How to add embellishments to any project

A few times I've had a piece of furniture that I wanted to add some character to without spending a lot of money and I found the perfect solution with a little putty and a stencil.  Here are some of the projects I've dressed up using this technique...

 

1. You can use any kind of spackling.  This is what I had on hand.

2. Just line your stencil up where you would like it, and then spread a thin layer of putty over it using a putty knife.

 3.  Remove the stencil

 4.  After it's dry (about 1 hour) you can sand it very lightly with 220 sandpaper just to take off any clumps.

5.  Paint the base color on your furniture.

6.  Glaze over the embellishment.  I like to mix my own using 1/2 paint and 1/2 glaze.  For this project I used Americana Burnt Umber.

 7.  Brush on glaze

 8.  Wipe off glaze.  Easy, huh?  Sometimes I use a damp rag if it's not coming off like I want.

And that is it!  Fun, unique, and inexpensive!