Monday, August 23, 2010

craft recipes- 1st one rusting metal objects

Today I was looking around for a recipe to rust some bells for some of my things I will be making for my fall craft show and found this easy simple recipe so thought I would post it here and if you ever need it I will have a " craft recipe" label on the sidebar in case you need it in the future. I seem to forget what or how to do things and it is easier if I just make note of it here. I am forever writing notes or lists and sometimes they get tossed after a while so here we go. This  is mainly for me but if you need a recipe for rusting bells, safety pins, etc well here it is......

First of all be careful with the bleach, and make sure you mix in a well ventilated area although it won't take long but I always like to express safety if there are any concerns as I will not be responsible should you not take caution.
In a mason jar mix 1/2 cup of bleach with 1/2 cup of cider vinegar but I have used regular vinegar, 1 tsp of salt and if you have a rusty nail to throw in then that is good, rust creates more rust. I bought a bag of cheap jingle bells and cheaper the better as some metal things have a coating on them but the cheaper ones don't usually. Toss in your bells or pins and make sure your items are completely covered with the mixture. Place the lid on the mix and allow to sit for a few hours and if you are not in a hurry a good day will do.
Be safe and if on septic system do not pour down your sink or toilet, you will have to dispose of it elsewhere.
Take the now wet bells and or pins and place on a cookie sheet or tin foil pan and place outdoors in the sun. As the bells dry they become rusty. Now one experiment I did try and you can do this if you like, I just happened to see what would happen if I sped up the process using my heat gun and well I didn't soak my bells the whole day but when I place them on my foil sheet I took a piece of paper towel and mopped up a lot of the drips that come out of the bells. Then I hit them with the heat gun and be careful the foil pie plate gets hot as well so use an oven mit to hold onto it and toss the bells around while you dry the bells. Well I noticed they were turning rusty but not rusty enough so I just threw them back in the mix til tomorrow and I will see how far they have advanced. If the sun is shining they will be outside and if not I will dry them with my heat gun. Just thought I would let you know the heat gun does work if you are in a hurry. I wasn't born with patience and have had to learn it over my 40+ years, but this heat gun method is great.
Now that being said, have fun rusting stuff and please come back tomorrow when I will be showing you a breadboard with a chicken on it and a bowl I just finished today and love how it turned out.
Take care all and be crafty.
L

2 comments:

  1. hah! i rusted some wire once and over rusted it so it fell apart!! but this recipe does work great !!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your bells look nice just like that! All your painting is really nice. I would paint the edge of the bowl red!
    Cathy

    ReplyDelete

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