What you need
- Picture frame or small mirror
- Wunda Size (a water-based adhesive)
- 1-inch paintbrush
- Badger-bristle paintbrush
- Booklets or sheets gold leaf (enough to cover item)
What you do with this stuff
- Make sure the surface of your item is clean and free of dust.
- Apply Wunda Size evenly with the regular paintbrush. It should dry to the appropriate “tack” in 15 to 30 minutes and it will hold its tack for up to 36 hours. The tack should feel dry to the touch, but sticky, like dried spilled apple juice. If the tack is too wet, the gold leaf will shrivel; if it’s too dry, the leaf will not adhere to the surface.
- Gently touch the badger-bristle brush to a sheet of gold leaf, lifting it out of the booklet or off its base paper. This may take some practice.
- Apply the sheets one by one, side by side, to the object, overlapping slightly until the entire surface has been covered.
- When the entire object is covered, use your finger to gently smooth down the leaf, or gently brush the leaf with the badger-bristle brush, setting all the sheets in place.
- If you are working with a large surface area, it may be necessary to work in small sections, so that the Wunda Size doesn’t dry completely. This is a long process, but the results are incredible.