Posts tagged ‘thanksgiving crafts’

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November 24, 2011

Teaching Thursdays: Candy Corn Place Card Topiaries

In the never ending quest to come up with new and unique ways to decorate your holiday table, a new solution is created by the simple art of decorating with food. In this case, a fall staple, Candy Corn! The enduring candy has now been elevated to the status of elegant with this project created by Plaid Designer, Julie Lewis. Add to it the functional aspect of personalization and your table will make a truly unique and expressive statement.

Plaid Supplies Needed:

FolkArt® Acrylic Paint – 666 Metallic Antique Copper, 741 Glazed Carrots, 918 Yellow Light, 920 Autumn Leaves, 2579 Fresh Cut Grass

FolkArt® Chalkboard Paint – 2540 Brown

2 – 2” wood blocks

2 – Wood candlesticks 1 7/8” x 1 ¾” #198853

2 – 2” Styrofoam balls

1/8” dowel rod

2 varieties of candy corn

Craft glue

Hot glue gun

Hand drill

Ruler

Pencil

Scissors

Hammer/nail

Green garland

#1 liner brush

¼”, ½” flat brush

Gather what you’ll need.

Create an ‘x’ on top of your wood blocks to find center.

Here’s a tip so that your drill bit doesn’t go off center when you start drilling. Hammer a nail directly in your center mark for a guide.

Drill your holes keeping the bit straight approximately ¼” deep or a little more.

Insert a dowel rod into your Styrofoam balls to create a handle when you paint them.

Paint your balls with Yellow Light and Antique Copper. You can put them back in the wood blocks to dry…handy!

When your balls are dry, set aside and paint one block Fresh Cut Grass and the other Autumn Leaves.

Another cool tip, use the bottom of your wood candlestick to draw a circle on one side of both blocks. This is where your chalkboard area will be.

Using your liner brush, paint green swirls on three sides of your Autumn Leaves block. Then paint Autumn Leaves swirls on your green block. Paint swirls around your pencil circle on the front of blocks.

Paint the tips of your swirls on the green block with Glazed Carrots.

Mix equal parts of yellow and green to highlight the tips of the green swirls.

Here they are ready for chalkboard paint!

Apply several coats of chalkboard paint inside of circle. Let coats dry before applying more paint. Don’t worry if it is not a perfect circle as it will be framed with little dots.

Using opposite end of paintbrush dipped in Antique Copper; apply dots around the edge of chalkboard area.

Here are your blocks finished!

Now take your Styrofoam balls, candy corn and your glue gun. I’m using one of Plaid’s awesome Hot Glue Gun Helpers…the mat as my gluing surface. Nothing sticks to it!

Start at the middle of the ball making sure your hole from the dowel rod is at the bottom. Apply hot glue to the ball and place candy corn around the center. Continue gluing corn in rows towards top and bottom of ball. Leave hole open.

Finished candy corn topiary! Repeat process with the second ball.

Paint the wood candlesticks referring to photo for color placement.

Glue painted candlesticks to bottom of wood blocks. (The side without the hole)

Find center of your dowel rod…approximately 4” lengths.

You can use scissors to score the rod, and then gently snap in half. Paint Antique Copper.

Glue the rods into the topiary heads and let dry.

Then glue the other end of the rods into your wood blocks.

Create a small circle from the garland and place around the dowel on top of the block.

Personalize your topiaries with your guest’s names and enjoy these truly unique place cards for your holiday table!

Posted in FolkArt Acrylic, Teaching Thursdays | Leave a Comment »

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November 23, 2011

Thankful Tray

By: Candie Cooper  (To see more crafts from Candie check out her blog, Candie Cooper’s Journal)

I’ve been thinking about this tray for a long time.  I picked it up at the craft store for $5.  I wanted to make it personal so it could be displayed or functional.  It’s a wonderful gift or family treasure.  Plus you can adapt this for birthday wishes, Christmas memories and more.

You will need:  A tray (or other surface), Folk Art paint in desired colors, scrapbook paper, Mod Podge, scissors, permanent marker, blank paper, and paint brushes.  I made this tray over two days so give yourself a few hours to create it.

I opted for some metallic Folk Art paints because they are my favorite (but any Folk Art paint will work)!  You’ll also need a jar or cup and some wood beads. Here’s why:

read more »

Posted in FolkArt Acrylic, Mod Podge | Leave a Comment »

Tags: craft paints, , , , thankful tray, , trays
November 17, 2011

Teaching Thursdays: Upcycled Fall Votive Holder

by: Julie Lewis

When you think of fall…memories of warm moments, spicy smells and family gatherings are foremost in everyone’s thoughts. This easy to make project exemplifies all those thoughts and more as it becomes the focal point of your holiday table. Reusing an old cookie or candy tin begins the process. Follow these easy to do steps created by Plaid Designer, Julie Lewis.

Here is what you’ll need:

Mod Podge® Matte CS11301, Mod Podge® Sparkle CS11217, FolkArt® Antiquing Medium – 817 Woodn’ Bucket Brown, FolkArt® Eggshell Crackle Kit – 692, FolkArt® Acrylic Paint – 527 Forest Moss, Candy/cookie tin, Scrapbook papers, Squeegee, Foil, Wax paper, Burlap, Yarn, Acorns, 4 – wood doll pin stands 1 1/8” x ½” round, 4 – wood wheels 1 ½”, Scissors, Glue/hot glue gun, Craft knife, Ruler, Tape, Glass votives, ½”, ¼” flat brushes, Foam plates, and Dried pinto beans

Gather your supplies.

Place your scrapbook papers on pieces of foil and brush the fronts with Mod Podge Matte. Set aside to dry.

While your paper is drying, paint your wood pieces Forest Moss.

Paint your acorns too!…just the bottoms.

Measure the height of your tin…

Measure and cut two strips from your paper. Coat the backs with Mod Podge.

Brush the tin with Mod Podge.

Center and place paper onto one end of tin…smooth it around the corners.

Here’s a great tip…place wax paper over your surface and use the squeegee to push out excess Mod Podge. The wax paper won’t stick! Repeat with second strip of paper and here is another great tip…wait 20 minutes before applying your top coat. There will be things to do in the meantime.

Brush Mod Podge Sparkle over painted wood pieces and acorns.

Seal your tin with Mod Podge.

Cut your other scrapbook paper into strips 3” x ¾”. This tin took 40 strips.

Place ends together and tape.

It’s now time to apply Step 1 of the crackle medium. Apply slightly thick, smooth coats brushing out any ridges. Let dry 1 hour.

Glue the doll pins to the wheels and let dry.

After the hour, apply Step 2 of the crackle medium. Small cracks should appear within a half hour. Let dry at least 2-4 hours.

While you are waiting, cut strips of burlap and fray edges to desired look.

When crackle medium is dry, brush on antiquing medium and rub off with a soft cloth. The fine cracks will be more evident.

Find center of tin and glue or hot glue pieces of paper to tin layering in rows.

Place two loops of paper on either side of middle loop for spacing. Five across and four up.

Mod Podge a strip over top edge of tin for a finished edge.

Glue or use double sides tape to attach burlap ribbon.

Tie yarn around tine and attach acorns. Secure with a bow.

Glue feet to bottom of tin.

Fill with beans and nestle glass votives into tin.

Place candles in votive holders and scatter remaining acorns among the beans to finish. A beautiful piece for your holiday table!

Posted in FolkArt Acrylic, FolkArt Mediums, FolkArt Texture, Mod Podge, Teaching Thursdays | 2 Comments »

Tags: fall crafts, folkart mediums, , folkary crackle, , , votive candles
November 10, 2011

Teaching Thursdays: Give Thanks Decor

Give Thanks Decor by  Kindra Boroff

Giving thanks is something that we should all do on an everyday basis. There are several reasons to be thankful everyday. I know that it can be very easy to forget to give thanks for the wonderful things in our lives, so here’s a craft that maybe able to help. Here is a great up-cycle craft to make just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. This is a beginner skill level craft, and it takes between 1 hour to 1 ½ hours to complete.

Plaid Supplies

FolkArt Acrylic Paint: 938 Licorice, 649 Warm White

Plaid Stencil Accessories: 1533 ¾” Spouncer

Plaid Stencil Letter Value Pack: 28872 2” Genie

Other Supplies

6 glass root beer bottles, Masking tape, Twine, Plaid fabric, Dried fall florals, Scissors, & Dowel rods

Instructions

  1. Remove the labels and the adhesive from the bottles. Nail Polish remover or rubbing alcohol will remove the adhesive.
  2. Using the stencil and Warm White, paint the letters to the bottle as shown.
  3. Cut 3” x 4 ½” flags from the plaid fabric.  Stencil the letters using Licorice.
  4. Cut small slits at the top of each flag on the sides. String the twine through the fabric to create a banner. Tie the twine to the dowel rods.
  5. Fill each bottle with some dried florals and grass. Stick the dowel rods in the bottles on each end.


Posted in FolkArt Acrylic, Stencils & Stamps, Teaching Thursdays | Leave a Comment »

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November 7, 2011

Make it Monday: Banner of Thanks

Designed by Holli Long. To see more craft from Holli check out her blog, .

I gathered my supplies for this banner without really knowing what the project was going to look like when I was finished.  I do that, sometimes, and am usually happily surprised with what I come up with.  I found these perfectly sized letters at Michaels and was pleased with their size and font style.

I painted the letters Coffee Bean brown and, when they were dry, rubbed them with a piece of paraffin wax.  It’s best to use a soft cloth to wipe off the extra wax that builds up, before painting the letters again with Glazed Carrots.  Set them aside until they’re dry.

Sand lightly, and a bit of Coffee Bean will show through, especially on the ridges of these letters.

I measured eight pieces of paper 2.5″ x 5″, and cut the corners off, as you can see from this picture.  Then, I used a glue stick to glue each beige piece to the orange paper and cut each out with a small border.  I didn’t measure each piece or border, but you can, if you want.

And then, I just kept going, with two more colors from the paper pack, leaving a large, 2″ border on top of each finished one, so I could have a section of paper to attach the ribbon to later.

I added polka dots to the beige paper, also.  I used my ruler and measured 1/4″ between each dot, made myself a small mark with a pencil, and dipped an old stencil brush end into the Coffee Bean paint and dabbed the dots.  Very simple, really, but it perked up the beige paper, and looked great underneath the letters.  Then I used craft glue to attach the letters to each paper.

I used my craft knife to cut a small slit at the top of each letter, and threaded some pretty orange silk ribbon through each one, doubled at the top end.

I threaded the hanging ribbon through each loop and tied the loop to the hanging ribbon. (easier to make it than describe it).  Hopefully, this picture helps!  Also, I started threading the letters in reverse, tying the “L” in thankful first.  This kept me from wasting that beautiful sheer ribbon I was tying the letters to.

I spaced the letters evenly by tying another loop of brown sheer ribbon between each hanging letter.  It also gave the project a little more color.  I glued the buttons to the knots at the tops of the letters to keep it anchored.  Sometimes, this pretty silky ribbon is slippery and the glue held them in place!

 

Banner of Thanks Supplies

Folk Art Acrylic Colors: 741 Glazed Carrots, 940 Coffee Bean

Recollections™ Cardstock Paper Pack “Spice Market”

#12 flat brush, old stencil brush, craft knife, scissors, ruler, glue stick, hot glue, craft glue, assorted buttons in coordinating colors, sand paper, paraffin wax

1 1/2″ wide orange sheer ribbon

1/4″ satin orange ribbon

1/4″ brown sheer ribbon

Posted in FolkArt Acrylic, Make It Monday | Leave a Comment »

Tags: banners, , , , thanksgiving banner crafts,
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