How to Make a New Cheese Box Look Old

A while back I picked up this brand spanking new cheese box on Ebay. I had plans for it, big plans..but they never came about. So now I had this characterless cheesebox just waiting for me to transform.
I had a couple of issues along the way, like what to do when your stain gets really dark on one part of a project, but is super light on another. I'll give you one idea on how to correct it.

Old vintage cheese boxes are beautiful, they have patina, they have age, great for display and storage. I needed a vintage cheese box...





Step one was staining the entire box inside and out. Where the wood was really rough, the stain was soaked up and appears much darker than where the wood was smooth. So far, my vintage cheese box doesn't appear too vintagy, just a little darker.
Stay tuned, I'll correct that in a bit.





This image was found online.
If you are going to do the image transfer that I'm about to show you, you must flip the image in your photo editing software first.
After reversing the image, print the label out as large as you can on a standard sheet of printer paper. Your printed circle should be about 8 inches across.
If you don't want to flip the image, you could modpodge the label directly to the cheese box which will give a much sharper look (not as vintagy).





Cut out your cheese label image. Put a layer of modpodge on the cheese box where the label is going to be attached. Paint another layer of modpodge on the front side of the label (the side with the printing)
Center the label on the cheese box, smoothing out any air pockets and bubbles. Let the image dry overnight.





Spray the paper with water until it looks thoroughly wet.
With your finger rub the paper until it begins to peel and reveal the image. If the image dries and it still looks a little white, you may have to peel more paper.





I still didn't care for the final color of my cheesebox. While it looked stained, it didn't particularly look old.
Went to my acrylic paint stash and pulled out black, a brownish color and a rust. Mixed the paints with a little water and attacked my cheese box once more.
The left of the cheese box (above) has just stain, the middle is freshly painted, and the right side was painted then immediately wiped off with a paper towel. The paint is now acting like a stain.
I left the inside of my cheese box with just the stain since that had already achieved a nice dark finish.





The entire exterior of the cheese box was given a coat of modpodge. The modpodge gives it a bit nicer finish than just the paint/stain and it also covers up any mod podge shiny leakage around the label.





A brand new old cheese box!
As always, if you need more pics, come by for a visit. I know you'll leave inspired.







Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/11203309/how-to-make-a-new-cheese-box-look-old site