Rustic Glam

Why Hello here and welcome to my blog. Today starts a new challenge at Anything But Cute where I am hosting this month, and we have a fun theme but more about that in a minute. I have been re-re doing my master bedroom and have finally reached a color scheme and theme I am thrilled with. DIY planking with gray walls and lots of other DIY's. That is what gave me the idea for the theme this month. Here is my design:

I call it Rustic Glam! Think of Southern charm meeting some Bling Bling. We want you to create a mixed media design featuring rustic elements such as whitewashed wood, chicken wire, burlap, soft subtle tones and neutrals. Don't forget to add the GLAM part with some sparkle and BLING!

I started with the paper mache deer head and painted it white but then I cut it off of the shield it was on. I had a totally different plan at the beginning that involved a burlap canvas and the shield but that quickly changed. 

Once the head was cut off, the antlers were painted metallic silver and I added some art stones to the part of the antlers that touched the skull and painted those silver (had to add some realistic touches here and there). The antlers were then painted with mod podge and dipped into a package of faux snow. Viola! Glamorous antlers! 

Then I went out to my garage and cut a piece of pine board to lay inside the opening of the back of the canvas. Power tools are so fun and using left over boards is a great way to save money!

I stained the wood with MinWax Classic Gray and when it was almost dry I added some Semi Gloss white ceiling paint to parts and also some blue acrylic paint. I then waited for those to dry and hand sanded it to create the cracks and peeled paint look.

The next step was to add the paper frame around the canvas opening. I cut the paper to fit and mitered the corners to create a frame. Then I added some modeling paste with a flourish stencil around the frame. 

Now it's starting to look like something I would hang on my wall! My husband had asked me to make something for our room so this is it! I applied some crackle glaze and I then painted a wash of white, blue and grey over the stenciled frame and glued down the ornate white frame in the middle.

Now I added the pine board to the middle of the canvas and glued the frame to the board. The white mesh inside the ornate frame is from my wonderful friend Sara of Sara's Closet. The deer head was glued to the board and helps to hold the mesh down. The final touch was to add the bling at the bottom.

Here is a close up of the details on the antlers. The faux snow worked perfectly for what I had in mind. And the bling on the forehead adds such a wonderful glam vibe to this design. 

Tres chic? Maybe! I seem to be embracing my more feminine side lately. I can't wait to see what you create! Hugz and Carpe Diem! ~Niki

On a side note: This is what my DIY rustic glam wall is looking like so far. I used cedar planks and hand painted/distressed each one to look different but uniform. I absolutely adore this wall!

In the picture above-the green frogger tape is where the studs are in my wall so I know where to shoot my finishing nails. The baseboard molding is designed by me and also almost done. In the picture below more of the wall is done (I added my own version of crown molding) and now all I need to do is caulk the baseboards, add a chandelier, and some DIY remote controlled lanterns that will hang on each side of the bed. And yes, the night stand and the lamp are going bye-bye! Awesome sauce and I can't wait for it to be complete!

I would love to share my Rustic Glam design with these challenges:

Frilly and Funkie-What a Mesh 

I used a canvas and also this white mesh in the middle of the ornate frame behind the head.

Creative Artiste Challenge #20-Anything Mixed Media Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday-Thinking of You

Fussy and Fancy #176-Ice/Snow with lots of texture and sparkles

DL.Art Thankful Thursday #191-Fairy Tale

My little deer represents a fairy tale come true. 

Fab N Funky #325-Animals

A Vintage Journey-Cracking Up