DIY Vintage Enamel Tag with Embossing Powder

Evening people! How have your old bones been doing? Shall we talk about a vintage enamel tag over tea, today? A DIY vintage enameled tag that  looks very French and straight out of the shabby chic paradise?

Swell. While returning from work the other day I found this triangular iron tag on the road- it’s probably an old badge that some tuk-tuk driver threw away. In Mumbai, there are special badges for “auto” drivers with their name and license numbers. I picked it up- instantaneously and looked at the the two, very humble gentlemen (colleagues) who were walking with me- I had a plan and they knew it. Savored that look on their face which says: there she goes again! Seriously…from making trumatter’s stamp to getting shells from the deep sea, from collecting junk to making them find lavender plants- I’ve made them do pretty much everything. And the best thing about them is they do it all very willingly and happily. They are very encouraging about this self-proclaimed brilliant, revolutionary blog of mine that tries to give, however little it can, back to the world from which she takes and spreads the word of recycling.

Anyway, coming back to the point- the moment I saw it, I knew it could either become a beautiful vintage tag that I could use for gifting or a locket. Predictably, I settled for the idea of it becoming a vintage tag! But again, I wanted no less than a tag that looks like enamel.

A bit of research told me that enameled look can be achieved by embossing powder!  Hmm… 🙂 Do-able!

Here are the steps!

After a thorough wash, I gave it a coat of old white and left it for the day. The hardest part- TO WAIT FOR THE PAINT TO DRY!

Once the paint was dry, I cut out a frangipane design, applied modgepodge on it and stuck it face down on the tag. I left it for another day. HARD PART-STAGE 2. You can read all about modge-podge and how to here

Once the modge-podged image set, I did the enameling.

How to give tags an enameled look

First and foremost you will need clear embossing powder. You can get one easily at your nearest hobby store. For people in Mumbai, who are reading me, I got it from Hobby Ideas, Vashi.

Points to note before you start enameling

Enameling- the process in itself is not difficult save the part where you need to apply heat. The critical bit is to know when to put it off heat. While less heat cannot liquidize the powder, more heat can generate bubble in it and even burn. Keep it on low heat and the moment the powder turns into liquid, take it off heat. The remaining heat in the pan will be enough to complete the process.

How to enamel

Place the object which you want to enamel on a silver foil. Rest the foil on a flat surface that can be directly put on heat. A flat iron pan is perfect.

sprinkle clear embossing powder generously on the object and put the pan on low heat. You’ll see the powder liquidizing.

Once all the powder has turned into a clear liquid, coating the object you wanted to enamel, take it off heat and let it cool.

And that’s it! There you have a beautiful, vintagey looking super cute floral tag that you can use wherever you want! I’m really loving this and this will go out to a very special friend- I’ll keep the name a secret!

Likey or okay-likey or no-likey?

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