Gold Leafing Tutorial

Let's give Gold Leafing a try

A few weeks ago the Utah Historic Society sent a young lady to me. The young lady had a novel idea. She wanted to teach a large group of very young children how to do gold leafing. She didn't know how herself. In my mind I conjured up a scene of 40 young children and gold leaf floating thrughout the class room.


But first things first. Let's line up the necessary materials. There are two types of gold leaf. They look exactly alike. The small envelope you see holds the real thing. 22 karat gold leaf. It costs about $80, and holds 25, 3x3 inch leaves. The other, larger envelope costs $11 and holds 25, 6x6 inch composite metal leafing. (We didn't use the first package).




The bottle in the middle holds the glue,
called "adhesive size". All materials used here
are easily available in any craft store or
art supply shop. I will explain the other bottles tomorrow. We will need them for
our next project.










Tape off area to be gilded. Brush on size (glue).
Let dry for at least an hour. Lower part of candle should be tacky, not sticky. Tackiness will last
for at least another 4 hours.




Place only a small amount of glue into container. Immediately clean your brush with soap and warm water when you have finished.




























Lay one sheet of gold leafing onto lower section of candle. Add another until candle is totally covered. Tap on with brush and polish with soft cloth or sheep's wool. You can leave candle as is or scribe a pattern into the gold with the handle of a brush.

By the way, the little boys and girls had a wonderful time learning how to gold leaf. I was told that it was a rousing success. If they can do it so can you.



Tomorrow I will continue with another gold leafing tutorial. The next one will be a little harder to do but will be so rewarding, once learned.


Gina