Faux Weathered Wood (And my first Holiday Projects)

If you follow me on Instagram you've probably seen a lot of wood "working" lately. 

I thought I would share some of the tricks I've learned from all of this staining that is taking place in my studio! 

This is how I have gone from solid new pine boards to a nice textured weathered look using nothing but some left over stain a hammer and a drill.
It took me multiple tries to figure out the right amount of "beating up" and mix of stain but all that playing around paid off and now I've got it down pat!

First, I use my fabulously awesome saw to cut the boards to the size I want for whatever project I'm doing. These in particular are 6in x 32in  the perfect size to go above your fire place ;)

After I pull out all the staples I start on the edges with the hammer.
Now the hammer is really a pretty fabulous multi tool with the "head" and "claw" (not sure if that is the correct name for it, but thats what Reed said!) you can get 2 different textures.
The edges of the wood are important to get right because that is what will quickly identify it as new or old. I start on the bottom and top with the "claw" of the hammer making sure to get the edges frayed. Basically, just bang around but be sure to fray the edges, and round the corners, thats how I go the textures 1 and 2. And for texture 3 I used the drill to create some lines that look as if something has been dragged across the board.

And when you are ready for staining I've found that covering the boards with water first helps 1. fill the holes and texture you just made and 2. give you a variation of stain instead of an even color.
I just use an old rag quickly wipe it down with water and then dip the rag in the stain and go at it until it is the color I'm looking for :)

And thats it! I know I said I was going to share my secrets, I hope they were more impressive than they sounded. But seriously the key to getting the wood to not look so fresh is to fray the edges and have a  spotty not so great stain job :) I've found that using an ebony or gray stain as a top coat helps it get that sun dried look. 

Like I said before I've been able to make a lot of different things with this "weathered" technique and after hours of perfecting it I've got it down to a science and are ready to pump out some goodies!