Emma and I recently purchased a Gold Leaf Starter Kit
and did a little experimenting! My first project was these gold honey bears! I thought they would make cute vases. Originally, I planned to spray paint them (either white or gold) but I thought I would give gold leafing a try.
1.Supplies Needed- Gold Leaf Starter Kit, 2 Honey bottles in small and large (I purchased mine locally at Honey Heaven, but you can find similar bottles at most grocery stores), foam brush and paint brush. 2. Coat your bottle with adhesive and allow it to dry. When dry it will be super sticky and ready for the gold. 3. Adhere sheets of gold leafing and use a foam brush to gently press each sheet into the shape of the bottle. Gold leafing is messy. Expect to repeat this step several times to achieve full coverage. 4. Use sealer as a top coat on your design. Allow sealer to dry completely before using. Enjoy!
I'm so happy with my little project! The gold leaf was a little more time consuming than spray paint, but I love the textured finish! I am excited to display these little his + her vases in my new home.
Check back later today for Emma's project using gold leaf! XO. elsie
119 Comments
So adorable 🙂 I would never have thought to do that! ♥
How cute! I love the idea!
This is so cute! I love that the vases are bears; it’s so unique! And the gold leaf looks awesome 🙂
-Megan
meganesass.blogspot.com
Those are darling! What a cute idea! 🙂
xo,
Morgan
seemomogo.blogspot.com
How fun are those!
OMG WHAT AN AWESOME IDEA :DDD SO SO CUTE!!
i love this, what a cute idea!
That is so cute but I think you don´t get those honey bears here where I live :/
xx
http://www.clothesandcamera.blogspot.com
I love this idea. My mind is already racing on how I can change this up for my taste. Thanks.
Vintagehoneybee.blogspot.com
holy cow could y’all be any cuter? this is the most awesome twist on the gold mason jar trend
The combination of cute bear and gold is so unexpected. Strange, but I think the gold makes their smiles look cheeky.
A really happy project that’s cheered up a dreary English afternoon. Thanks!
x Elena @ Randomly Happy
This is cool!!! I’m defo trying it, I love those honey teddies:D xx
I really love these! Definitely going to recreate for myself!
Such a cute DIY! Definately following now.. loving this blog already 🙂
xx
maribleu.blogspot.co.uk
Elsie and Emma how do you keep coming up with all of these unique and fab ideas? Kudos to you, love this – so original!
This is such a fun idea! I love the little honey bears. 🙂
Your minds are so creative I can barely wrap mine around all these great ideas! Love this 🙂 I just did the pillow diy and felt strangely empowered after, haha. Can’t wait to try some more!
Bears look so cute. The possibilities for gold leafs are endless.
Cute!
These look amazing and so kitsch! Let’s see if I can find pots or bottles like that! 🙂
Oh my. These may be the cutest things I’ve ever seen.
very nice idea!
xx
http://www.ireneccloset.com
I love reusing food containers and boxes, so this is a great idea for me. – I’d probably just spray paint them though. I’m too lazy to mess with the gold leaf i think. lol
– tianna 🙂
These are adorable!
Very cute! Dunno whether leafing takes paint or not, but if it does, their bellies where the labels were would be a great spot for messages of some sort.
they look so adorable, lovely DIY!
http://bravebrunette.blogspot.com
Darling! Just so cute!
This looks super fun! And they turned out lovely! Cant wait to see more.
Carlee
http://almostendearing.blogspot.com/
So cute and so clever!
Kate
http://www.thrillofthechaise.com
Oh they turned out so well! They’re really cute. The gold leaf sounds like a really interesting thing to try out.
Gold leafing is so amazing!
Ah awesome! I haven’t tried leafing before, gold spray paint though, yes. 🙂
Wow! Great Vase! I like that it gold!
http://www.xeanafashion.com
What a great idea!
I’ill give it a try 🙂
Ah, those are so cute! The flowers you put in them are just perfect too;)
I love the texture of them compared to spray painting. Great idea using bears – so unexpected but so adorable!
Stephanie
owlsinmyheart.blogspot.com
Gaaaaaaaaawh! So cute!
Such a simple but cool DIY idea! Love it! xx
This.Is.Awesome
So freakin’ cute! I’m tempted to poor all my honey down the sink so I can do this NOW!
and now I’ll have to consume a whole bottle to make my own… it is too cute! 🙂
So cute!
xo
Diana
http://unusuallylovely.com
Great idea. I wouldn’t have expected that result!
http://lecoursdeschoses.blogspot.com
This is the best idea ever!
♥ kristen ♥
http://www.beholdthemetatron.com
You have such fun, cute, and original ideas. I would never have thought honey bears would look good in gold leaf.
http://fashionananthropologicalpointofview.blogspot.ca/
very cute
Val
http://valentinaduracinsky.blogspot.com/
So cute!
I’ve painted those wee bears with spray paint & the rectangle that used to hold the label with chalkboard paint to make the vases customized for the occasion (like writing Happy Bday Honey on it…I’ll have to do a tutorial for it}, but I never thought of covering them with gold leaf!
http://aclosetintellectual.blogspot.com/
Oh awesome!
I saw these on another blog as well, check it out.
http://presentable.typepad.com/blog/2012/06/a-pretty-brunchdiy-honey-bear-arrangements.html
oh hey next crafternoon project. I hope the men from the recycling center can hook a lady up.
These are so cute! I never would have thought to use honey bear bottles as vases, but I love them! I’m also excited to try gold leaf – the texture is so pretty.
Amazing idea! Gonna try it!
http://lovemyhairstyle1.blogspot.com/
Wow! Those are adorable. I love how creative you guys are. 🙂
I really like the idea of gold leaf, it gives them a fun texture!
That’s the cutest DIY ever!! Check out my blog for DIY’s, art and interior posts if you need some inspo!
I love the idea of these little bears covered by gold !
You girls make an amazing work on this blog.
ok I have to say it’s one of the best DIY ideas I’ve ever seen!!!
I love it
it’s so designed
it looks like it was bought at a home designer store
http://1hugaday.blogspot.co.il/
Yeah they are cute. But I believe I saw these a couple of months ago on Presentable.typepad.com.
always wanted to try gold paint. what a fine little project.
I’ve done some architectural gold leafing, while working at historic sites, and I have one top tip (besides “Don’t breathe the adhesive fumes OMG”). To use your gold efficiently, you’ll want to try to line up each sheet of leaf to the area covered with the last sheet (like you’re doing a grid, if they’re square sheets like lots of brands are) but inevitably you will mis-align some, leaving randomly shaped bits of gold leaf on the backing sheet. SAVE THESE, because you will also inevitably leave little bits of adhesive uncovered. Use the random leftovers to fill in.
That’s a great idea! I’ve actually seen it on another blog before! Here’s the link: http://presentable.typepad.com/blog/2012/06/a-pretty-brunchdiy-honey-bear-arrangements.html
So cute I totally need to do this for my kitchen window… Maybe in rose gold!!!
These are great! They would look awesome for a modern bohemian style wedding!
this is totally amazing!
xxx
http://www.ladyalamode.com
Hi Elsie and Emma! I love your blog, I get soo much inspiration from you! I was wondering wether or not you could help me with one of my own projects, pretty please? You see, I have this amazing fabric (aztic style) and I want to sew a skirt out of it. Problem is, I have no idea how 🙁 could you maybe make a sewing pattern or something for a sircular skirt above the knee ?
You’re awesome,and btw adorable vases!
Love from Norway
I have so many of these, so fun!
great idea!!!!
They need to start stocking those bear honey bottles in England because they’re so darn cute!
Love what you did with them
x Lisa
http://thecraftartykid.blogspot.co.uk/
Yessss… so fun!
love these two so much! now I have to go try it for myself 🙂
These are great but did you realize you took this idea from the presentable blog? She did hers a little different but basically the same idea………
http://presentable.typepad.com/blog/2012/06/a-pretty-brunchdiy-honey-bear-arrangements.html
this is such a cute idea. i’ve always loved those little honey jars and wanted a way to make them cute enough to display. i bet this would also be good for old perfume bottles. definitely going to have to try this out, thanks!
The end result looks so amazing! x
http://www.jenventure.blogspot.co.uk
This is such a great idea! and finally something that I can do. http://www.shopperstherapy.blogspot.com
From a blah honey bottle to a very fancy one! 🙂 Such a brilliant idea!!! Thanks for sharing, Emma and Elsie!
xoxo
Ida
http://asplashofida.blogspot.com
This makes me want to gold leaf everything in my house! Even my shoes!!
Cute idea! ^_^
http://donutpastry.blogspot.com/
Cool!! I love this post.xoxo
these are amazing decorating accessories, great post!
xx,
Jinna
http://greaseandglamour.com/
Ahhh this is the cutest!
xo Heather
http://ahopelessnotebook.blogspot.com/
Cute jars!! I love spray painting things gold to give them a new life. I live near the beach and always bring stones and shells home for that purpose. I’m also addicted to spraying pine cones gold too.
When I was child, my mom bought me some juice in that bottles. Aw.
These are so cute! I need to try my hand at gold leafing.
OMG! TOO CUTE!
Love these! I have an undeniable obsession with everyday shapes made of unexpected materials (ie a paper bag made of ceramic). If you decided to add something to the space for a label on the front of the bears, I vote for a white heart 🙂
omfg. this is the most awesome diy, ever. thank you! i can’t wait to make some. you guys rock <3
This is adorable. And looks easy to do.
Are those bears glass or plastic?? I’m dying to try this!!
This is so cute! I have pinned this DIY to my to do projects board to complete in uni break.
I might fill the bottom with a bit of cement to stop them toppling over though.
Thanks for the great idea
Becky K.
http://pixiwishesforeheadkisses.wordpress.com/
Love it, I must do this asap!
I love this diy! the golden bears are so cute! xoxo
This is SUCH a brilliant idea. Why hasn’t anyone done this before? I’m posting about this on my blog, hope that’s alright.
http://jolenesblog.com
Hi there, Lisa. The bottles are plastic. Glass would be cool, but I’ve never come across that.
XO! elsie
I couldn’t help thinking how honey-ish they look. Maybe that was the point. So glammy.
Catherine Denton
http://wingedwriter.blogspot.com
I never tried gold leafing…seeing your results it might be worth!
http://www.theironyou.com
they are so cute! love it. now i just have to find a bear jar in the UK!
Zoe
http://gypsiesister.blogspot.co.uk
Aaaawww, so cute!
http://www.creativityandchocolate.blogsot.com
This vases are adorable!
And the texture is so cute, you are right about it in relation with spray, love your project!
http://mykitschworld.blogspot.com.es
These are so cute. They’d look beautiful in a childs room… Out of reach of course.
Endometriosis my life with you
That is such an awesome idea. Thanks for sharing!
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c(”)(”)
http://www.bunnymysweet.com/
OMG this is SO creative! I love it! I want to keep my honey jar now!
I absolutely love this! It is so creative and it looks really nice. Would be perfect for a gift for someone who just got married as well! Thanks for posting, great idea!
omg!!! soooo cute!! my daughter is going to love this!! thank you this blog opens the flood gates of creativity!!!
A little bit kitschy, but funny 😀
http://sztukastudiowania.blogspot.com/
Super cute, I just wanted to let you know I linked to this on my blog today!
http://mandatorycreations.blogspot.com/2012/08/weekly-loves-5.html
xomando
You gals are so crafty! I was just wondering if you knew if this gold leaf stuff would work on paper? I make invitations and this would be the perfect touch!
-Christine
OMG – great idea, and HOW CUTE!
XOXO
-Daisy Nguyen from PS BANANAS fashion blog:
http://psbananas.com
Oh my gosh! these are so cute! i have to try this! lovely!
jennybodell.blogspot.com
Wow, so nice !! Good details!
I need this in my life – Thank you!
Fun!
hi. i am an avid reader and have been for a couple months now. i was wondering if this would work on glass? i have some vintage milk bottles that i think would look cool with gold leaf. 🙂 i do like the honey bears and i’m pretty sure there is one in my cabinet. 🙂
Hi Jami, this would definitely work on glass!
Have fun, Elsie
That’s so cute & different!
Xx
http://kendra-genevieve-rose.blogspot.ca
You’re a genius! All those little project with the daily things. I love it!
xx Sari
Love these! Just started reading your blog. Love it 🙂
Melinda
Blog: http://www.beautyaroundit.com
That’s such a darling idea! I don’t eat honey, but I might have to get a bottle and have someone eat it for me, then give me the bottle so I can try this.
~Kristi
messofadreamerdesign.blogspot.com
Eeeh. I just realised my parents have a large, glass, old teddy-bear peanut butter jar from the early 90s they store old coins in! Next time I’m visiting the parents I know what I’ll be taking off their hands! Hehe. xo L
Thanks Elsie!
I adore this project! I’ve never heard of this before, but I’m willing to undertake the mess to get this look! I can think of a hundred different uses for this gold leaf stuff, and I’ve just now been introduced to it. Your project turned out so neat! Love. Love. Love!
Thanks for sharing,
Shirley