By Dondi Richardson from the FloraCraft Make It: Fun Blog.

This Styrofoam glider is a fun weekend project to do with your kids. (Get them into crafting earlier!) Project includes a template for the glider. Easy to make and fun to decorate, plus you can see how far it will fly!

Supplies:

FloraCraft Foam: Four – Sheets, ½”x12″x12″

Other Materials:

• Acrylic Paint
• Dimensional Fabric Paint
• Toothpicks
• Glider Template

Tools:

• Design It: Foam Cutter or Serrated Knife
• Low-Temp Glue Gun and glue sticks
• Paint Brushes: wide flat brush and detailing brush
• Paper (for templates)
• Black Marker
• ½” Sequin Pins

Instructions

1. Print and enlarge the templates to size needed. Hint: You can use a photocopier to copy and enlarge templates.
2. Pin the templates to the sheets of foam and trace with black marker: one body, two wings, two tail wings and one tail fin.
3. Remove the templates and cut out the plane parts using the foam cutter.
4. Use the scrap pieces of foam like a sanding block to “sand” the square edges of the foam parts smooth, making it look more authentic.
5. Glue the parts together, inserting toothpicks between the parts for a more secure bond.
6. Paint desired colors and let dry completely.

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

I love the look of mercury glass. It’s perfect in almost every style of decor or season. It can be simple, elegant, romantic or modern depending entirely on what you do with it. It has only one problem. It can be prohibitively expensive. But not anymore. Turn any old glass jar into dazzling faux mercury glass with two simple ingredients (hint, one of them is water!)

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Glass jars, vases or bowls
• Water
• Mirror spray paint

1. Lightly mist the inside of your glass. If you have a wide mouth jar or a bowl, you may want to tape off the outside.

2. Spray a thin coat of Mirror paint into the inside of the jar or bottle. Allow the paint to drip down and coat the inside, you want the coat to be uneven.

3. Allow the paint to dry and then repeat until you have the level of mirror finish that you desire (2-3 coats is usually sufficient).

You can also use this technique on the outside of a jar candle to create a Mercury Glass Candle.

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

These pillar jars are perfect and pretty storage for all sorts of bits and bobs. Show off your buttons or beads in them, hold earrings and necklaces elegantly or make the ordinary extraordinary by storing everyday bathroom items in these pretty little containers.

Here’s what you need:

• Empty jam jars – labels removed
• Strong craft glue
• Candlesticks
• Spray paint

1. On a covered and well ventilated work surface, coat the candlesticks and lids in several thin layers of paint. It’s better to have lots of thin layers than one thick one!

2. Once the paint is dry add a generous layer of glue to the top of the candlestick and center the jar over it. Press firmly so that the glue adheres well. Allow the glue to dry.

3. Fill the jars, add the lids and set them somewhere to be admired!

By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and has aspirations to improve her crafting skills. Join Mable on Facebook to socialize and share with other crafters!

I was cruising You Tube last week, and got totally sucked into watching videos on nail art. I believe art and creativity can be everywhere and anywhere. I was very impressed with the artists who chose something as small as finger nails! The videos made it look so easy, that I had to try it.

Here is the video I watched and followed along with:

I have to admit, my first few attempts were not as easy as she made it look. After a while I did get the hang of her technique of water marbling. My design is more subtle than hers, but I liked how it turned out!

The best tip I picked up from this You Tube Channel is using a paint brush to get off the excess nail polish. Just dip a narrow brush in nail polish remover and move the brush around your nail bed.

 By Guest Blogger Vicky, from the blog “Alpha Design”.

In January this year I was overjoyed when my niece gave birth to a little baby girl. There was a rush within the family to buy presents for this new addition and I saw many of them giving things like clothes and toys but I wanted to do do something a bit different. Something that marked her birth and would be a keepsake for her in years to come. So, I decided that I would paint her a canvas with her name and birth date on it.

I looked online for ideas and after much deliberation I decided that I would use an owl theme. I know from my card making that Owls are very on trend at the moment and so this seemed like a good choice. I created a mental picture of what I wanted it to look like and went out to a local craft shop to buy a canvas. I got a small square canvas and then I went to my local DIY store where I bought a number of paint tester pots. Acrylic paints soon add up in price and so this seemed like a great way to save some cash.

After all of this, I armed myself with a paintbrush and just went for it. I had only previously painted two canvases before this and so this seemed like quite a big task of myself. Eventually (after a few weeks of hard work!) I finished my picture. I used raised paints that come in a nozzled tube to add the writing and the rest of the picture is just done with my tester pots. I added the buttons on as eyes to make it a little more 3dimensional and interesting.

I hope to do much more painting as I really enjoyed the whole experience. Here are a couple of things I learned along the way:

• It is best to draw out the picture you see in your head and keep it next to you the whole time. I also kept a few example pictures that I found on the internet with me too.
• If you are going to mix your own colors then make sure that you have more than enough. There were a couple of times when I got into a bit of a panic because I thought that the color I had mixed would run out!
• Have a break in order to refocus. After sitting for a few hours you can get quite tired and a bit bleary eyed. I found that I painted much better when I had regular breaks and a chocolate biscuit!
• Practice writing in paint on a piece of paper first so that you get it right on the canvas!

My niece really liked the unique present and it will look great on her pink bedroom wall!

By FloraCraft Designers from the Blog “Make It: Fun”.

Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25. This year it’s April 24th. I’m looking forward to my annual chocolate bunny. Make this Contemporary Easter Egg Tree to deocrate your house for the Easter Bunny!

Materials

STYROFOAM Brand Foam:

DecoArt Textures:

Design Master Spray:

14″ lengths of sheer ribbon for each egg, coordinated colors
Twenty-four 1″ filigree accents
140 self-adhesive 3mm gem stones: Clear, Gold and Charcoal
Approx. 24″ tall, white wire tree
6″ length of 24 gauge wire
Paper shreds, gold
Twelve wood craft picks
Table knife, palette knife or texture tool
Glue gun and glue sticks
Scissors
1/2″ wide flat brush
Newspapers

Instructions

1. Apply texture. Cover work surface with newspapers. Insert craft picks into bottom end of each egg. (Note: after texturing each egg, insert into Styrofoam block to dry.) According to manufacturer’s instructions, apply each texture to one egg in each of the three sizes of eggs as follows:

• For stucco eggs: Use knife to apply one coat onto three eggs, moving knife back and forth to create stripes.
• For crackle eggs: Brush primer – sealer onto three eggs. Let dry. Use knife to apply smooth coat of crackle texture to eggs, like flat-frosting a cake. (Note: the thicker the application, the larger the cracks, the thinner the application, the finer the cracks.)
• For thick texture eggs: Use knife to apply one coat onto three eggs, moving knife on and off egg to create bumpy texture.
• For glass texture eggs: Use brush to apply two smooth coats of glass texture onto three eggs. Let dry between coats.

2. Paint eggs. Spray stucco texture eggs stripes of Copper and Brilliant Silver, allowing colors to slightly run together. Return eggs to Styrofoam block to dry. Spray crackle eggs Antique Gold. Spray thick texture eggs Copper. Spray gloss texture eggs Brilliant Silver.

3. Attach accents and ribbon. Remove adhesive dot from filigree accents and discard. Thread 8″ ribbon length through filigree accent. (Tip: For ease in putting ribbon through filigree accent, fold 6″ wire length in half. Place center of ribbon length into folded end of wire. Thread cut ends of wire through hole – similar to using a needle and thread.) Remove wire and trim ribbon ends at bottom of filigree accent. Use glue gun to attach to top of egg. For bottom filigree accent, repeat, using 6″ ribbon length. Cut bottom loop with scissors so that four cut ends of ribbon extend out. Hot glue to bottom of egg.

4. Embellish eggs. Attach jewels into three cluster formations on silver eggs and randomly attach jewels to striped silver and copper eggs . Hang eggs onto wire tree. Place gold paper shreds at base of tree. (Note: If gold shreds unavailable, spray natural kraft color shreds with Antique Gold.)

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

I love those artfully etched glasses out there on the market. But I don’t love the price tag. So instead of forever drooling over something I’m not willing to spend my hard earned money on (not with kids in the house!) I’ve decided to make my own, and they couldn’t be simpler.

Here’s what you need:

• Contact paper
• Etching Cream
• Paintbrush
• Clear glasses
• Die cutter or digital cutter
• Rubber gloves

1. Using your cutter, cut out intricate and pretty shapes from the contact paper. Remove the cut section and keep the remaining stencil.

2. Peel the backing off of the stencil and apply to the glasses. Smooth out any bubbles carefully.

3. Apply a thick coat of etching cream and allow the cream to work according to the directions on the label.

4. Wearing your gloves, peel off the stencil and wash away the cream with warm water. Run the glasses through the dishwasher before using to remove any traces of etching cream.

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

As the weather turns from brisk to downright cold, our family spends a lot more time indoors during the winter than during the rest of the year. And with two young children and a small house, we spend a lot of time with small, easy to do crafts that keep our afternoons busy. This is one of those projects. If your kids are great with their scissor skills or you are going to do the cutting, you could use up some of your fabric scraps up with this project, but for little fingers, lightweight scrapbook paper is best.

Here’s what you need:

Scrapbook paper scraps
Woodcut people
Glue Stick
Pencil
Scissors
Markers

1. Trace around the tops, bottoms and head of your cutout people on different colors and patterns of papers.

2. Cut out, or have your child cut out, the “clothes” and “hair” for their puppets.

3. Using your glue stick, apply a thin coat of glue to the wood and smooth the “clothes” onto the wood.

4. Make faces to finish off your puppets and put on a show!

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

Still need to get those holiday thank you cards out? Want to include your kids in the process? Let them create the art for your cards and help print them too with this simple, kid friendly, block printing technique. Instead of using traditional block printing medium and carving tools, this process uses recycled styrofoam meat trays and ball point pens to create the blocks, making it the perfect family activity.

Here’s what you need:

Styrofoam trays

Scissors
Ball point pens (or knitting needles)
Block printing paint
Rubber Brayer
Cardstock cut and folded into cards
Scrap cardboard (or an extra tray)

1. Cut your trays into small, flat rectangles, discarding the sides.

2. Have your kids draw images onto the foam with the pens. Encourage them to use most or all of the space and not to focus on too many details that might get lost in the printing (family portraits are a great theme here!)

3. Squeeze a small amount of paint onto the cardboards and roll the brayer through several times until a thin coat of pain covered the entire surface of the roller.

4. Roll over the print with the loaded brayer. You want the paint to cover the surface without working down into the grooves of the drawing.

5. Lay your paper over the block and smooth with your fingers, being sure you get all the corners, Peel the paper away and allow it to dry.

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

I’m not sure why, but my kids have a thing about cuckoo clocks. They really like them. REALLY like them. And they have been asking for one for ages. While I love them to bits, I’m not about to deal with a real cuckoo clock singing it’s little heart out all day while I’m at home working and they are at school, so we’ve compromised and agreed that a pretend cuckoo clock will do until they have a house of their own. And since we couldn’t find a pretend cuckoo clock, we decided to make one!

You’ll need:

• Unfinished wooded birdhouse or birdhouse kit (assembled)
• Dark brown wood stain
• Foam brushes
• Cardstock
• Markers
• Craft Sticks
• Red craft paint
• Small bird figurine
• Craft glue
• Craft knife
• Heavy cording or small link chain
• Two small decorative beads

1. Begin by staining the entire birdhouse and the finials or beads. Allow the stain to set for at least 24 hours before handling.

2. In the meantime, paint the craft sticks with two coats of red paint and cut 1 inch off each end. Keep all the rounded end pieces and two of the straight edged pieces.

3. Attach the craft sticks in layers along the roof to create shingles, starting with the bottom edge and moving up. Touch up any paint as needed.

4. Insert the bird into the opening and glue into place. Attach the two flat edged pieces of tongue depressor to either side to create “doors”

5. Cut a circle out of cardstock and punch a hole in the center. Draw on numbers and hands and slip over the post of the birdhouse. Glue into place.

6. Glue the beads to either end of the cording or chain and hang, slightly uncentered, from the bottom.

7. Hang on the wall and enjoy the fact that you have a cuckoo-less cuckoo clock!

By Recycled Crafts Contributor, Anitra from the blog “Coffee Pot People”.

A couple of months ago, my dear blogger friend, MizMollye, sent me these:

I have to admit to some befuddlement. What were they for? (Yes, you are allowed that snort of derision.) I lay them out and sorted them, and began to get some idea of usefulness.

They might be plain, but they were beginning to look very interesting.

It was when I decided to make some autumn tags that it finally hit me: Whatever those things were, they were great! And not in spite of their lack of color, but because of it. I painted three of them orange, and used them to bracket the tops of my tags: 

I topped them with silk leaves and buttons, and even stamped on them:

Well, after making the tags, I had to have more of those things. Of course, first I had to figure out what they were called, since they came in that box that said they were an album, which clearly they were not. (Did I jut hear another snort?) It did come to me: Chipboard! I started my quest at the brick & mortar stores near me, but found little. Everything they had was covered with glitter, and I wanted something more customizable.

I hit the real payday at CreateForLess.com. Here are just a few of the shapes I found:

(Two of those are sold out, but you can ask them to email you when they’re back in stock.)

There are, a quick search showed, 149 die cut shapes to be had there, not including alphabets and numbers. I feel a shopping excursion coming on!

I’d like to use the autumn tags, or Christmas tags later, as plate decorations at the Thanksgiving or Christmas table, a small gift for each guest.

And that sparks another idea: Tags quite often have “To:” and “From” on the back. In our family, we’ve always gone around the table at Thanksgiving, and each said what we’re grateful for that year. Why not have each guest fill in the blanks with who they are grateful to, and for what? Then put them in a basket, and draw one out at intervals during dinner, or during the day, to be read, for a day truly full of gratitude.

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

My children, who happily share a room despite being different ages and sexes, also share a useless closet that has, up to now, just been filled with junk. It’s not really tall enough for a true closet, it wraps around in a snail shell shape which makes storage difficult, and it has no light, so it’s pretty dark in there. The only thing that it’s been really handy for is a fort. And periodically they will pull out all the stuff that they have shoved in there when they are supposed to be cleaning their rooms and set up house inside. So we’ve decided to make it official, it is no longer the closet, it’s the fort. And being the children of two parents who are constantly renovating their house, they wanted some improvements. Beginning with the walls. Together they decided it needed to be a cottage, like something out of a story book. After some discussion (“No, I’m not going to wallpaper in there!”) We settled on stenciling. They chose the pattern and colors, I did the work (typical!). I remember stenciling with my mom years ago but hadn’t tackled a true stenciling project since, so if you are like me and needed some tips, here are the basics to stenciling!

You’ll need:

Stencils – there are so many to choose from these days!

Stencil Paint - *Note – craft paint won’t work here, trust me, I found that out the hard way!

Stencil brush or sponge

Masking tape

Pencil

1. Start by marking out your space. For this wall, we wanted to leave an opening in the stencil for a “window” that will be painted on next (with cows out in the grass and curtains it seems). Get a rough idea of how many repeats you’ll need both up and down and side to side so that your pattern is even.

2. Once you know where your pattern is going and what your spacing will be, tape your stencil in place at your starting point . For my spacing, it worked best to start in the center.

3. Tape off the parts of the stencil you are not painting in the first layer. Yes, you can try to avoid them with your brush, but taping off the unused parts makes life easier and the process faster.

4. Dab the end of your brush into the stencil paint. It’s very thick and slightly waxy, almost like lipstick, so you don’t need a lot. Blot as needed on a paper towel.

5. Apply the paint in a swirling motion onto the stencil, turning the brush in small circles to apply the paint evenly.

6. Work the entire surface in one color and then allow the paint to dry overnight before proceeding to the next color, being sure to remove any tape and clean your stencils between layers.

7. Remember that you don’t have to use all parts to the stencils, and you can combine different stencils to make a more complex pattern. Try a few ideas out on paper (or your wall if you’re really bold – or have leftover wall paint) and have fun!

By Recycled Crafts Contributor, Anitra from the blog “Coffee Pot People”. 

Do you ever miss happy mail? You know, going to the mailbox and pulling out something other than a bill or piece of advertising? I sure do, and I know for certain I’m not the only one, with email so dominant, this year I decided my treats for Halloween were going to be something that would bring a smile at the mailbox. I’m sending postcards!

As I was cleaning up my craft table the other day, I noticed that some foam letters had arranged themselves in a group that looked very like the beginning of a skeleton. Ooh, I thought. Could you make an entire skeleton using them? The answer was YES, and in a few minutes I’d created a skeleton stamp.

If you’d like to make one, too, you’ll need:

Foam alphabet stickers, all caps, about 3/4″-1″ tall:

• 1 Q
• 2 E’s
• 2 P’s
• 4 L’s                      
• 2 I’s
• The centers from 2 O’s

A backing/support for your skeleton. I used the lid from a whipped topping container, which was translucent.

Arrange your letters something like this:

The original thought was to add a hat, but I decided to leave it off.

As you can see, only two of the letters need to be reversed–one E, and one P–to form the left sides of the ribcage and hip bones. Those two you will glue to your support piece, rather than using the sticker’s adhesive.

Cut tiny triangles from the O centers to create fingers.

You can play with the positioning of the arms, legs, and head, until you find a pose you like. Keep in mind that if you’re arranging the stickers with the adhesive side down, your stamp will be a mirror image of what you see. If you want to see it as it will stamp, turn the letters face down. Once you’ve created the pose you want, peel off the protective papers and stick the letters to the support/base, starting with the head, and working down. For the two letters that you’ll glue, make sure they’re exactly where you want them before you remove the papers; otherwise, they’ll stick to your fingers when you try to move them and not let go! (And yes, that IS the voice of experience, lol.) Once the glue on those two letters is dry, you can pat a little talcum powder on them, which will take away the stickiness.

You now have a skeleton stamp to play with!

To make a postcard using my new stamp, I took some cardstock I thought had that “Halloween feeling”, and cut it to postcard size. (USPS allows a maximum size of 6″ X 4.25″, and a minimum size of 5″ X 3.5″, or 15.2cm X 10.8cm and 12.7cm X 8.9cm)

Then I stamped the skeleton on it, using three of my new word stamps to say “Happy Boo Day”. The first time, I used black ink for everything, but then decided I’d like the skeleton better white, after all. I took a stiff bristle brush and painted on white craft paint, and over-stamped the original skeleton. (You have to love a stamp base you can see through!)

Of course, after that, I had to see what it would look like if I just used the white, without the black underneath:

Personally, I like it better with the black under it, as the skeleton seems to show up better.

Last step: Turn your new postcard over and divide it in half so you have one side for the address, and the other for a brief message. You can simply draw a vertical line, or use another stamp:

For another easy card, cut a postcard-size piece of cardstock that pumpkins would look good against. I chose one that looked kind of “vine-y”. Now cut three or four circles of pumpkin-Design paper or cardstock. Arrange them on the card in a pleasing arrangement. Placing the larger disks near the bottom of the card, with the smaller ones nearer the top will give a sense of distance, as your mind interprets “smaller” as farther away, and “higher” as being the far horizon.

Once you’ve decided on your placement, you can pencil in jack o’ lantern faces on each of them, and then black in the features. Glue them in place on the card and write or stamp, “Oooooooooooh” in a curvy line across the card. Last step is to turn the card over and divide it in half as you did the other one.

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

Someday I will have the time and patience to embroider some cute flour sacking tea towels for my kitchen. I love the way they look and that you can vary them for the season, but alas, bad eyes and impatience has kept me away from most embroidery projects. That doesn’t mean, however, that I can’t have some fun tea towels this fall. A little freezer paper and paint and voila, cute, acorn towels to hang off my stove or drape over rising bread for those chilly fall evenings.

Here’s what you need!

Acorn Stencil
Freezer Paper
Fabric Paint
Foam Brushes
Flour sacking tea towels
Scissors
Craft knife
Iron

1. Cut a piece of freezer paper to 8 1/2″ x 11″ and print the template directly onto the paper (plastic side down).

2. Cut out the stencil carefully with your craft knife.

3. Iron on the stencil, centered near the bottom of your tea towel.

4. Sponge on yoru fabric paint, making sure you get paint all the way to the edges. Allow the paint to dry.

5. Peel off the stencil and heat set the paint with your iron.

By Recycled Crafts Contributor, Anitra from the blog “Coffee Pot People”.  

Collage, in both “hard copy” and digital forms is very popular right now, and I’m a fan of both. It’s relaxing, almost zen-like to sit with my materials, arranging, re-arranging, and layering them. Digitally, I love the fact that you can create what are basically transparent layers, which is mostly not an option with “real” images and materials.

Except that it is, at least with printed items. You can make decals, and it’s really quite easy to do it. I’m familiar with two products you can use, Liquitex Gloss Medium, and Omni-Gel. The process is the same with both products.

You’ll need:

Omni-Gel OR Liquitex Gloss Medium
Soft paint brush
Printed images—almost any will work, except for inkjet or photographs
A dish that is larger than your print(s)
Water

So first decide what images you want to use. Cut them out, leaving a generous edge around any that you want to completely cover the collage surface. Protect your work surface with plastic wrap, which will let you peel the finished decals/transfers off when they’ve dried, and lay the images print side up on it. Paint each image with a coat of the medium, allowing the medium to extend beyond the paper just a bit, and let dry. I usually just squeeze a drop or two of medium on the image and spread it around.

When the medium is dry, spread on another layer. If you’ve painted with up-and-down strokes on the first layer, make the second layer’s strokes go side-to-side. Let that layer dry, and paint on a third layer, again with brush strokes that go in a different direction than the layer before.

Three layers of medium is generally enough; I sometimes do four, but it probably isn’t necessary.  You’ll now have what looks and feels like a picture coated with a plastic sheet.

When the last layer is thoroughly dry, peel your images off the plastic and soak them in the dish of water. (If an image resists being peeled off, you can cut right at the edge of the paper, and slip your finger between the picture and the plastic.) Don’t worry if the transfer medium turns a little milky while soaking.

Soak the pictures until the paper is good and wet, but not more than twenty minutes, then take each one out of the water and lay it face-down on a clean, smooth surface—a plate works well.

Rub the paper with your fingers, and it will roll up and come away from the transfer.

Rub until ALL the paper is gone. You’ll know you’re finished when you don’t feel any fuzziness at all, and the transfer is completely transparent.

You now have a decal!

To use it, just paint the back with more of the transfer medium, and apply it wherever you like on your project. Make sure your fingers are absolutely clean—any little bit of anything will imbed itself and show later!

One of the things I love about the finished decal is that it’s stretchy. You can cover uneven surfaces, or pull the image around the edges of a plaque, and smooth it out completely, as you can see from the little project below:

To make it, I used three images I’d turned into decals—the background trees (scrapbooking paper), the blue bird (cut from a magazine), and the bit of music (from an old music book). As you can see, the plaque I used had a crenellated edge, and a raised circle about 1/2″. The transfer stretched over every irregularity and clung there. On the back, I just squished the gathered edge down and used a bit more medium to glue them in place.

You can also use the transfer medium to create pendants. The first image in this post doesn’t give you scale, but each piece is a half-globe in shape, with a transfer stretched over it. The half-globes were molded in measuring spoons—1/4 teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon, and 1 teaspoon—so they’re quite a nice size to glue on a bail and put on a necklace or bracelet.

By Sparkle Crafts Contributor, Sparkle E. Glitter from the blog “Sparkle Studio”.

If you have a scrap wood bin, this project is made for you. If you don’t, head over to the store and pick up a bag of scrap wood.  The pieces do not need to match, or even be cut straight.  The more differences your pieces have, the more charming your project will be.

Choose a word or a name that you would like to display. This project can be adapted to holidays: Noel, Love, Thanks.  Or make the blocks with your family name.  What a nice gift this is for anyone on any occasion.

You need:

• Big & Glitzy Glitter Glue: Peacock, Peridot,  Garnet (or colors to match what you are showcasing)
• Acrylic Paint: black,  turquoise, lime, hot pink  (also select your colors accordingly)
• 4 pieces of scrap wood (or as many as you need to spell your word or name)
• Wide flat brush 

Try this:

Basecoat wood pieces black.  Let dry.  Paint the edges of the blocks turquoise, lime and hot pink.  Let dry.

Using Big & Glitzy, print a letter on each block, with a frame around it in a different color.  Add stripes, dots, squares or whatever fits your project.

This is your chance to be creative with color and design.  Make this reflect you!

Glitter on!

Sparkle

By General Crafts Contributor Amy, from the Blog “Mod Podge Rocks!”

Do you have a little princess that likes to play dress up?  I highly suggest a magic wand!  This is actually an inexpensive yard decoration that I found.  With supplies that I already had on hand, I was able to make a wand fit for a princess on a budget.  Keep in mind that because this is wood, it’s for older princesses only!  Always make sure to use with adult supervision.

To make, you’ll need to gather these supplies:

“Magic” Wand – decorative wood stick
FolkArt Acrylic Paint – Ocean Cruise, Wicker White, Perfect Purple, Kelly Green or the colors of your choice
Art Institute Glitter – Blue Hawaii (Ultrafine Opaque), Celery (Ultrafine Opaque), Angel Dust (Ultrafine Transparent)�
Mod Podge Gloss�
Flat Paint Brush and Liner Brush
Ribbon – 6 feet of your choice, I used white chiffon

Using your flat paint brush, paint your flower first.

Paint the handle and the leaves next.  If your wand has black print on it like mine, it will take several coats.  I used the smaller liner brush on the petals and to get around the edges of my flower.  Allow to dry.

Using the end of your brush handle, dot white polka dots on the main body of the flower.  Allow to dry.

It’s time to apply glitter in the areas of interest – I’ll show you an example with the center of the flower.  Paint Mod Podge in the area that you want glittered.

Using your glitter (I have one of these cool dispensers), spread the glitter all over the Mod Podge.  Allow to dry and then tap on the side of something (like a table) to get ride of the excess.  You can see that I did it on the leaves as well – I also went back and added some on the white polka dots.  It’s very sparkly!

Allow your wand to dry completely overnight before giving it to your princess.  I highly recommend adding some ribbon tied around the handle for some extra flair.

By General Crafts Contributor Amy, from the Blog “Mod Podge Rocks!” 

My parents re-did their backyard, so I decided to make them a birdhouse in celebration.  They aren’t as kitschy as I am, but I still think they will appreciate this gnome and mushroom birdhouse.  If they don’t love the gnome or the mushrooms, they will surely love the woodgrain roof.  It’s magical! 

To make, you’ll need to gather these supplies: 

Wood Birdhouse
Mod Podge Outdoor
FolkArt Paint – Fresh Foliage, Burnt Umber, Pure Orange
Martha Stewart Woodland Collection – 12” x 12” paper pad, stickers and letters
Cardstock scraps
Craft Glue
Flat Paint Brush
Scissors or Craft Knife
Ruler
Pencil
Outdoor Sealer  

Choose a few sheets of paper to cover the sides of your birdhouse (except for the front).  Using your ruler, measure the size paper you’ll need and then cut it down to fit with the craft knife.  Set aside. 

Paint your birdhouse.  I chose to paint the roof with Burnt Umber and the sides with Fresh Foliage.  The only side you’ll have to completely cover is the front – all of the other sides are going to be covered with paper. 

You can’t see it here, but later I went back and covered the perch with some Pure Orange.  It needed a special touch! 

This is the fun part.  Keep in mind that Outdoor Mod Podge is thick, but that is intentional.  Working one side at a time, spread a medium layer of Mod Podge on your birdhouse. 

Immediately smooth your paper down thoroughly.  Use an old credit or gift card to get underneath the roof, and make sure to smooth *really* well.  Complete the other two sides and the roof.  Allow to dry for 15 – 20 minutes. 

You are now ready to coat the entire birdhouse.  Give it a medium layer of Mod Podge, allow to dry for 15 – 20 minutes and then repeat.  Allow to dry. 

When it comes to the front, that is your embellishment area, so decorate it how you like!  I added my parents’ last name, the gnome and then some mushrooms I cut out with my die cutter.  I had some extra cardstock lying around.  This is the time to decorate to your heart’s content.  Seal everything with the Outdoor Mod Podge and allow to dry overnight. 

Once your birdhouse is dry, it will be slightly tacky – to remedy this and to give the birdhouse an extra protective layer, I highly recommend using a clear outdoor sealer so that your project will last for years to come.

By Sparkle E. Glitter from the blog “Sparkle Studio”.

I am obsessed with pretty spring birds, I admit it!  I had such fun making these today out of Shrinky Dinks, and you will too!  Here is what you need:

• White shrink plastic
• Colored pencils 
• Big & Glitzy Glitter Glue  (I used Aquamarine and Ruby)
• Scissors 
• Hole punch 
• Ribbon 
• Your oven

Try this:

1.  Print bird pattern.  Lay it under shrink plastic.  Trace with pencil.  You should get two birds out of a sheet of plastic.

2.  Color birds with colored pencils.  Put the kids to work, have them color! Cut out the birds.  Use hole punch to punch a hole in the top wing.

3.  Bake in the oven on a cookie sheet following the instructions on the shrink plastic package.  See how much they shrink?

The color intensifies when they shrink.  Pretty!

4.  Squeeze a little glitter glue on the bird.  Spread with a small brush or with your finger.  Let glitter dry.  Even prettier!

By General Crafts Contributor Amy, from the Blog “Mod Podge Rocks!”

I have a boatload of books and not enough bookshelves.  I also have a craft book selection that I like to have easy access to on my desk, but the stack wasn’t working out.  So I decided to make these bookends.

To make, you’ll need to gather these supplies:

Bookends – any will do.  I got these from a friend

K & Company scrapbook paper  – 1 sheet (you might need 2 if your bookends are larger)

FolkArt Acrylic Paint   (whatever coordinates with your paper).  I used:

•             Light Periwinkle  
•             Pumpkin  
•            Turner’s Yellow  
•             Wicker White  

Mod Podge Gloss  

Flat Paint Brush  

Scissors  or Craft Knife  and Mat  

Ruler  

Pencil

First trace your bookends onto the BACK of your sheet of paper.  Cut out.

Trim the sheets of paper down to fit your bookends exactly.

Paint your bookends using the orange paint.  For complete coverage, you’ll need about three or four coats.  Set aside to dry.

While you are waiting for the bookends to dry, put a coat of Mod Podge on your paper sheets.  Coat the front, allow to dry, coat the back.  Set aside.

Tip: If you don’t have a cutout in your bookends like I do, you can skip this step.

Coat the back of the bookend with a medium layer of Mod Podge.  Apply evenly.

Place your paper down on the back of the bookend and smooth thoroughly.  You’ll notice that I used a brayer, and then to get down into the crack I used an old Starbucks card.  These are my favorite tools for smoothing!  Make sure you get the air bubbles out and then set aside to dry for 15 – 20 minutes.

Once the bookends are dry, coat both of them with Mod Podge.  Cover the fronts, backs and bottoms.  Give a first coat, allow to dry and then apply at least two more coats.  Allow to dry.

Once your bookends are dry, use the end of a paintbrush and the other coordinating paint colors to create polka dots around the cutout.  Allow to dry.

Tip: If your bookends don’t have a cutout, add a decorative shape cut out of paper to the front of your bookends for an accent.  Then you can use the polka dot method just like I did!

Here they are, holding my books and magazines!  Aren’t they great?  Quick, easy and perfect for some fun home décor.