Posted by Curry S. on Jan 22nd 2020
DIY Gilded Easter Eggs: Part II
Wooden eggs can be painted and gilded using either water-based or oil-based size for different looks. You’ll learn how to use both methods in this simple DIY using Sepp Gilding Workshop Gold Leaf!
Supplies:
Sepp Leaf Water-Based Gilding Size
Wooden and/or Paper Mache Eggs
Using a brush, prime with Sepp Gilding Workshop (SGW) oil-based yellow, red or gray – one coat should be enough. Let dry about one hour. You can also use an acrylic paint color of your choice – we chose some festive spring shades.
Use a brush to apply water-based SGW Gilding Size to each egg. You can rest the eggs on wax paper or use an egg box stand like we did. This size stays sticky indefinitely. When the size goes from milky-white to clear you are ready to gild! Keep a jar of water handy to soak the brush between size applications.
Lay a piece of imitation gold, silver or copper leaf on your work surface – you can roll the egg onto the leaf, or simple drape leaf over the egg. Press the leaf onto the size. You can completely cover the base color with flakes or let it show through. Use cotton gloves and/or a soft brush to brush off excess flakes.
Alternatively, apply quick oil-based SGW Leaf Adhesive – this will produce a shinier finish with genuine gold leaf. It should be ready in about 45 minutes to an hour, and you’ll have about an hour more to gild, keep a careful watch, you’ll have about 45 minutes to gild. It should feel sticky but dry. Patent leaf is easy to use – you can cut the leaf and its backing paper into strips or squares. Simply press gently so the leaf bonds with the size. You can use each sheet until all the gold is used up.
After allowing to dry overnight, you can topcoat the gilded eggs with SGW Acrylic Clear Coat. Let dry for a few hours before setting out as decoration.
For this project, we used SGW Variegated Blue Metal Leaf, SGW Imitation Silver, SGW Genuine Silver Leaf, and SGW Genuine Gold Leaf. There is a wide variety of colors to choose from. These make a wonderful heirloom centerpiece any time of year!
