One of my favorite new craft supplies is DecoArt’s Texture Fierro, a textured material (almost like a paste) that can be applied to almost any surface. It has a subtle shimmer because it is mixed with metallic flakes. “Fierro” means “iron” in Italian. It hardens and creates a very cool texture. It’s fairly inexpensive too, around $6 for the container below, and a little goes a long way. It comes in a variety of colors, but so far I have only experimented with the brown and green.
I picked up some candles at the dollar store and textured the outside of the glass with the texture fierro and got GREAT results! I would have never thought to use this material in a county/primitive context, but it kinda works! I applied it with an old paint brush and just dabbed it on. The first coat was fairly thick and covered it almost completely, but I did a second coat just to touch it up.
These little electric candles were a huge hit at my craft show last year, however I had used a different technique involving cinnamon and modge podge that took FOREVER and was a huge mess. This product is a great alternative for these candles. I get them 2 for $1 at the dollar store. It creates such a warmer, cozier look than the plain white plastic!
Another option is painting any old glass, container, frame…really anything you can think of! This is a simple glass candle holder that I threw a tea light in, and it looks great. SO EASY!
I have to give a shout out to Cynthia Lee Designs, a fellow craft blogger who gave me the idea. I stumbled upon her tutorial as I was searching for ways to modify those little electric candles. See her take on texture fierro at her blog: http://cynthialeedesigns.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/making-primitive-candles/. Thank you Cindy!
I am trying to think of other uses for the texture fierro, because I love how it looks. There are other colors and even other types of textures available that I have yet to experiment with. What kinds of things would you use it for???
