Love Cross by Emma McDonald

Many of my friends decorate a focal wall in their homes with an assortment of crosses. They vary from big, small, old, new, tribal, Celtic, wooden, painted, mosaic-ed, and now…….. yes you guessed it! SHABBY CHIC-ed and GLITTERED!

Mixing the old world rustic with a punch of red glam is a perfect recipe for this graceful and timeless piece.

Materials used:

Art Glitter: Red Kooky Ultrafine Opaque
Designer Dries Clear Adhesive
wooden cross
small wooden heart
strips of burlap
small piece of scrap wood

acrylic artist paint: white, dark brown, 2 shades of red (I used Liquitex, BASICS: Titanium White, Naphthol Crimson, Burnt Umber/ Liquitex, Soft Body: Quinacridone Crimson)
glazing medium (I used Liquitex: Glazing Medium)
spray bottle of water
paintbrushes
hot glue gun/sticks
paper towels

First, base coat the cross with white paint twice and let dry.  Then squeeze red (Quinacridone Crimson) paint directly on the heart and use brush to spread it out around the edges. Leave the paint shallow in the middle creating an empty heart in the center that will later be filled with…..-GLITTER!

Use a brush to mix in the other shade of red (Naphthol Crimson) along the edges of the heart. Set aside to dry. Remember the thicker amounts of paint will take longer to dry. Mine took about 24 hours.

Mix equal parts of glazing medium with dark brown (Burnt Umber) paint. Quickly brush a thin layer over the entire cross. Before it dries, spray water over the brown. Let it sit a couple of minutes.

Then use a paper towel and gently wipe away the water and any wet paint. This will leave you with a distressed weathered look. Repeat until you get the effect you want. If you want to apply this technique on a bigger surface, just work on small sections at a time. I suggest experimenting on an old piece of wood first until you get a feel for the technique.

After the painted heart has dried completely, use Designer Dries Clear to fill in the concave portion of the heart.

While glue is still wet sprinkle the Red Kooky Ultrafine Opaque. Let dry. Tap heart to remove excess glitter onto a piece of paper that is folded in half. Now take the paper, slightly folding it, and pour glitter back into its container. A soft and dry brush can also be used to dust off remaining glitter when dry.

Brush on the Designers Dries Clear to adhere the strips of burlap around the ends of the cross. Let dry.  Finally, hot glue the scrap piece of wood to the center of cross and then glue the heart to the middle of the scrap piece. This will give a 3-dimentional look to it. The scrap piece needs to be smaller than the heart, so it will be hidden from view.

Glitter has an amazing ability to captures light brilliantly…..so keep that in mind when you decide where to hang it.