Do you love gold foil art as much as I do?
There is something so special about typography or images pressed onto paper with gold foil. It just gives a simple piece extra dimension, like the gold foil glasses on my husband’s nightstand.
Unfortunately, gold foil printing isn’t really a do-it-yourself activity. It involves big machines, and die cuts, and heat to stamp the foil onto the paper. Here is a quick look at the foiling process.
The good news is, I have a DIY solution that is super easy and quick!
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To create gold foil-inspired prints at home all you need is gold leaf and a glue pen like this one. For the gold leaf, I highly recommend getting the package that says “ready leaf”, which means the gold leaf is already applied to wax paper and easier to work with. Any fine-tip glue pen should work. I like my Martha Stewart glue pen.
Gold leaf has quickly become one of my favorite craft mediums to work with. In this tutorial you will see why. Once you get the hang of it, gold leaf is really fun and easy to work with. You can also use silver leaf or copper leaf.
5 Steps to Create Custom Gold Leaf Lettering
1. Start by printing out your desired phrase. With Valentine’s around the corner, I chose “Crazy for You”.
2. Tape the paper to be gold leafed over the print out. I used some paper from one of my kid’s sketch books. Any art paper will work, but make sure you can see your printed letters through the paper.
3. Working in small sections, trace the lettering with your glue pen.
4. Apply a sheet of gold leaf to the glue. Rub it onto the lettering with your fingers. I like to go back and trace over each letter with my finger to make sure the gold leaf adheres well. Remove the gold leaf sheet.
5. After all the gold leaf is applied, gently rub off any loose gold leaf with your finger to reveal your phrase. Try rubbing back and forth and in circular motions to get all the loose bits off.
Easy right? I am not sure it is a process I would do on hundreds of wedding invitations, but it is perfect for making some instant art!
I taped mine to an old clip board with some hot pink striped wash tape. I used glitter tape to make the arrows on the clipboard. This is going to be a fun accent on my Valentine’s Day mantel this year!
Okay, tell me, what phrase would you gold leaf? And would you make an art print or a card for a special someone?
I like yours. Unexpected combo of my old clipboard that came from who knows where repurposed in such an elegant loving way. If I’d do this project, I’d want to combine the glam and the unexpected!
Where did you buy your gold foil paper?
Esther, I get mine at Micheals or Hobby Lobby. Any craft or art store should carry it.
This is great! I was looking for a tutorial about this but couldn’t find it on Pinterest. Do you have any idea how to do this on canvas? does this mean I just won’t be able to trace it, but still doable?
Melodie, Totally doable. Try using transfer paper like I did for this project on canvas: http://www.tealandlime.com/2011/09/diy-word-art-tutorial/
What glue do you use?
Kristina, I used a Martha Stewart glue pen. Any glue should work, but for lettering a glue pen will be the easiest.
I tried gold leaf lettering… I used a fine paintbrush to brush on the glue but the gold leaf still doesn’t seem give a clean edge on the lettering like yours! How can I get the gold to stick to the edges and give a sharp line??
Juliet, You may want to try a different glue. Glue pens work well for precision. Gold leaf is finicky though, so you may just need a different type of glue.