Gone Fishin' by Sherri Reehil-Welser

The warm weather is upon us and kids are ready for the fishing poles!! We have quite a few beautiful little waterways for the kids to go fishing at around here and thought it would be fun to create some colorful fish before actually being able to throw the line in!

These “rainbow” fish are created using a large fish stencil and kraft paper. The kids then traced and cut out their fish two at time as these fish would be stapled together and stuffed! Next comes the fun and creative part of coloring and making the fish their own with designs, buttons and Art Glitter!

There is never a shortage of colors when using Art Glitter... and they fit the project we had in mind with the fish perfectly! Fish often “shimmer and glimmer”  in the sun after being caught and that is exactly what our fish did when we applied Designer Dries Clear Adhesive and Art Glitter! Topped with old buttons it added some interest and fun to our project~ even though we all know “fish don’t have buttons”.

After designing the fish we stapled them together but left a hole big enough to stuff them with shredded paper.  And for the final touch we hung them from an “old fashioned” fishing pole! This was a very easy project and the kids had a blast creating their fish and hanging them from the poles! In the end we thought it would be fun to hang the pole from the art room’s wall as if someone had just caught the fish!

Love Cross by Emma McDonald

Many of my friends decorate a focal wall in their homes with an assortment of crosses. They vary from big, small, old, new, tribal, Celtic, wooden, painted, mosaic-ed, and now…….. yes you guessed it! SHABBY CHIC-ed and GLITTERED!

Mixing the old world rustic with a punch of red glam is a perfect recipe for this graceful and timeless piece.

Materials used:

Art Glitter: Red Kooky Ultrafine Opaque
Designer Dries Clear Adhesive
wooden cross
small wooden heart
strips of burlap
small piece of scrap wood

acrylic artist paint: white, dark brown, 2 shades of red (I used Liquitex, BASICS: Titanium White, Naphthol Crimson, Burnt Umber/ Liquitex, Soft Body: Quinacridone Crimson)
glazing medium (I used Liquitex: Glazing Medium)
spray bottle of water
paintbrushes
hot glue gun/sticks
paper towels

First, base coat the cross with white paint twice and let dry.  Then squeeze red (Quinacridone Crimson) paint directly on the heart and use brush to spread it out around the edges. Leave the paint shallow in the middle creating an empty heart in the center that will later be filled with…..-GLITTER!

Use a brush to mix in the other shade of red (Naphthol Crimson) along the edges of the heart. Set aside to dry. Remember the thicker amounts of paint will take longer to dry. Mine took about 24 hours.

Mix equal parts of glazing medium with dark brown (Burnt Umber) paint. Quickly brush a thin layer over the entire cross. Before it dries, spray water over the brown. Let it sit a couple of minutes.

Then use a paper towel and gently wipe away the water and any wet paint. This will leave you with a distressed weathered look. Repeat until you get the effect you want. If you want to apply this technique on a bigger surface, just work on small sections at a time. I suggest experimenting on an old piece of wood first until you get a feel for the technique.

After the painted heart has dried completely, use Designer Dries Clear to fill in the concave portion of the heart.

While glue is still wet sprinkle the Red Kooky Ultrafine Opaque. Let dry. Tap heart to remove excess glitter onto a piece of paper that is folded in half. Now take the paper, slightly folding it, and pour glitter back into its container. A soft and dry brush can also be used to dust off remaining glitter when dry.

Brush on the Designers Dries Clear to adhere the strips of burlap around the ends of the cross. Let dry.  Finally, hot glue the scrap piece of wood to the center of cross and then glue the heart to the middle of the scrap piece. This will give a 3-dimentional look to it. The scrap piece needs to be smaller than the heart, so it will be hidden from view.

Glitter has an amazing ability to captures light brilliantly…..so keep that in mind when you decide where to hang it.

Wish Big by Connie K.

Remember when I told this time of year I have lots of birthday celebrations in my family...well here is a little birthday banner that can hang in a place of honor for the birthday boy or girl...

It could be a countdown calendar that can have the days leading up to the big numbered from 14 through your birthday...just tear off each day as you count down...this way the celebration can last for a few weeks.

You can add numbers to the previous days or even photos from past birthdays.

I have the final page shown here...which is all glammed up with baby blue ultrafine opaque glitter.

These are the supplies you will need to gather:

chip board base 8.5 X 7
pink paislee paper soiree collage
pink paislee paper words
tim holtz binder mechanism
2 white buttons
1 pink button
black cardstock
black and white bakers twine
die cut celebrate, silhouette
8 inches ivory crepe paper
5 inhes black ribbon
black archival ink
white card stock
designers dries clear adhesive
#33 baby blue ultrafine opaque glitter
#92 bananan ultrafine transparent glitter
12 inches black wire
2 inch scalloped paper punch
pink paislee soiree clear stamps
white craft paint
pink spray paint

Lets get started...

Spray paint your binder mechanism with pink spray paint. Next you will need to paint the back and edges of the chipboard shape with white craft paint. Once this is dry cover with the yellow  with white dot soiree paper. Adhere the binder mechanism to the upper part of the chip board... approximately 1 inch from the top. Cut a piece from the the words paper 4.5 X 3.75, round the lower corners and adhere just below the binder mechanism. Adhere the word celebrate below this...about 1.5 inches from the lower edge.

Using archival jet black ink stamp the numbers under the left side of the word celebrate. Also using the small flags in the stamp set stamp binders on each side of the pink dotted paper as show in the sample.

I put a small bead of designer dries clear adhesive along the edge of the banner and glittered with #92 bananan glitter, set this to the side to dry.

Using a 2 inch scalloped punch, cut one from the black cardstock and another circle from the yellow dot.

Make a rosette using the crepe paper and attach to the center of the yellow scalloped circle and layer on top of the black with a foam dot. Take the black ribbon and knot it in the middle, trim the tails and adhere to the banner piece with a hot glue gun. Then adhere the rossette to the top. Thread the pink button with bakers twine and tie a bow and adhere to the center of the rosette.

Thread the remaining two buttons with bakers twine and tie bows, adhere to the binder mechanism as shown in the sample. I used my glue gun for this.

On your computer print out the birthday sentiment* (the dimensions are 4 X 4), I rounded the lower outside corners. Once it was printed I went over each letter with designers dries clear adhesive and glittered with the #33 baby blue ultrafine opaque glitter.

Punch and hang on the binder.

Finally I added a wire which is adhered to the back for hanging...

Light Up The Night Sky by Sherri Reehil-Welser

Nothing is as pretty as a “shimmer of light on a summer evening” especially when in the garden. Creating these glittering candle holders was a lot of fun with the kids and so easy to create! The look we were wanting to achieve was a stained glass effect with the added bonus of YES you guessed it glitter!! We began with clear glass candle holders (any size), colored tissue paper ( torn into small pieces), Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Adhesive, Art Glitter Dazzlers (we used D55 “Queen’s Robe”), bead trim and several paint brushes to apply the adhesive.

Gather all the supplies and start by tearing the different colors of tissue paper into random small pieces. Then apply Designer Dries Clear Adhesive and tissue paper to the glass candle holder covering and over lapping tissue paper pieces until the outside of the container is covered. Let dry and apply several more coats, smoothing out after each coat. For the final coat, the glitter is applied.

After coating with adhesive sprinkle glitter over the entire outside of glass candle holder. Let dry, then measure out the ribbon/bead trim around the top of the candle holder. Cut to fit and apply with designer adhesive, smooth out and let dry. You now have a beautiful candle holder to light the night sky in shimmering style!! These also make an awesome Mother’s day Gifts for the kids to make!!

Sea Sprite Napkin Rings by Emma MacDonald

Have you ever picked a color at the nail salon solely based on the name of the nail polish? Well, I have! (Cajun Shrimp is my new favorite-as you can see by the pics below!) Colors inspire me tremendously, but when they’re also paired with a clever name, it becomes creative destiny! And glitter is no different. I was shopping on artglitter.com and the name, “Sea Sprite,” captured my eye! I automatically knew I wanted to create something “nautical,” with it!

Bring a touch of coastal living to your kitchen or patio table with these nostalgic napkin rings.

Materials used:
-Art Glitter: Vintage Glass Glitter, Sea Sprite (621)
-Art Glitter: Vintage Glass Glitter, Diamond Dust (613)
-Designer Dries Clear Adhesive
-wooden napkin rings
-small white sea shells
-strips of burlap
-jute
-tape
-paintbrush
-condiment cups
-scissors
-hot glue gun/sticks
-spray lacquer

All of these items can be picked up at any retail craft store.  But if you are vacationing at the beach this year, save some money and find your own shells.

Apply tape to the middle of the napkin rings, leaving a thin border on both ends and brush Designer Dries Clear over it.

Pour a small amount of Sea Sprite (621), Vintage Glass Glitter, into a condiment cup.  I love using these cups because they make transporting glitter back to their containers- a cinch!  While the glue is still wet, dip the ends into the glitter.  Remove tape and let it dry.

Brush a thin layer of Designer Dries Clear over the tops of the shells and dip it into the Diamond Dust (613), Vintage Glass Glitter. Let it dry.

Now use Designer Dries Clear again to glue the burlap strips to the center of the napkin rings.  Tie a small piece of jute around the center of the each ring and cut off the tails. Finally, hot glue the glittered shell over the knot.  Let it dry.

NOTE: Please use caution with Vintage Glass Glitter and eating utensils. Make sure to brush off any excess glitter after it has dried and give it a quick coat of spray lacquer for safety reasons. Another alternative is an Ultrafine Art Glitter choice...enjoy!

Falling Into Place by Sherri Reehil-Welser

One of the great things about creating is finding unique uses for things that might very well be thrown away! Kids love puzzles but how many times do puzzles come up  with missing  pieces and then they are hard to use again as a complete puzzle. The kids loved the idea of this project (I think some of the kids wanted an excuse to use the pieces from complete puzzles to make their jewelry!!) This is a very easy project for ages 5 on up and half the fun is finding  the” best” pieces to design with!

I have put a small list of supplies together below :

~Art Glitter: Ultrafine Glitter, Dazzlers
~Puzzle Pieces
~Designer Dries Clear Adhesive poured into a plastic container
~Earring Hooks- Silver or gold toned
~Jump rings- 3mm or larger
~Paint brushes for applying the Designer Dries Clear
~ Metal hole punch pliers ( 1.25 mm)

1) After choosing your puzzle pieces (1 or 2  puzzle pieces per side) stamp a hole with the metal hole punch at the very top (while still maintaining a solid hole) where the jump ring and earring hook will attach.

2)  Use the paint brushes to coat the backs of the pieces with the Designer Dries Clear and let dry. 1-2 coats should work well.

3) After the backs are completely dried turn over the pieces to work on the front.

4) Paint Designer Dries Clear to the fronts and immediately apply the pieces with Art Glitter, have fun and find new ways to apply the glitter to the pieces, (dipping corners, sprinkling on top, only doing half of the pieces etc...). Backs can be done too!  Another creative idea one of the girls had was to make” dangling” puzzle piece earrings by fitting 2 pieces diagonally together and gluing in place. You then would design it as the others.

5) Before the top dries another addition can be Glass Micro Beads or seed beads sprinkled on to further enhance your design!

6) When completely dry it is time to assemble to earrings: open one jump ring for each earring (open by sliding side to side not by pulling apart) and place the jump ring through the top of the hole in the puzzle piece. Next attach the earring hook to the jump ring and  slide from side to side to close the jump ring back up.

~ You now have a very fun and funky pair of earrings to wear and you will never look at puzzles the same way again ~

Enjoy and get creative!

Sweet & Sassy Tulle Pom-Poms by Emma McDonald

This project was inspired by my “now” 5 year old niece’s Strawberry Shortcake birthday party this year. My sister-in-law asked me to come up with some decorative ideas using rolls of tulle. So of course I searched the web and saw a picture of these simple and playful tulle pom-poms. I immediately remembered making some similar out of yarn, years back, using a pom-pom maker. But being the frugal crafter that I am, I decided to make my own instead.

These sugary sweet pom-poms will sure to be a hit at your next baby, bridal, or birthday bash!

Materials used:

-Art Glitter: Confection DAZZLERS (D29)

-Designer Dries Clear Adhesive
-rolled tulle 

-embroidery thread or twine
-cardboard
-pen
-scissor
-paintbrush

-tray

To make your own pom-pom maker you’ll need some cardboard.  I took a box, flattened it out, and used various sizes of bowls to trace onto it.  Just make sure you make 2 of each size.  Draw a smaller circle into the centers of each and cut out the inner and outer circles until it resembles a donut.  Determine how big or small you want your pom-poms to be and size the cardboard donuts accordingly.

Place the 2 matching donuts together and wrap it completely with a strip of tulle. (1  yard of tulle was used for this small pom-pom….remember the bigger the donut the more tulle you will need to wrap.)

 Cut between and around the two cardboard donuts.

Spread the donut pieces away from the center and use thread to tie together.  Keep in mind the length in which you wish to hang it later.

Lightly brush the Designer Dries Clear over the top of the tulle and remove cardboard donut.

Sprinkle Confection DAZZLERS onto a clean, dry tray.  While the glue is still wet, press the tulle into the glitter.  Shake off excess and repeat on the other side.  Hang, spread tulle apart, and let dry.

I especially love how this glitter gives the appearance of sugar!  Which is perfect for such a sweet little girl’s party?

Now display them as you wish: staggering the different sizes over a cake table, string small pom-poms together to make a garland, or hang large ones from trees.  Whatever you decide, you can’t go wrong with these! And when the party’s over- hang them as décor in your child’s  room, or give them away as a favor to your guests.