{ weekend DIY } the fruit of my labor: faked weathered backgrounds for food photography

Look at that gorgeous color! Truly excited to start using these handy dandy backgrounds that I made today.

I've been making my own painted backgrounds for photo illustrations like the one used in this illustration:

and for studio photography like the one I used in this margarita photo:

But my backgrounds were becoming tired. I wanted to change it up a bit.

Having been a reader of Helene Dujardin's Tartelette blog for years now, I've always been envious of her lovely weathered table tops in her photos.

Drool envious. Seriously. 

Last weekend, I discovered a new food blog, Bakers Royale and what was her post on? A DIY project on making your own antiqued boards. Even kicking my Flintstone feet into high gear, I couldn't get to Home Depot fast enough!

It's super simple people! And it took me no longer than two hours or so to get it all done. And by the time I was finished, the first batch of planks were dry enough for me to shoot the lemon shot at the start of this post because I just HAD to test it out. Like now. 

The key is to use CHEAP wood. You know the kind? Full of knots and holes and grain. I bought 6 of the cheapest fencing 2x6's that Home Depot sold and had them cut them in half for me while I waited.

That gave me 12 boards to work with.

Did you know that Home Depot sells little test bottles of their wall paint for cheap? I didn't. And I was pleased that I found these on clearance in colors similar to what I was looking for.

I decided to use four boards per color so I now have six new backgrounds to play with.

Aren't they purrrrrty?

With the weather in the 80s today, it was hot. And my baby really wanted to keep me company but the heat was just too much. She decided to sleep underneath my work table which was the only substantial shade in the back patio today. Isn't she darling? Ok, I digress.

Here's another shot of the purple that shows the awesome grain I got from these boards.

All this luscious goodness rang in at $24 for the wood and the test paints. I already had a paint roller and paint pan at home so that saved me some cash. But considering that I now have six new backgrounds, $24 is such a deal!

Next weekend, I plan on adding a couple more colors to my collection. Because if you're anything like me, you can never have too many props. :)

If you're inspired to try this yourself, here's the post that got me going. Enjoy!

Until next time, weekend warriors unite! 

Ani