How to Dress Vintage Spoons for Christmas

 

I created some vintage spoon Christmas decorations for Finnabair and Re.design with Prima on Facebook Live, and promised to make a how to blogpost, too. So, here it comes.

 

There's a huge list of materials needed, as I list everything I used, but use your imagination and your own materials, choose your own favourite colours and so on.

 

 

 

YOU'LL NEED:

 

-       Vintage spoons.

 

-       Moulds. I used Re.Design with Prima moulds Regal Trimmings, Delicate Flora, and Seashore Treasures.

-       Air dry clay. I used Fimo Air Basic and Dart, but any will do.

 

-       Silk ribbon. I used my own botanically hand dyed silks.

 

-       Glue. I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue, but you can use whatever brand you like. Finnabair Heavy Body Gel works brilliantly, too. 

 

-       White gesso, for example Finnabair Heavy Gesso.

 

-       Mica Powders. I used brown & golden and white & light green shades from Finnabair Mica Powder Sets Oriental, Serenity, and Powder Set 6pcs.

 

-       Finnabair Effect Pastes Golden Dragon and Crushed Ice.

 

-       Paints like Finnabair Impastos, Liquid Acrylics etc. I used these for highlighting: Impasto Pitch Black and Liquid Acrylic Ink Black.

-       Waxes. I used Finnabair Metallic Waxes White Pearl and Vintage Gold.

 

-       Embellishments like crystals, beads, charms…

 

 

STEP 1.

 

Choose a spoon you’d like to use. I tried to find vintage spoons that had a hole in the upper part of the handle, so it’d be easy to put a ribbon through it for hanging, but as those are usually far and between, spoons with no holes in the handle would do just fine, too.  

 

You can also cut the spoon in half; that way you will have two décor pieces. Bend the edges as a loop, and they’ll be extra easy to hang into a Christmas tree or for any place you’d like. 

 

Use air dray clay and a mould and make a suitably sized and shaped decoration piece for the spoon. Add some glue (don’t overdo it) in the back and stick it to the spoon. Let dry, preferably overnight. (A tip: if you have problems with getting the clay out of the mould, put just a hint of corn flour into the mould before adding the clay, it should do the trick.)

STEP 2.

 

You can choose your own way of painting the spoons, I did it like this. For some, I first added a thin layer of gesso, for some I only added gesso for the clay pieces, depending how I wanted them to look; if I wanted an even layer of for example dusty rose paint, I added gesso first, but if I wanted the vintage golden shade of the spoon to be visible, I only painted the clay part with gesso. 

 

Pick the paints and colours you want and have fun. I mixed some mica powders as I love them so much, and painted the parts of the spoons I wanted, usually I added a thin layer of mica powders to the whole spoon for an even effect but concentrated on the clay piece for highlighting and giving depth. For this, I used different shades of mica powders, but also a hint of Impasto or Liquid Acrylic black paints.

 

STEP 3.

 

After painting, I let the spoons dry, and then added thin layer of Effect Paste all over the spoon. For golden coloured spoons I used Golden Dragon, for silver or white coloured ones I used Crushed Ice.

 

 

STEP 4.

 

Add a ribbon for hanging the spoon. I used mulberry silk ribbons I had hand dyed using herbs and flowers from our own garden. (Here’s a detailed step by step tutorial.)  

 

If you have a drill, you can make holes into your spoons for adding extra embellishments like crystal droplets or tear drop pearls to hang from the tip of the spoon. You can also add some embellishments to the ribbons, if you like.

 

You can choose Christmassy colours, shapes, and decorations, or you can use any kind of colours you want, and use the spoons for embellishing a birthday present, make a spoon chandelier, or use whatever clever idea you have in mind for them!

A full tutorial video on Re.design with Prima Facebook group.