Stains and Waxes: How to Make a Painted Piece Look Old

To stain or not to stain.

If you like the "old" look, 

here's what you can do to get it:

Here are two painted snowman.

Frosty has lost his hat so he can't talk anymore.

 

Now I have sanded the edges

along with a few swipes across the front.

I like to use wax on my snowmen to finish the off.

 This is the wax and brush.

One wax is Rugger Brown,

the other is clear.

I first coated all of him with clear wax.

I dip the brush in lightly and then pounce and swirl it on.

 When the clear is on,

I then lightly touch the brush into the brown wax,

and starting at an edge, I dap it on along the edges

and slightly moving it with it.

 Once I have the heaviest of the wax on the edges,

I then lightly wax spots where I want a little more shading.

 I lightly dab it on and swirl it a little bit,

but with wax you don't want to work it too long because it can cause it to start to look smeared

instead of a light, even coat.

 Here is the finished Mr. Snow-happy,

next to his cousin, Clean Snow Charlie.

The wax makes the snowman look more antique. 

I do like to use straight brown wax on things that have been painted a darker color.

The gingerbread man on the left had been brushed with a coat of brown wax,

whereas the one on the right has just been covered with clear wax.

 After the wax has dried or hardened on the painting,

it is rubbed with a lint-free rag.

This makes it have a nice glossy sheen.

One may also use regular wood stain on painted pieces.

The ornament on the left has been stained with Walnut stain.

The one of the left has not.

Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint does not do well with stain,

at least that has been my experience.

 Chalk paint seems to absorb stains and make the color hard to control.

The sheep on the bottom was stained in a Red Oak stain.

And the snowman on the right has been stained with walnut.

To show you side by side,

I used these Christmas trees.

 The two trees on the left have been stained, the first with Red Oak

and the second with Walnut.

The two trees on the right were waxed, the taller one with some brown wax,

but the one on the right uses just clear wax.

 Sorry that my samples are of the Christmas variety and we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet.

It's just what I had going on at the moment.

It's made me cold writing about the snowmen.

I think I need some hot chocolate.

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