Photo by: Anna Laurent
Every so often you stumble on something that sends the mind reeling with project possibilities. And so it was with these wooden plaques. They're light, inexpensive, ready to stain and paint, and styled in different bevels and sizes. I found them at Michaels and Jo-Ann Fabric. Here are three wooden plaque projects—Victorian-style silhouette paintings, a wall-mounted air plant holder, and an industrial-rustic tube vase. Industrial, rustic, and vintage, they display your plant collection in a style that would be at home in a sunny sitting room, or a woodland lodge.
WHAT YOU NEED:
Wooden plaque(s)
Wood stain (I used Jacobean and Special Walnut)
Polyurethane semi-gloss
Paintbrushes—one for stain and polyurethane, and several small brushes for the silhouettes
Acrylic paint
Masking tape
Transfer paper
Stylus (for tracing silhouette; I used a clay-sculpting pen)
Eraser
Metal name plates & screws (I searched everywhere and finally found them at Collage. They are in Portland, Oregon, but they can ship to you.)
Paper & pen (for insert cards)
Sawtooth picture hangers
Power drill
U-bolts
Spray paint (optional)
Air plant
Test tubes
Photo by: Anna Laurent
1. For the three silhouette paintings, I chose three plaques with different shapes, and a dark stain (Jacobean) to offset the light colored paint. Stain with a brush or a staining cloth.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
2. You can find your silhouettes in a stock image gallery (either as already-rendered silhouettes, or as flowers you can create silhouettes from), or in your garden. I modeled my plaques on Victorian portraits and specimen displays, so I used real flowers to design portraits with a stylized verisimilitude. Select subjects with interesting silhouettes, then photograph them on a white background. You want to shoot high contrast/low shadow to get a clean contour. Create a silhouette in Photoshop or a similar photo-editing application by adjusting the contrast, selecting the flower and filling it with black, or by tracing the contour. Adjust the size so it will fit on your plaque, and print.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
3. Gather materials shown, including stylus, paintbrushes, paint, masking tape, and transfer paper. The transfer paper I used includes sheets of red, white, blue, and yellow paper, so you can transfer images onto backgrounds of any color.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
4. Hold the paper image above the transfer paper (transfer side facing down) and cut both sheets with a small margin around the image. Use masking tape to secure both onto the plaque. Use the stylus to trace the silhouette.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
5. Remove the image and transfer paper to reveal the applied transfer. Paint in the lines.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
6. Depending on the color contrast between the acrylic and the stain, you might need two coats of paint. Use a small brush to paint details such as flower stigmas. When the paint is dry, remove the transfer outlines with an eraser.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
7. Apply a coat of polyurethane. Let dry. Use screws to secure the nameplate on the plaque. Cut a paper insert and write the flower's name. You can include where and when you found the plant, or its scientific name.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
8. My tulips were pink, but I chose yellow paint because my fuschias were also pink.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
9. I also used Spanish bluebells.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
10. After staining (I used a lighter stain here—Special Walnut) and varnishing the plaque, get your U-bolts, glass vase, ruler, and pencil. I repurposed the vase from a set of glass spice-rack tubes, or you can purchase them here. A slightly smaller U-bolt at the bottom will support the tube; a larger upper U-bolt will allow it to comfortably slide in. Using appropriately-sized drill bits (the size of the U-bolt), drill four holes for the upper and lower U-bolts.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
11. Thread the two nuts and fit the U-bolts on the plaque. Nail a sawtooth picture hanger to the back.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
12. Slide in the tube, fill with flowers, and it's ready to hang!
Photo by: Anna Laurent
13. Stain and varnish the plaque. I also applied copper spray paint to the U-bolt. Use a ruler and pencil to mark the U-bolt placement.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
14. Drill two holes with an appropriately-sized drill bit. Thread the two nuts. Fit the U-bolt and nail a sawtooth picture hanger to the back.
Photo by: Anna Laurent
15. Place an air plant on the plaque perch and it's ready to hang!