Take an interestingly shaped vase or bottle and make sure it is cleaned out really well inside and out with soap and water. Dry it thoroughly. Then take a roll of regular masking tape start tearing it into small little pieces all the same size - not necessarily the same shape, but close to the same size. They must be torn, NOT cut.
Then start placing these pieces on the bottle or vase. Start covering an area by only layering the edges of the pieces a very little bit. These edges are going to bump up a little bit and provide a texture for a treatment that comes later on. After you have completely covered the bottle or vase and this takes quite a bit of time and patience, it is now time for the leathering process.
Depending on the color you desire, choose the color of shoe polish you want your finished project to look like, either a light color or dark color. Rub the shoe polish with a soft cloth all over the taped project GENTLY! You don't want to rub the tape off, but you have to get it into the cracks and crevices of the taped pieces. You might have to go over some places several times. Just do it carefully. Be sure to rub off any excess.
Then seal with a spray sealer - either with a matte or a glossy finish whichever is your preference. You can now display the bottle or vase by itself or with a lovely dried or silk flower arrangement.
I used the paste type. It really looks good enough even for grown up vases. I did a small wooden box with this same treatment with the masking tape. It made it look like leather. So, don't limit this technique to just bottles.
I remember as a child making something similar. We tore small pieces of brown paper bags,glued them onto a jar or bottle.Then with either shoe polish OR brown crayon..lightly colour over the whole thing. Quite pretty really!
This sounds great!!! Wish we could see it!! Did you know you can use tissue paper that has been crumpled & torn up too? This I saw on a wall on a T.V home show and then painted to look like leather.After you crumple the paper then spread glue on the object, let that dry then paint with craft acrylic paint, then seal.
Wow. I still have one that I did in elementary school, some 35+ years ago (is it really that long?). My mom was cleaning out stuff and found it, and of course gave it back to me. We actually painted them with tempera paint, I think, but we did paint over them with varnish or something. This makes me want to do this again - maybe I'll grab some masking tape and give the kids a project. Thanks,
I remember doing this in elementary school. My friend and I probably did about 10+ and sold them to other kids. We also shaved some crayons. We then took regular white glue and wrote their names or drew a flower or something onto the bottle after we finished it. Then we would pour the shavings so that they adhered to the glue. ((The kids liked it)) I really enjoyed doing this craft. We used old wine bottles we found along side of the road to do these. I might just have to go now and try this again.
I remember doing this in elementary school. I don't know where I got the idea from, but me and my friend did probably about 10 or more and SOLD them to other kids in the school. We also took crayons and shaved them. We used these shavings and with regular white glue, wrote out there names or flowers or something, and poured the shavings on top so they would stick to the glue. I really loved doing that!!
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