Hey friends! Thanks so much for all of your sweet comments and pins on our Mason Jar Planter Box we made our Meme.
As promised I am back to share a quick, easy and of course cute paint method to get that perfect “shanty” finish!
This is so simple and really fun to do! You will need two paints…. A base coat and a top coat.
For your base coat you can use anything… Acrylic, latex and even spray paint. I used acrylic here because it’s cheap and dries really quickly. Here is the color I used.
Do you like my paper plate very professional paint tray?? 😉
First you want to put a coat of your base color on any surface that you want to peek through. I like to shanty up the edges and corners so that is what I did. You can paint the whole thing if you want it more distressed.
After that dries it’s time for your Vaseline! Yup… Vaseline!
I like to get the tubes of it from the baby section at Target because it’s less messy.
Just rub a little vaseline on any surface you want to show through your top coat. Again I did my corners and edges but you can add more or less depending on your taste! The Vaseline will keep your top coat from sticking.
This is great because it softens your hands in the process ;-)!
After you have applied your vaseline it is time for your top coat! I used latex paint for mine. I do think it distresses the best, but you can also use acrylic. Mine is an Olympic color called Off White… Pretty easy! I put one coat over the entire box. Depending on the color you may want to use two coats.
Now let that dry really good! Once it is dry it’s time for the fun part! I use an 80-grit sanding block to distress mine, and you can also use steel wool. Just rub your corners lightly to reveal the base coat. The more you sand it the more shanty it will look! Just sand it until you are pleased with the look! SO DARN EASY!
Want to see my results???
What do you think?? I love it! It’s just shanty enough 😉 This works great on furniture as well!
If you missed the whole tutorial on the Mason Jar Planter Box you can click the photo below to check it out!
And as always… We would greatly appreciate you pinning and sharing this tip below! Thanks guys!
Oh you are my hero right now! I have been struggling to figure an easier distress method. Thanks so much for this awesomeness
You can use a bar of soap instead of the Vaseline. It’s a little less messy to get off your piece and it blocks your top coat.
I just did the distress on a couple small shelves and found that if you let each layer of paint dry thoroughly and then sand it does the same thing. But no need to cover the entire item with paint, just lightly paint where you want the distressed look after the first coat. I hope that made sence. I think i will find another item and do the same, but take pictures step by step so it makes more sense. I do love the distressed look. Great job on your project! Another thing a person could use is bar soap too 🙂
Thank you for this great tutorial – I tried it on a jewellery holder and it worked a treat! http://thecraftingbunny.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/distressed-jewellery-holder/
How do you seal it when your done painting? I just did this and it turned out great!
We like using Rust-Oleum’s polyurethane… Hope this helps!
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I just did this and it worked amazingly well! However, how do I seal the paint after I’m done sanding if I don’t want it to get messed up? Attached is a picture!
I have heard and seen other vaseline distressed, but decided to go for it after reading your post – I tried it with spraying the paint, brushing and rolling – I think it turned out pretty good! Thanks for sharing and i enjoy your blog – My finished table will be posted soon, and hope to link to you here to share your projects too! Hugs & Smiles, Theresa @junk2jewels-diy.blogspot.com
LOVE that I found this! Ive got a trunk that I Want to try and do this to! Could I use spray paint instead for the top coat that way I dont have to worry about painting the whole thing with a brush?
In principal yes, but acrylic and latex based paints remain rubbery and easy to rub or pick off. But any paint will be able to be sanded off, some just take a bit more elbow grease 🙂
i love this idea! I found the Vaseline makes it easy for the top coat to rub off and especially because it never dries. Instead of using the jars as planters, I put tea lights in them…looks really cute!
Totally giving this a try!
Awesome idea! Thank you!
I’m worried that the Vaseline will slide all over once I brush on the top coat and I will end up with a slimy mess – did you have this problem? Or am I seriously overthinking the whole process?
I did too – but it worked great for me – I did try a roller too, and that was spreading the vaseline. I even did 2 coats before i sanded – Good Luck!
Candle wax will work the same way. Just rub a candle on the area you want the paint to come off on and paint over and then lightly sand.
I have done a tutorial on that as well Diane. I actually prefer this method much more. I like the end result better. Thanks so much!!
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A bar of soap also works!
Has anyone ever tried to sand off spray paint without any vaseline underneath? Basically I had some original wood (with an already old look), and I spray painted it totally white. Then I decided it would look good distressed and found this blog…but I didn’t add vaseline underneath. I’m wondering if I just sanded the spray paint if it would be OK? Or just crumble? I’d rather not paint over the spray paint….
I have used a palm sander on edges of chairs to give it the distressed look – works great with very little effort.
This is probably a little too late for you based on this post being 6 months ago, but I just did a project with some shelves where the first two I just painted and sanded. I thought it turned out okay. Then I saw this post and tried the Vaseline trick and it looked TOTALLY different. It was way more authentic “shanty” looking. Plus, the sanding part was extremely easy. I did some sanding and then I ran a cloth around the edges where I used the vaseline to get the excess off. It’s very true though, any area you put it, the paint will not stick, so if you aren’t sure how much distressing you want, go with less and try to make up for it with your sanding.
What type of paint is the Olympic, my home depot doesn’t carry that brand so I’d like to find something comparable. Matte, flat? etc??