Distressing with paint and stain

I've been a little distracted lately with two projects, an office for my hubby's auto garage and a craft/toy room for Gavin and I.  The majority of my time was spent priming the office, and now that I'm not tired from that I'm ready to jump back into the craft room.  I'm currently in the process of up cycling and old bed and table top into my craft table.   However, today I decided that after buying paint for the table and accessories I have no idea how I really wanted the finishes to look.  Sooo, what better way than to make some samples. :o)  I had a few spare metal items, wooden bowls and a lazy susan that I thought might work in the craft room and would be perfect to experiment on.  And here is what I came up with.

 

So what do you think?  I really like how the robins egg blue turned out, looks a little shabby chic I think.  I'm still debating on which to use for my craft table.  I may just use both! 

I was really bad about taking pictures throughout the process but here is what I did to each.

Both the bowl and the lazy susan were unfinished wood.  Since I was just experimenting I didn't take the time to sand these before painting but I would suggest lightly sanding before you paint.  Make sure to use a fine grit and sand along the grain of the wood. 

Lets start with the bowl.  First I slapped on a thin coat of a milk chocolate color.  Once dried, I dry brushed the bowl with a creamy white color.  Dry brushing gave me a more textured look and allowed me to leave some of the base color to show through.    Once the paint was dry I sanded and sanded.  I think I used 120 grit, which will take it off a little quicker.  I sanded places that I thought one would find normal wear on an old bowl.

Once I was happy with the appearance of the bowl, I wiped it down with a dry cloth to remove any excess dust.

Now time for the messy part.  I liberally applied a dark wood stain to the bowl and let it sit a few minutes.  Then using a clean cloth (I used and old white t-shirt) wipe of the stain.  If you want your paint to remain as close the the original color I would suggest wiping off immediately.  Or, apply the stain with a q-tip or cotton ball only to the areas you want stained, leave for a few minutes and wipe clean with a dry cloth.  Alternately, if you prefer a more aged look leave your stain on a few minutes longer before wiping off.

Then let your bowl air dry until no longer tacky.  I decided to finish my bowl with a wax finish for protection and it adds a slight sheen and makes the stained wood look aged.  My favorite is Paste Finishing Wax by Minwax.  I confiscated a long sock from the hubby's sock drawer (I made sure it had a hole to justify ruining it) and buffed the wax all over the bowl. 

I used the same technique for the lazy susan, except I did not paint it brown first.  I used one thick coat of Rust-oleum's Ultra Cover 2x in satin aqua.