Gold Leafing with Molly Painter

🛠 Supplies You’ll Need

Here’s a list supplied by Molly P. of what you’ll need:

• Elmer's—or some clear white glue that is spreadable - not Alene's 

• A couple of sheets of leaf—available at most craft and DIY stores in varying qualities

• A minimum of a couple of glue brushes—Soft bristles and pointy to get into tiny crevices and soft bristles and flat edge to do broad areas. 1/2-1" foamies can work for this

• A cup of water—to rinse brushes in

• Paper towels or equivalent—to blot brushes on

• Soft DRY paint brush(es) for leafing—I like 1" soft flat edge brushes for this, but traditionally people use those cheap 1" chippie brushes that you would find at the hardware store. What you are looking for is a broad surface because you are basically going to be using it as a tiny shovel. 

• Figurine of some sort—For this demo I'd try to choose something what you only want to gold leaf a small part of or something smaller than your hand.

OPTIONAL

• Matte gold spray paint—Plastic-friendly if the object you're leafing is vintage plastic, (like mine will be). This should reduce the oily-ness of the plastic and make the glue stick better. Giving a light coating of like colored paint is always good as a primer

• Sealer

👩🎨 Meet the Teacher: Molly Painter

Molly Painter is an artist and creative reuse advocate who believes anything old can be made golden again—literally. In this video, she teaches us the basics of gold leafing, a technique perfect for reviving cracked, chipped, or just plain boring household items.

You can find more about Molly and her work at www.instagram.com/duckandpisaster

🎥 Watch the Video

💡 Key Takeaways

• Gold leafing works great for covering flaws. Use it to highlight cracks, seams, or glue lines instead of hiding them.

• Less is more (but more is fun too). You don’t need to cover the whole surface, small accents can create big impact.

• Handle with care. Gold leaf is delicate. Don’t panic if it tears or flies around. That’s part of the process.

• Seal it only if needed. For frequently handled items, use a sealer to protect your design. For most things, you may be ok with the basic Elmer’s base.

• It doesn’t need to be substantial. Just a spot of gold can improve a piece, it doesn’t need to be a full cover. Consider a small spot of a paper print, or a little part of a figurine.

• Practice makes magic. Like all crafts, your first try won’t be perfect, and that’s kind of the point.

🖼 The Results

Here’s what we made!

Molly W. “It's gaudy but in a good way. The way you want it to be when you're covering something bigger than your hand in gold.”

Lauren:

Molly P:

💬 Join the Fun & Share!

Tried it with us? Gold leafing expert? Drop a comment below with your tips or show us what you made! We’d love to see your gold leafing projects, or learn from other expert leafers.