Spring is almost here and I cannot wait to get some fresh herbs into my home. I thought I would create something for the kitchen that shows my love for fresh herbs, hence these faux embossed herb plaques were born. I call it faux embossing because embossing means to raise the surface of the material you are working with. While these letters appear raised, they are actually added to the wood with three dimensional paints. Ready to see how?
This is a project I created for Holly Lobby via DecoArt. They needed a spring project using their Americana Acrylic paints, and what says spring more that the growth of seedlings? Herbs, flowers, bulbs, all of these things came to mind, but herbs are what stuck in my head.
The printable directions are below, here are some highlights along the way:
Paint the outer edges of the plaques with Espresso. Paint all four sides. Write out herb names (I used dill, sage, thyme, and basil) onto post it notes. Place the post its on the plaques to get an idea of what they will look like. Once you are happy with the lettering, you can trace the letters so that the pen creates an indent onto the wood plaques.
Write the words onto the plaques using the white Americana Writer, use the indents as your guide. Once the dimensional writer paint has dried, lightly paint over the brown sides and edges of the plaques with each color of Americana paint. Load the paintbrush, then wipe off the excess onto a paper towel and dry brush it over the Espresso. This will create a rustic look to the edge of the plaques.
Paint over the dimensional lettering with the appropriate color paint. After that coat has dried, add another coat. Mix the 1 part antiquing gel with 1 part Espresso paint. Brush it onto all the edges and wipe back. Repeat for the top of the plaque, wiping off the excess with a soft rag. When dry, add a coat of Duraclear Varnish.
- Americana Writer – White (three dimensional paint)
- Antiquing Gel
- Duraclear Satin Varnish
- 4 square wooden plaques
- Sandpaper
- Square post it notes
- Espresso
- Light Buttermilk
- Wasabi Green
- Spa Blue
- Golden Straw
- Use paintbrush to paint the outer edges of the plaques with Espresso. Paint all four sides.
- Write out herb names (we used dill, sage, thyme, and basil) using a pen or pencil onto post its. Place the post its on the plaques to get an idea of what they will look like. Once you are happy with the lettering, you can trace the letters so that the pen creates an indent onto the wood plaques.
- Write the words onto the plaques using the white Americana Writer, use the indents as your guide.
- Once the dimensional writer paint has dried, lightly paint over the brown sides and edges of the plaques with each color of Americana paint. We did Wasabi Green for the sage plaque, Spa Blue for thyme, Golden Straw for dill and Light Buttermilk for basil. Load the paintbrush, then wipe off the excess onto a paper towel and dry brush it over the Espresso. This will create a rustic look to the edge of the plaques.
- Paint over the dimensional lettering with the appropriate color paint. After that coat has dried, add another coat.
- Mix the 1 part antiquing gel with 1 part Espresso paint. Brush it onto all the edges and wipe back. Repeat for the top of the plaque, wiping off the excess with a soft rag.
- When dry, add a coat of Duraclear Varnish.
Amanda Formaro
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