French Antiquity Tile Backsplash on a Home Depot Budget

Armed with our inspiration images we found on Pinterest and other tools we set up our workspace.

We lined up several tiles together. We used Jeffrey Court

4 in. x 4 in. Light Travertine Tumbled Wall Tile (9-Pack)

Dilute your chalk paint with water. Your paint to water ratio will vary depending on brand and consistency, however you want it watered down enough so that it soaks into the tile, but enough paint that the color will shift without too much trouble. We went 25/75 Paint/Water. Using a standard paint brush brush one direction, then the other, like a cross hatch so that your brush strokes feel random and even.

This is what your tiles will look like as they're drying. Chalk paint dries fast and very matte. to be safe give your tiles a couple hours to dry... the more time you can give it though, the better.

We then saturated an Iron Orchid Designs Blank Stamp Pad with our Iron Orchid Designs ( or IOD) Decor Ink in the Provincial Color. Slowly and carefully squirt the ink all over the pad using the flip tip to work it into the foam until the pad is nice and saturated.

Here's where the fun starts. We gathered our Iron Orchid Stamps ( Scaled and designed for decor, these are the stamps that are honestly going to work best for this project. I'm not just saying that because we designed them ;)

This step can be intimidating, but have fun with it. The thing that makes delft tiles so charming is their quirky mix of designs... so don't overthink it, find the designs that speak to you and go to it!

Sometimes we use the stamping acrylic block and sometimes we just use a technique called outlaw stamping where we just use our hands... it depends on the size, style and purpose of our stamps and our project. In this case we used both techniques depending on the size of the stamp.

For corner areas go ahead and stamp all at once. We've done this both ways, one at a time and all four together, both work.

when you see your first stamped tile be aware that you will get the giddies. It's unavoidable. Embrace the giddies. .

This stamp is an example of one that works better on the block because of it's size and shape. The block is awesome for helping line up borders and stamps that depend on accurate placement.

This stamp is an example of one that works better on the block because of it's size and shape. The block is awesome for helping line up borders and stamps that depend on accurate placement.

Now we're just showing off. Seriously though, with so many designs to choose from you can customize your tile any way you want. Don't freak out, but we have several fonts that you can use to add verbiage to your backsplash. What?! I know, right??

Now we get to the magic. Distress the edges and some other areas to your liking using sand paper. This is where the original color of your tile enhances the vintage feel that makes this technique so authentic.

Once your tile is distressed, coat your tile a few times with stone and tile sealer. The sheen from the sealer really brings out the hand glazed feel of the tiles. That's it. Now you can use the tiles for whatever you want. Back splash, wall art, coasters... you name it!