We all have been at that point where a hobby we’re passionate about gets set aside for a time. There are different reasons for this, of course. One is that we burn out and need a break. Another might be life’s obligations taking us away from it. I love to read. Escaping my, at times, petty problems, and delving into a world where I don’t have to think about my own shit is glorious. Buuut… Reading…

Things you’ll need:

Brown craft foam

Aluminum foil

Clothes iron

Ironing board

Black paint

Brown paint (lighter than your foam)

Paint brush

Paper towel

Grab some aluminum foil and crumble it into a ball. Not too tight of a ball though! The next step is almost impossible if you do. 

Next, un-crumple the ball. Flatten it out into one layer. It’s fine if there are a few holes.

Place it on top of your foam.

Take your iron and firmly press it on the foam and aluminum. My iron was set to 3 (polyester) but the correct temperature may be different for other irons. Just remember not to use steam! Before doing this on a large piece, be sure to experiment and figure out what the best temperature and what the best pressure is. On larger pieces, you’ll have to move the aluminum around a lot. It’s not a quick process.

Now you’ve got this crinkly affect on the foam. Next is painting!

Grab you’re brush, black paint, and a dish with some water. The idea is to dilute the black paint enough so that when you apply it the paint will seep into the divets the aluminum created. 

Once the watery paint is applied, wipe it off with a paper towel. Continue to do this for your whole piece of foam.

Now here’s an optional step (of which I haven’t done myself but I’ve known others who have):

Grab the light brown paint and, without diluting it, paint it on. It’s best to use a coarse brush in this case and to try to keep it out of the divets. Wipe some of the paint off. 

Remember, imperfections are always good! Uneven paint isn’t necessarily bad so just experiment with it. 

Here’s an example of a bracer I did with this method. The first two pictures are an example of the foam I began with and the rest show the end result. I hope this helps you guys out!