Faux Succulent Wreath - Designer Crafts Connection

The Designer Crafts Connection blog is picking up speed and sharing tons of links to projects from a wide variety of creative designers who are participating.   My "Faux Succulent" wreath made with Smoothfoam™was featured recently.   This remains one of my favorite projects!    Check out this post and lots more on the  Designer Crafts Connection blog

"Stained Glass" Sunflower Lunch Plates

"Stained Glass" Sunflower Lunch Plate

Brighten up your summer table with these colorful “stained glass” sunflower lunch plates.  Or paint a whole set with a variety of flowers and bring an entire flower garden to your table!

Materials:

Glass plate 

DecoArt® Crystal Gloss Enamels - Yellow, Orange, Green, Brown, Black 

Paintbrush 

JudiKins™ Color Sponge 

Sea sponge 

Instructions:

Clean plate and let dry thoroughly.

Use sea sponge to gently sponge black Gloss Enamels paint onto center of plate.  Let dry. 

Use paintbrush to paint petals with small amounts of blended yellow and orange.  Let dry.  Apply second coat.  Let dry. 

Use Color Sponge to sponge brown paint onto center of plate, over the black sponged paint.  Let dry. 

Paint outer edge around petals with green.  Let dry. 

Let entire plate dry for 4 days, then bake in oven according to manufacturer instructions to set paint permanently.  

Rustic Love Bird Favors DIY Video

In this new episode of When Creativity Knocks, I share an easy way to sculpt any shape with Activa® Activ-Clay.  I made these rustic love bird wedding favors - but you can make any shaped ornament, mount the sculpture on a dowel, or just use them as a paperweight.  I also share an easy technique for adding rubber stamped details to odd shaped surfaces...

Featuring products from Activa®, DecoArt®, Beacon Adhesives™, Sizzix® and JudiKins™

Leaf Textured Concrete Planter DIY Video

In this episode of my WCK seriesBehind These Eyes I am sharing how easy it is to create a custom concrete planter with Beacon Maker Mix™ and DecoArt® Americana Decor® Outdoor Living paint.

Haunted Mausoleum Birdhouse in Just Steampunk!

What fun it was to open the recent issue of Just Steampunk! Magazine and discover my Haunted Mausoleum Birdhouse was a full page!   I used a variety of products from Plaid®, Makin's Clay®, and Beacon Adhesives™ to create this spooky project.

Wedding Window

Wedding Window

My brother in law recently got married and they had a casual, BBQ reception.  I created their  table centerpieces, made their cake & cupcakes, and wanted to create something unique for them to have as a momento of their special day. The answer was a vintage window repurposed into a unique wedding gift for the bride & groom with the help of etchall® Creme & DecoArt® Chalkboard Paint.   Etched with their names & wedding date, it’s a great momento of their special day, and by using the chalkboard paint on the bottom pane, it’s also a useful home-decor piece. 

Congratulations Rickey Ray & Kelly Jo - it was our a pleasure to be a part of your big day! :) 

Materials:

Vintage window 

Electronic die cutting machine

Sticky back vinyl

etchall® Creme 

etchall® Squeegee 

DecoArt® Americana® Chalkboard Paint (or Gloss Enamels® Glass Chalkboard Paint)

The Twinery® Baker’s Twine - “Denim” 

Blue flat backed glass marble 

Beacon 527 Adhesive™

Chalk 

Paint brush 

Instructions:

Use electronic die cutting machine to create stencil on sticky back vinyl of text you wish to etch.    Size of font, etc. will depend upon the size of the window you are working on.   

Clean glass. 

Use ruler and permanent marker to measure and align stencil before removing backing and placing onto glass.

I placed a piece of painter’s tape to adhere the left edge and hold the stencil in place BEFORE I began removing the backing. 

Once the backing is removed and the stencil is in place, cover the remaining glass with painter’s tape. 

Use squeegee to apply a thick coat of etchall® creme over all lettering.  Let set 15 minutes.  Return cream to bottle and use damp cloth to remove remaining cream from surface.  Remove stencil and clean window with window cleaner (this will also remove any marks made with the permanent marker).

Paint bottom pane of glass with DecoArt® Americana® Chalkboard Paint.  Let dry.  Repeat with second coat, painting in the opposite direction of the first coat.  Let dry 24 hours.   

Prepare chalkboard for use by covering surface with chalk, then wiping clean.  

Create decorative push pin by Beacon 527 Adhesive™ to mount a thumb tack to the back of a flat backed glass marble.  

Tie baker’s twine to piece of chalk, tie opposite end around push pin and insert into wood of window. 

Add your message and leave on gift table near the guest book for the guests to add their well wishes to the bride & groom.  

Get Connected to Creativity!

The Designer Crafts Connection website offers  many creative, inspiring projects - each month there is a new opportunity to find links to tons of themed projects!  This month the theme is Patriotic/4th of July and Father's Day.   Find the full link list here (and new links are being added daily so check back in for more ideas!)

Here's just a glimpse of a few projects shared so far this month: