How to Age Galvanized Metal - Create Make Decorate with Nikki

I’ve been wanting to learn how to age galvanized metal for quite some time now and I finally got around to doing it. I purchased 3 metal buckets from the 99 Cent Store for $1.49 each. The price was cheap enough just in case they didn’t come out as planned! I’ve researched several ways on how to do this technique and I had all the ingredients that I needed sitting in my pantry!

It is so easy to do and doesn’t take that long. That’s a win for me because I tend to get a little impatient when it comes to projects.

Here is what you will need:

Distilled white vinegar
Salt
Hydrogen Peroxide

Here is a before photo of the metal buckets. I love how they have this cool hanging handle that will work perfectly for my railing in front of my Crafty Shed. My husband’s garden sits right in front of my Shed. So my plan is to turn these into cute little hanging buckets for a few herbs.

I began by mixing equal parts of Distilled White Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide with about 2 tablespoons of salt. Most of the research that I read was to place your buckets in this mixture and set for a few hours. Well, I didn’t have a bucket large enough and remember that I tend to get a little impatient! So, I simply used a rag and wiped the mixture onto the buckets.

When the liquid mixture dried, I applied it again. I repeated this process for about 2 hours or so.

I started to notice a difference after the second application! You can see the black aging process taking place here in this photo! It looks so cool! I did about 4 applications in total. If you want it to have more of an aged effect, simply apply more. You can even scuff it up a bit with sanding paper of steel wool

While the bucket was going through the aging process, I made a few stickers on my cricut machine with the names of the herbs that I was going to use.

Here is a closer look of the galvanized metal bucket after the technique! It still has a little bit of shine to it, but I love how it turned out! You can definitely see the difference.

I added the herb stickers to each of them and they look so cute! Now, let me be honest here for a moment. I am using FAKE plants that I found over at JoAnns because I cannot keep anything alive! But, you could totally drill a hole in the bottom and use real ones too.

They have done a really good job in the fake plant department these days because that Rosemary and Lavender look so real!

So, what do you all think? Do you think that you will try to make an aged galvanized metal bucket? I sure hope this has inspired you to give it a try!