That’s A Switch: A Tutorial of Old World Plaster

If you’ve been following my blog, you know I kind of have a thing about light switch plates covers. Almost every switch plate cover in my house is decorated…painted or decoupaged. Well, since I’ve learned this Old World plaster technique, I just had to try it on a light switch plate. It was a little tougher using this technique on such a small surface, but I love how it turned out! Here’s a tutorial for those of you who want to try it!

Materials:

•       Wood light switch plate

•       Base paint color of your choice (I used Americana Decocraft’s Slate Gray because it’s my absolute favorite gray.)

•       Joint compound (I prefer and recommend using white, but all I had was gray)

•       Glazing medium

•       Mixing container

•       Sponge brush

•       2 Rags or towels

•       Old credit card or gift card

•       Other paint colors to mix with joint compound and glazing medium – I used black and white (I like to live on the edge).

•       Embellishments or stamps

•       Gorilla Super Glue

So, to get this exact (more or less) switch plate cover, here’s what you do (actually, you may want to practice this technique on a block of scrap wood before you attempt):

1.    Paint base color (slate gray) and let it dry.

2.    In the meantime, mix white paint and gray joint compound to lighten it up a bit.

3.    Slop it on the dry light switch plate and then kind of swish it around with the gift card, wipe excess off of card and keep scraping and swishing until you get the desired effect. Let it dry, thoroughly.

4.    Mix 3 parts glazing medium with one part black paint (you only need a little bit) and apply it in small sections to the dry switch plate. 

5. After you paint one small section, wipe it off in with your towel or rag. Some of your base color will show through and the black with gather in the textured part. Move on to the next small section and do the same thing.

6.    Repeat this until you like the look. I did this about four times.

7. I also elected to add another “layer” by using some French script and architectural stamps in spots…you can stamp anything. You can stop at this point or add some embellishments.

8. I decided to add embellishments, so i searched in my stash of vintage jewelry to find the perfect pieces. I decided that I need to liven up  the dark background just a bit so I chose some old scatter pins and this really fun and rather large vintage rhinestone earring piece. After arranging them just so, i used my trusty Gorilla super glue to secure them to the plate.

And, there you have it...a unique, crazy light switch cover...details count, right?