How to Make a Floor Cloth Tutorial

Supplies Needed:

Big roll of linoleum or vinyl flooring (found at your local home improvement store. A roll usually sells for around $19.00. You want to buy the thinner stuff (not the thick cushy stuff).

Acrylic Paints, Gels and Sealers (depends on what look you want, see notes below)

Paint Brushes/Sponges

Instructions:

1 Draw out your shape and cut it out with sharp old scissors.

2 You will be painting on the wrong side of the vinyl (the ugly side usually grey). Base coat with 1-2 coats of craft acrylic paint. I use black usually. If you are going to crackle then make the base coat the color you want to show through the cracks. NOTE–if you want to draw on your design before painting now is the time to do it–I use either white chalk or white crayon.

3 Crackle–skip this if you don’t want crackle–I use the Delta brand 1 step crackle medium. Brush it on and let set til tacky. The wetter that it is the bigger the cracks—drier equals smaller.

4 Now paint your design again using craft acrylic paints. Do not overpaint— too many brush strokes when using the crackle will mess up the effect. After I painted all this I do any stenciling. Also I always paint the very outside raw edges black–I use a foam brush and sorta dab the paint on. It gives it a more finished look.

5 Antiquing–this is where I think it starts to look half way decent. lol! I use Delta’s Brown Antiquing Gel. Brush it on working in small areas and wipe off with a soft cloth. If you get it too dark just use a lightly dampened cloth to wipe off any excess. Let dry very well before the next step.

6 Sealing–I use Polycrylic by Minwax. It’s waterbased, dries quickly and isn’t too smelly. I use at least 3 coats of this. This gives it a nice satiny sheen while protecting the paint.

Use the same directions for ornies, magnets, pins whatever you dream up. I don’t use the polycrylic for the small items, but do use some sort of brush or spray-on sealer for these. A couple years ago, I bought 1 roll and make a couple 100 ornies out of it!! The ornies are VERY QUICK and Great craft show sellers too!

Have FUN!!