Friday, September 16, 2011

Fence Board + Graphics Fairy + Citrasolv = Great Old Looking Box

  


I've blogged  a few times about how I age fence boards with apple cider vinegar and steel wool, and a few times about how I have made rustic looking boxes out of the aged boards and more than a few times about using neat graphics from  The Graphics Fairy's blog.  Well, this project combines them all!

I used this technique shown by Kim at Too Much Time on My Hand's Blog using Citrasolv to transfer a graphic onto wood.


 I started with this graphic from The Graphics Fairy:





I flipped the image in Picnik (under the Rotate tab) so this mirror image came up.


I copied it off on my laser printer.  (Inkjet prints do not work for this process, but if you only have an inkjet printer, print it, then make a copy at a Kinko's and you'll have a laser copy)  :)   I put Citrasolv (I purchased mine at Whole Foods) on VERY lightly.  I used a kleenex and dabbed it on so the whole thing was wet, but not soaking wet.  I put masking tape on the sides to hold it in place.







I used this plastic piece that I purchased from Pick Your Plum to rub it into the wood.  If you're using smooth wood, you don't have to rub too much.  The Citrasolv transfers to the wood pretty easily.  I had to rub more on this one because of all of the ridges in the fence board.  On other projects, I've also rubbed the graphic on with the back side of a spoon to transfer the image.  If you're worried about whether it's transferring or not, you can very carefully lift a tiny corner and see if it's on the wood.

  

I lifted off the wet piece and viola! the graphic was on the wood!
I used a fence board from Home Depot for this project, but tried to find one that wasn't too rough so the graphic would transfer well.  


I then let it sit for awhile to dry as it felt a little oily (or solvent-y)  :)

We (meaning my husband) then put the box together using glue and a nail gun.  We He then clamped it up for about an hour for the glue to dry.



 I then very carefully applied apple cider vinegar with the steel wool to the box. I was very careful not to touch the graphic with the vinegar.

***After posting this, I've made a few more projects using Citraolv.  I've found that if I let the graphic dry really well on the wood, I can put the apple cider vinegar or stain over it and it won't run.

A couple of people have asked why I didn't apply the apple cider vinegar before putting the Citrasolv on.  The vinegar soaks into the wood and doesn't really allow anything to 'stick' to it, so I had to carefully put it on afterward.***




 Next, I put it out on the driveway to 'cure' for about an hour. 
 After it dried the first time, I applied another coat of vinegar and let it dry again.  Many times the first coat of apple cider vinegar leaves black dots on the wood.  A second coat fixes that.

And here's the finished product.  





I made this for a friend who collects old boxes and even though this isn't anywhere near an old box, I think she'll like it!  


Update:

Here is the box in its new home.  Thanks for the picture Heather!


Thanks for visiting!


vif187 The DIY Show Off The Graphics Fairy

42 comments:

  1. Pam I'm sure she is going to LOVE it, I know I would!! Your a great friend! Martina

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love it, Pam! You and your husband are so clever! I know your friend is going to LOVE IT!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I DO love it!! I need to go and get some old jars to put in it so that I can put some flowers in it like you have done at your house!! Thank you again (and your hubby of course!) I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your box turned out great! Thanks for the tutorial and good pictures to show how you did this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That is awesome Pam. Love the graphic!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great idea, love the look and thanks for telling your secretes. I can't wait to see how you will be using it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks so much for this tutorial. I think I need to go play on the Graphics Fairy blog.... ;P

    ReplyDelete
  8. That is AWESOME Pam and your friend will LOVE it!

    Have a great weekend...
    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  9. Really cute...looks old and rustic.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This looks awesome! Thanks so much for the shout out and I am glad it worked so well for you. I now need to go try your vinegar steel wool technique:)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love it! I've been meaning to do a citrisolv project, as well. Love the graphic!

    ReplyDelete
  12. WOW, I never have heard of Citrosolv...sp? I have got to try this! Great project!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like it! Need to try the aging. Thanks for the tips.

    Dropping by from Met Monday.

    Allison
    Atticmag
    Vintage Gumwood Cabinet Kitchen

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am so intrigued by your project. I have never seen this kind of transfer to wood. It makes think of all kinds of things this technique could be used for.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Pam, this is just pure genius! What do you think would happen if you used the vinegar before you put on the graphics? Would the citrisolve still work? I was just thinking how I would mess it up for sure by getting vinegar on the graphics LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Very very cool!! Your box looks great!

    Jocelyn @
    http://justalittlesouthernhospitality.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great idea! Thanks for all of the steps too! I appreciate the details! I love your box!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for the detailed instructions.
    You do good work - the box looks authentically old.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Pam this project is awesome! I was just researching this process just yesterday because I have some wood bar stools I want to transform but sadly enough only have an ink jet printer. I wonder if anybody has ran down to kinkos....thanx for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Pam, this is awesome!! I first thought that this is really old wood :)
    Great! I will have to try that vinegar trick.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Love, Dina

    ReplyDelete
  21. Love it! I know your friend will be thrilled.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Pam! Love your box and you did an amazing job making it look old. Thanks for your nice comment on my blog. Looking forward to your next project.

    ReplyDelete
  23. It turned out lovely, your friend will appreciate such a gift!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi Pam,
    The box looks great, now I wanna try to transfer to wood, what a fun idea!! Your friend is lucky:-))
    Bella

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi, I have the same question that The Polka Dot Closet. Why didn`t you first apply the vinegar and then transfer the graphic. Would it make any difference?
    The box is really beautyful.
    Ewa

    ReplyDelete
  26. I love this project...so happy I stopped in!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I love doing projects with wood and I've never heard of this technique for aging wood! What an easy to do process...

    Totally pinned ya :)

    Pamela @ pbjstories.blogspot.com

    Came from T&T link up party

    ReplyDelete
  28. That is such a great project and it looks amazing! Such a great tutorial, too! Thanks for sharing!
    Blessings,
    Janet

    ReplyDelete
  29. Love this and such a simple and complete tutorial! My style! Can't wait to see what you are up to next. Love, Me www.youaretalkingtoomuch.com

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thank you so much for such a complete tutorial! I've never seen anything like this and now will be planning a Whole Foods trip for the Citra Solv. I am seriously in love with this box!

    ReplyDelete
  31. That looks awesome! I read on-line that you could age wood with vinegar and a steel wool. Thanks for the tutorial.

    have a wonderful day,
    Gail

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hi Pam, this is wonderful!! thanks for the how-to! I'd love to try it! and thanks for linking up to VIF! xo

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow what a beautiful box!! I love how you did all this using such simeple tools and vinegar of all things! Genius! Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hi Pam, this is just genius!! Didn't know to use Apple Cider. This is a first for me.. another reason I'm so lucky to visit your beautiful blog..always a learning experience, I'm going to look around to see what project I can use this on.. thank you soooo much for sharing. hugs ~lynne~

    ReplyDelete
  35. Wow that looks great. I have got to try this.
    Would you mind letting me know the ingredients in Citrasolve. I live in Europe and would like to find a similar product that could do this for me.
    And does it have to be applecider vinegar? Does regular white vinegar work too?

    ReplyDelete
  36. What a bevy of fantastic crafting information!! I've never heard of the citrasolv thing or the applecider vinegar thing (how on earth did you find out that vinegar aged wood?) I can't believe how authentic it looks. Have you ever tried putting the vinegar on really sloppily (as in missing spots) and then painting over it? I noticed you said that nothing sticks to the vinegar wood...so I'm wondering if this would create a chippy paint look. Hmm, may have to go buy some vinegar! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I absolutely love it! What an awesome and ORIGINAL project! Fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Can you apply the graphic over lightly painted wood?

    ReplyDelete
  39. Pam, I tried this last year & it worked great, I also did some transfers onto cloth & made pillows, however this year when I went to do more projects I couldn't get the Citrasolv to transfer over, I contacted the Company thinking that it had lost it's strength they said no not possible, I went to a new copy place to get copies thinking that the original place changed their ink and still it wouldn't work, went & bought a new bottle of Citrasolv & still it wouldn't work, so frustrated! Any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  40. Love it! I've been meaning to do a citrisolv project, as well. Love the graphic! Painters

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving a comment.