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Thursday, March 11, 2010

How to age with Brown shoe paste polish

I have had several emails asking how to grungy up a doll, this is a technique that I use.  But please practice first, so you don't ruin your dolls.

I have been using the brown shoe paste polish in can, that I purchase from Walmart, to help my get my dolls
a little grungier looking.


So here is how I get it look a little aged.  I start with muslin that has been dyed with the liquid tan Ritt dye. Just follow the manufacturer's instructions on the bottle. I finish my doll and have her looking like this.


First off, I blush the cheeks with dark powdered blush.

she now looks like this.

This is picture of the brown shoe paste polish I buy.


I like to use a wad of cotton or stuffing and wipe some paste onto the cotton.  Be careful, not to get too much on the cotton, you may streak your doll's face and ruin it.  So practice first.

Take your wad of cotton and lightly rub over the face and go in a circular motion on the cheeks.
Just lightly rub all over the face.



Hopefully you can tell the difference from this picture, from the unfinished to finished.


I like to lightly blush the back of the hands, then rub the polish over the hands and arms that are showing.




I painted the feet with black acrylic paint and sanded them lightly.


Rub over the legs with shoe paste polish, the same as for the rest of body.

Well, hope you can use this technique on your crafting.  I love be able to put shoe polish on the doll's clothes, you don't have to wait for it dry and can see immediate results with the polish. It has a smell for a couple of hours, then smell goes away.

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this. I always wondered how to age using the shoe polish! This helps so much!
    Brenda

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  2. great step by step, wished I'd seen it on my 1st shoe polish attempt, I did not go lightly LOL LOL

    Helen

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  3. great idea! It saves on washing your muslin in tea or coffee. :-)

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  4. I love the grubby look so much, thanks for sharing your technique!

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  5. I have always wanted to try the shoe polish - thanks so much for detailed directions. I still have to try the tan dyed muslin. The tip you gave on how to keep the neck straight has helped me so much.Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Yes, thanks for this tip! I always wondered how to do it without it looking streaky. Thanks!

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  7. What a great tutorial and
    thanks for sharing it with us.

    ReplyDelete