I bought this plain black shadowbox from Michael’s (using my 40% off coupon!

But it’s more what I’m looking for to add character and stand out against my crisp new paint job.. Here’s how I worked my magic!.The first thing that needed to happen was to remove the clear varnish that was keeping the brass from tarnishing..

I read that a little vinegar mixed with salt and applied with a scouring pad does the trick.I’m not totally sure if it worked, but I did notice the finish becoming less shiny and yellowy and more raw looking.It was a bit of a lighter color as well.

So it must have done something.. Next I rubbed the whole thing with a bit of sandpaper.At first I felt like I was doing something terribly wrong, but in the aftermath, I see if really did help the look overall..

So at this point it just looked like a scratched up, slightly lighter-colored 1993 brass door knob..

I read somewhere that heating the brass up with a flame would help it tarnish quickly..It’s both impressive-looking and super-functional and of course, it was pretty easy to pull together since we have an almost unlimited supply of barn wood out back!

Here’s how we did it!.We started out with a barn..

I need to let you know right now, that we don’t actually own this barn.It’s behind our house, but all the land on the other side of the creek is owned by a big German company who leases it out to local farmers.