ok? 
Sorry,  I still promise to do one of the other techniques we discussed in the entry.

Instead I give you TABLES OF AGATE:


There are a couple different looks you can get with this technique,  super crispy or big and soft.
This is the top of an IKEA Lack table I am currently "agating", super crispy...
and the Furniture Bank table from last post, big and soft:





You have a couple ways to get these looks.
You can either go BIG (like the Furniture Bank table- lets call it FB),
which I learned is challenging since paint dries fast,
or take it in small doses like the first picture (Ikea Lack table- IKL) that breaks things into 4 pieces.
I recommend the bite sized IKL piece approach to get started.

So I made you all SPECIAL video
(who-hoo so exciting... actually I'm all business so not really)
 that shows how to make the IKL agate happen:



 As far as BIG agate directions:

While painting the FB table my hands got super covered in paint
and I had my 5 year old take pictures. Bad idea.
 They are real blurry and look like 5 year took them. Seriously.
So watch the video if you plan on doing this, or check out the following steps for a half-assed BIG approach. your choice.

What you'll need:
-Something to "agate", painted in a satin or semigloss base coat. 
*paint it the lightest color in the agate, I did white.
-Latex glaze mixed two parts to one part latex paint
*mix it with darkest color in agate, I did Navy Blue
-gloves to keep that mani fresh!
-a softening brush
-torn pieces of cardboard
-various sized artist brushes
-images or pieces of agate
-black and white artist colors to darken or light areas
-cup of water and a rag for wiping up your mistakes
-paint brush to apply glaze

 Its go time!  These directions are for doing BIG agate, but trust me... watch the video for smaller sections.  I learned the hard way here and if I just brushed the entire table top out with glaze and took it off with larger chunks of cardboard it would have been much faster
and I wouldn't have made so many mistakes.

-So first I brushed out a few base lines to follow, and filled in a darker center area...
 I sponged the dark area to lighten and give texture:
 added another line around the center

(I know what all you with dirty minds are all thinking...)
 and kept painting on lines on varying colors of blue/black:
 once I got enough of a base down I let it dry:
and then I covered the whole thing with glaze:
(Here is where the 5 year old steps in and I lost a few shots.)

 Basically what you missed was me dragging a clean dry paintbrush through the glaze, following the base lines to get a strie-looking texture going on in between...
It would have looked much cooler if I used strips of cardboard like in the video. I have no good pictures from here on out, but I can tell you I messed with it a ton and added more glaze to darken it.

and I repeated this for all four sides:





Now go watch the video to see the right way to do it.



I do have a giveaway...
I am giving up this here IKEA Lack Table that I painted in the video
(as nice as it goes with my navy & white kitchen, I have no room for it)
I will be adding a few coats of high gloss polyurethane to shine it up:



Just leave a comment with your name, and winner will be announced this Friday (11/0/2012).


If you have any questions or need help with this technique, just give me a shout!
xo
Danika



AND THE WINNER IS:


#5.... Ann





Please shoot me an email Ann and let me know your address and I will get this over to you!

Thanks everyone for entering!






25 comments:

Mai-Brit @ thisfulllife said...

I'm in love with these tables, they are so pretty. I doubt my diy would turn out as good, fingers crossed I win yours.

SpryOnTheWall said...

Awesome! My name is Jenny and my fingers are crossed!

OliviaK said...

How creative! I'm sure I couldnt pull something like this off, but it looks fun to try.

Hannah said...

I love this! I so want to try but I'm terrified it will turn out horrible! Anyways, name is Hannah and I'd love to win! :)

Ann said...

As Meredith said to Derek in the first season of Gray's Anatomy, please pick me! I love the table, and would so very much like to give it an excellent home in my garden room, where blue and white prevail. I promise to take good care of it, always use a coaster for my drink, and make a tabletop vignette worthy of it. Thanks for the tutorial, which gave me almost enough confidence to try it myself.

rahimster said...

Hi, I'm Sania, I love your blog and would love to win! It's such a beautiful table!

Kat said...

I've been stalking Craig's List for a table to agate since you introduced your preview for the furniture bank. I'm looking at a large coffee table or smaller cube end tables. I really like the look of the FB table with the brush work better than the Ikea table with the cardboard but they are both stunning. Can't wait to give it a try!

Amalia Athanaeleas said...

This is absolutely incredible... my mind is BLOWN! You've done such an amazing job!
xx
Lia
Smart n Snazzy

Jess said...

You're a GENIUS... both of these are seriously amazing!!



Victoria M said...

Ever since your sneak peak last week, I have been waiting for this tutorial. I don't think my faux agate will come out looking as great as yours so a lack table sounds perfect!

Laure A. said...

Love the table, hope I win :)!!!

Precious and Pink said...

I am in serious furniture love with this table!! Its amazing. I wish that I had your talents in this department:)

Holy Chic. said...

Your cube one is ah-mazing. I want to do this with my dresser!

Tiffany Leigh said...

I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU PAINTED THAT! I thought for sure it was papered until I scrolled down and saw your vid! Unreal. Amazing job! I love the 'softer' one best.

Lisa Mende said...

OMG! You are so talented!!! Pick me! Pick me!!! I love it!

Ivy said...

LOVE this! Can't wait to try it!

Unknown said...

Girl, you've got moxy! And so does that beautiful table. If I become it's new owner it will grace my new office that I get to decorate at work. All appendages crossed and thanks or such a great DIY post!

Colleen said...

I LOVE this. so awesome. My name is Colleen! :)

schnelkg said...

OOOOOO pretty!!! You did gorgeous work on these!

- Katie Grace

Eligonma said...

I would looove to win it. Thank you so much!

virginia said...

Pretty!
Virginia
vnwyatt@gmail.com

West Side of Straight said...

Love the agate look!! Will have to try it - need the right piece to do it on tho. New to your blog. Love your ideas!

Jordan - Queen of LA! said...

this is seriously so cool. i would love to win it!

jordan at www.queenofla.blogspot.com
jordanmarisasilverman at gmail dot com

throuthehaze said...

The tables look so awesome!

Dara said...

Those tables looks amazing!

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