I love metal barn stars. Yes, I know some of you think they are old news and over used but, I prefer a 3D star any day over a flat, glass framed piece of “art.” Nine times out of 10 I will hate framed pictures and only have 3 in my house. I would rather use something that tells a story or that I will love for much longer. Not that there is anything wrong with a framed painting–I wish that I could love them!
I’ve been collecting stars over time and I am not a fair weather metal star fan. Just like toile I have always loved them and always will. Over the years I have had them spread out in different rooms but now, I needed something over the lonely piano. Hung as a grouping, they have a much bigger impact than one lonely star hung by itself. But, they were not all the same colors. At all. I had painted most of them a long time ago and I really like seeing layers of paint on them.
When I paint something like this and want it to look worn and distressed, I’ll paint one color on with a paper towel or paint brush {if it’s my lucky day and I can find one}. I then wait a minute or so but, I’m too impatient to wait for it to dry. Then, I use the paper towel again and wipe on another color and it kind of wipes off the old color in some places at the same time.
So, grab some paints–I use those 3/$1.00 kind from Michael’s. Don’t try to match the exact shade to the color of your sofa. Actually, it’s better if they are not an exact match. When you have a grouping you want them all to be different shades of similar colors. So, for these I used probably 5 or 6 colors including white and brown to add dimension in some.
I’ll show you on this tiny star that I found. First, I squirt some paint right on it. I’m too lazy to clean a separate plate or bowl.
Then with a paper towel {or brush or finger} wipe the paint around to cover the star. The original color will show through but you want to at least cover it with a layer of paint. Wait a few minutes for it to dry. Or do this.
I like for the first coat to be pretty dry and then I squirt another color on top . Wipe. Repeat.
Rub that next color on. Wait a minute or so until it’s tacky …
Then go ahead and add another layer of paint and start a rubbin’. You want some of the paint to stay on and some to come off. This is the fun part! You cannot mess this up! You will start to see layers of paint and that ‘s what makes it look so great! You can continue this until you have had enough and then hang it. Because of all the wiping off of paint, mine are always dry as soon as I am done and I don’t even have to wait to hang them!
Here’s mine all finished. Let’s hang it and see how it looks!
Oh mercy, look how bright green it is compared to all the other ones! No biggie, I’ll just run upstairs and put one more layer of blue on top.
Now this is much better.
So look how easy that was. And what an impact! This is one of the first walls that you would see if you tracked me down, broke in my house and walked through my front door. So much more fun than a boring framed painting! And the biggest star up there only costs $8! If you don’t have any stars they are selling them almost everywhere now. I think I even saw them at my grocery store. 