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There’s nothing I love more about my job then getting to play with new products! Especially when they are fun!!! I’m super pumped to share my experience with the Bells and Whistles line from Dixie Belle.
*This post contains affiliate links. You don’t pay any more from ordering from these links but I earn a small commission so I can continue to bring you more fun projects! They also allow me to show you exactly what I use so you know what I’m referring to! *
Dixie Belle recently came out with a new formula for gilding waxes and silk screen stencils! I’ve been playing with these products in my shop this month and they have been fun to work with. Here’s an overview of what I found works and what doesn’t work.
I really am impressed with the new gilding waxes. They are thick and full of pigment as you can see on the border details here. This formula is also great to use on hardware details!! The gilding wax comes in 6 colors: Silver, Bronze, Copper, Zinc, Black, and Gold (I used Gold here). They are all heavy in pigment. You can view all these colors here.
For those of you who are like….what the heck is a silk screen and why would I used that?? I’m going to explain it a little bit because honestly I wondered why it was a relevant tool too.
This is what it looks like:
A silk screen is a stencil with an adhesive backing that sticks to your furniture or project. Then you apply paint over it with the scrapper included (or I find a small silicone spreader usually found in art isles works even better). The paint seeps through the screen part and the silk part blocks out the rest of the paint. This gives you crisp clean lines and is much easier than stenciling. Here I used Mandela and Western Boho.
I tried to used the new mousse with the silk screens but I found it didn’t seep through the screen for a clean look like I was hoping for. I ended up cleaning it off and going with Gold Digger Metallic paint. Using the paint helped to create cleaner lines which is what I was going for.
Immediately after I used the silk screen, I washed it out. I found it helpful to keep a bowl of water close by to drop the silk screen in when I was done to keep the paint from drying on the screen part. Scrubby Soap worked well to clean the paint off. I laid it flat to dry on a paper towel sticky side up. You can use these stencils up to 10 times!
While we are here, I should let you in on the colors used on the piece. I blended Antebellum Blue with Mermaid Tail. I used Gold Digger for the silk screens, and sealed the entire piece with Satin Clear Coat 2x. Then I gave the top an extra coat of Gator Hide for heat and water repellant finish.
Here she is ready to grace the side of a sofa or bed in someone’s home. This piece is available! You can purchase it here.
