I love the look of oxidized or aged copper. The colors present in aged copper are all the beautiful, rich colors of fall. I recently came across a way to achieve the look of aged copper without waiting for it to oxidize.

Supplies needed:
Thin Copper Sheeting
Sandpaper
Heat Gun
Die Cut or Pattern

Begin by laying out the size copper sheet you need. Trace and cut your pattern or die-cut the image you want to use. I used a leaf image cut from a piece of Reminisce patterned paper for my leaf pattern.

Next, using a fine grain sandpaper, or a sanding block, scuff the surface of your copper piece.

Using your heat gun, begin to heat the copper piece. If your heat gun has different settings, the highest setting will work best.

If the copper piece is blown around by the heat gun, you should use a pair of tweezers or similar to hold onto the piece. Make sure that you get the tip of the heat gun very close to the copper. You will begin to see the copper change. It does take quite a bit of heat, so make sure you are working on a heat resistant surface.

The resulting objects look as if they have been aged or oxidized by a chemical means. Beautiful colors, just perfect for any fall or masculine project.

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