Misadventures in rusting

So, we purchased a new bed frame for the first time in six years. We'd been using a plain old Wal-Mart metal frame just to keep our box spring and mattress off the ground, and I had made a large tufted headboard for it. It was fine, it got the job done, but it wasn't very sturdy. When we moved into the new house we knew it would be the perfect time to find something we liked with a bit of character. We picked out the Leirvik bed from IKEA. I loved its whimsical shape, Jason loved its price tag ($99 for the queen size). After painting it apple green we realized we weren't as thrilled with our color choice as we thought we would be (forgive the almost bare bones bed--I was in the process of washing sheets and just threw the comforter on there).

So we thought we'd add a little Americana style to our quirky bed. I purchased a Sophisticated Finishes rusting kit from Michael's, and decided to test a small area of the foot board with it. I wasn't super impressed that you had to wait 12+ hours in between the iron paint and the rusting agent, but once the time passed I was more than excited to apply the blue watery liquid.

Cue the wop wop wop sound effect. Apparently, I'm going to have to glob the iron paint on, as the rusting agent doesn't seem to grab onto the minute areas of grey. Also, the foam brush I was using sucked. Within just a couple swipes it was falling apart, and the coverage ranged from heavily applied (the areas that rusted) to barely there. And it was near impossible the even it out. Boo.

But, the more I looked at it, the longer I also realized...it kind of just looks like brown paint. I don't know what I was expecting but it doesn't look particular rusty, except in color, so I'm not even sure if I want to give it another go. 

I'm trying to find some better ideas out there. The Sophisticated Finishes site says to also use their "patina" finish in conjunction with the rusting finish to give it a more authentic look. But at $12 a pop for such tiny bottles, I think they're just out to finagle my money!

I came across a few helpful tutorials, like this video on YouTube and this one from Krylon's website. And I've used similar products to this Gilder's paste on etsy (there was a time when practically every metal that came into our home got a treatment of Rub n' Buff silver leaf). I think I may try that technique before I run out and buy more kits as I know how well it works, and it's not a wallet buster.

So the adventure continues! In the meantime, tomorrow we celebrate an anniversary [insert ginormous grin here] and I'll be finishing up my Summer Pinterest Challenge just in time for the reveal on Tuesday!