Hello friends. I hope today finds you doing fabulous. I must be honest, I am struggling with this time change. Don’t get me wrong, I love the extra daylight hour. It gives me more time to work on my projects. But let’s just pick a time and go with it, right? This back and forth is too much on this girl. Oh well, I guess it is what it is and eventually I’ll get used to it (right before it changes again). Anyhoo, today I’m going to show you how you can get the look of a vintage corbel using a brand new store bought corbel (without paying hundreds of dollars). Ready? Okay, let’s do this!
Hey, and if you just aren’t up to making your own vintage corbels, Lumber & Lace on Etsy has some of the most gorgeous vintage inspired corbels and they are all 10% off until April 15th!
How to Get the Vintage Corbel Look
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What you need:
Corbel
Stain
Old t-shirt
Wax
Milk Paint
Paint brush
Putty Knife
Sandpaper
Bonding Agent
What you will do:
Stain
The first thing you are going to do is stain your corbel(s). I picked my corbels up at my local Home Depot, but there are many on Amazon to chose from as well. You can use an old t-shirt or a paint brush to apply the stain. I used Minwax in Dark Walnut to stain mine, but you can use anything you have on hand. The reason for staining is so that when you distress it, the dark wood shows through. You can even use a black paint, if that’s what you have on hand.
Mix
Go ahead and mix up your milk paint now and set it to the side. I used Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in Ironstone. You will want to give it another good stir right before you use it. If you’ve never worked with Milk Paint, you can check out some of my tips for using it {HERE}.
Resist
Once the stain is dry, you are going to apply a resisting agent, such as a wax or oil. I used Annie Sloan clear wax, because again, that’s what I had. I applied mine all over the corbels, because I wanted them really chippy to create a vintage corbel look. You can apply it to certain areas, if you prefer it not to be as chippy.
Paint
Right after you apply your wax, paint the corbels with milk paint. I used 2 coats, letting it dry between the coats. It dries pretty quickly. As the paint dries, you will see it start to crackle and chip. Yay!! This is what we want!
After 1st Coat of Paint
After 2nd Coat of Paint
Distress
Depending on the chippiness (I don’t think that’s a word, but I like it) you want, you can use a putty knife to scrape away as much of the paint as you’d like. I also used sandpaper to go around the edges and distress some.
Once you get the look that your little heart desires, you are going to seal it with the bonding agent. This is so the paint doesn’t continue to chip off. Bonding agent is also good to use on your authentic chippy pieces, especially if the original paint may contain lead and it’s continuing to chip off.
How to Style:
Now for the fun part. You get to style these babies in your home. These are great to use under a piece of wood for a bookshelf, as book ends, or just cute decor pieces. I’m sure you have many other great ideas for their use as well.
I originally made these to go under a shelf that we haven’t put together yet, so in the meantime they are hanging out on my coffee table.
If any of you have any great painting tips or techniques, I’d love to hear them! I’m always looking for new ideas. Just drop a comment below or send me an email and let’s chit-chat. Be blessed, friends. xoxo
Pin to make your vintage corbel later.
That finish is perfect for a vintage looking corbel! Love it – Pinned!
Thank you so much, Cindy! I would love to find some larger corbels to try this on, but they didn’t have any at my local Home Depot. I may have to check online. 🙂
You did a really awesome job!! Again, you have the best diy’s. I think I will make this and use it as a door stop. I love to open the front door and let this wonderful cool breeze we are having in. But my door keeps closing on its own, so this will be perfect.
Aww, you are too kind girl! What a great idea to use it as a door stop!! You may need to find some corbels that are a little heavier though. These are kind of light so a gust of wind would probably slam the door.
Great tutorial that can be applied to lots of projects, but corbels are wonderful, aren’t they?! Thanks for sharing… here from Friday Friends Parade! Pinning!
Thanks so much for stopping by, Julie! Yes, you could use this technique on furniture or just about anything else. It’s so cool to watch the paint start chipping away. 😉
Wow, I so love how you made your corbel’s into bookends! Love the vintage look and how well you transformed them! Thanks so much for joining our Friday Friends Parade Linky Party!
Thank you for stopping by, Janine! This is such an easy project to add lots of character. 🙂
Oh my gosh! This is exactly the tutorial I needed. I had purchased some decently large corbels for my dining room entry but was stumped on how to get the look I wanted with chalk paint. Milk Paint!! Where did I miss this wonderful product? I ordered the paint and bonding agent yesterday and stained them today in Dark Walnut (copying you tho the letter). I should have them done tomorrow. Will send a pic if I can figure out how to attach it. Thank you so much for your creativity and sharing!
Yay!! This makes me so excited to hear! I’m so glad this was helpful and I can’t wait to see how your corbels turn out!! Oh, and milk paint can be addicting. 😉