DIY Gold-leaf Agate Bookends

I think I get bogged down trying to do blog posts that cover the grand scale renovation projects and thats why it takes ages for me to publish them.  I'm always editing them down trying to be sleeker, less-wordy, more sophisticated, to generate some idealized version of myself to put out there.  Well news flash: thats not how I am, in real life I'm verbose, project oriented, and tenacious about the little details.  ANYWAY here I made you this thing. 

DIY Gold-leaf Agate Bookends.

Its exactly what it sounds like.  I've always been a collector of pebbles, shells, and curios, so when I saw Agate slice bookends showing up a few years ago I knew I wanted a pair.  I prowled my favorite thrift stores back in Maryland until this lovely natural pair popped up for only a few dollars!

They needed a little more glam to lift them from ordinary to extraordinary so gold it was.

I forgot to take a photo before I started the project..blogger fail, but basically the outside edges were just plain stone.  First I taped off the cut sides with quality blue painters tape, you don't want to risk edge bleeds here.

I went for quality metallic gold spray paint from Rust-oleum, I've had mixed results attempting to give a metallic finish to smooth items in the past, (plastic or stainless steel) but on a rough surface like rock it works quite well.

Let the paint dry, I recommend two thin coats, then peal the tape off of the cut edges and you're all set!

My assistant..

-Nikki