Perk up yard-sale finds or new unfinished furniture with playful stamped designs. Decorative artist Vivian Peritts uses kitchen utensils, wooden dowels and clothespins as stamping tools to add whimsical painted patterns to brightly striped furniture. To prepare old or new wooden furniture for stamping, sand the rough edges and seal the piece with wood sealer. Colorful stripes of acrylic paint (figure A) serve as a background for the stamped pattern. Vivian suggests applying two thin base coats of white acrylic paint before adding the stripes, to make the colors especially bright. Use everyday household items, dipped in bright acrylic paint, to stamp patterns. Cut sponges to make square stamps, or use the end of a dowel to make circles. The end of an old-fashioned clothespin, cut flat, becomes a deer-track stamp. Use kitchen utensils such as spatulas and potato mashers to create abstract designs or the end of a glue stick and a pencil eraser to make tiny paw prints (figure B). Once you begin, you'll find the possibilities endless.
RESOURCES :
Vivian Peritts, author, designer and demonstrator
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