3 Patriotic Washi Tape Coasters

4th of July is my favorite Summer Holiday. I love to decorate my home with Sparkles, Stars and Stripes. I wanted to create Red, White and Blue coasters to bring some Patriotic Spirit to the outdoors.

One of my favorite Craft Supply is Washi Tape. On a trip to my favorite discount store; I stumbled upon a Patriotic Themed Washi Tape package. Along with my current Washi Tape stash, I decided to create two sets of Patriotic Washi Tape Coasters.

Here is what you will need to make your own coasters.

Materials:

• 4 - 4" Square Ceramic Tiles; purchased at Home Depot for 16 cents each.
• Patriotic Washi Tape
• Patriotic Graphics or Clip Art
• Contact Paper
• Tracing Paper
• Mod Podge/Foam Brush
• Pair of Tweezers
• Felt sheets
• Pinking Shears
• Hot Glue Gun
• Polyurethane - I used Minwax Clear Satin
• Small Paint Brush

Instructions:
1. Clean your tiles with bathroom cleaner to get rid of any dust. Let the tiles dry completely.
2. Begin adding your choice of Washi Tape across the tiles; slightly overlapping the stripes.
3. Select the Graphics you wish to trace and use as your tile's foreground. I found mine online.

If you wish to use my images, click on the right arrow to download and print the file.

4. Trace your Graphics using the Tracing and Contact papers by creating layers. Lay the contact paper with backing facing up; add tracing paper and finally your graphics.


5. Flip Contact paper over. Apply Washi tape to cover your traced graphics. I found it helpful to insert a blank sheet of printer paper under your contact paper to make it easier to see your traced lines.


6. Cut your graphics around the traced lines. I used the tweezers to separate your traced images from the contact paper.


7. Begin adding your contact paper images to your tiles.
8. For extra durability, apply 2-3 coats of Polyurethane all over the tiles. Let dry between coats.
9. I glued felt squares to my tiles to protect my furniture from the tile's harsh bottom. Using a tile as a guide trace and cut felt squares to fit each tile.

I love how my Patriotic Coasters turned out. My favorite one is the Firecracker one.  What's yours??? I hope you find some inspiration from this project and give this tutorial a try.

Happy 4th of July...

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3 Love Story Canvas

Happy Valentine's Day!!! I wanted to create something fun for Valentine's Day. I found an opened 12" x 12" canvas at my local Thrift shop for $1.99. What a deal!!!
I thought I create a Mixed Media Collage using Paper Doilies and various types of Embellishments.

Let's begin by gathering the following materials.

Materials:

• 12" x 12" Stretched Canvas
• 1 - 10" White Paper Doily
• 1 - 6" Pink Paper Doily
• Pink and White Adhesive Glitter Shape Hearts
• Recollections Floral Embellishments, purchased at Michael's
• Craft Essentials 3-D Embellishments - Love Story, purchased at Jo-Ann's Fabrics
• 5/8" Pink Buttons
• Hot Glue Gun

• Gesso Canvas Primer
• Folk Extreme Glitter Acrylic Paint - Red
• Mod Podge - Gloss Finish
• Foam Brush
• 2 3" x 3" canvas - optional

Directions:
Apply one coat of Gesso Canvas Primer all over the canvas, let dry completely. Apply two coats of the Extreme Glitter paint. Let dry between coats.

Apply a light coat of Mod Podge to the canvas center, where the large doily will be placed. Add your 10" white doily, smoothing wrinkles with your fingers. Let it dry for 15-20 minutes. Apply a second coat of Mod Podge all over the doily. Let it dry for about 1/2 hour.

Add another light coat to the center of your 10" white doily Apply your 6" pink doily; again smoothing wrinkles as before. Let it dry for 15-20 minutes. Apply another coat of Mod Podge; let it dry for about 1/2 hour.

Apply 1-2 final coats of Mod Podge all over the entire canvas. Let dry between coats.

Note: Any wrinkles will eventually disappear as more coats of Mod Podge are applied.

Begin adding your embellishments. Most of the embellishments I choose came with an adhesive backing. However, I added a bit of hot glue the back to obtain a permanent bond. I started by adding the pink buttons to the white doily.

I applied one of the 3-D Love Story embellishments and a pink heart to the canvas right lower corner.

I then added 4 hearts; 2 of each color to the canvas left and right top corners.

I attached 2 flower embellishments, overlapping each other to the canvas left lower corner; placing a white heart in the middle and two more hearts on the left and right sides of the flower.

Lastly, I applied one more 3-D Love Story embellishment to the center of the pink doily.

Here is the canvas after all the embellishments were added.

I stumbled upon these cute small canvases while shopping at ACMoore and decided they would complement the large one. I applied two coats of the Extreme Glitter paint and added 3-D and Hearts embellishments.

I enjoyed creating this project as it allowed me to choose and add different components to a plain canvas; resulting in a fun Collage.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

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debbie-debbiedoos

5 Grubby Mason Jar Tree

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! I love celebrating Christmas and decorating with handmade primitive crafts. I love the rustic appearance, which adds to the charm of the craft items. This Christmas I wanted to create my very own "Charlie Brown" Tree, with a Country, Grubby look. "Grubby" is another word for primitive crafts that look aged, old or dirty.

My "Charlie Brown" tree was created using Artificial Pine Greenery, a Wooden Spoon and a "Grubby" Mason Jar Base. I embellished the tree with Berries, Metal Stars, Star Anise, and Rusty Bells. I rusted my bells following Primitive Folk Art tutorial.

To begin, I gathered the following materials:

Materials:

• Mason Jar
• Mod Podge
• Instant Coffee Granules
• Foam Brush
• Rub-On Transfers
• Artificial Pine Greenery
• Wooden Spoon
• Martha Stewart's Metallic Glaze in Black Coffee
• Floral Foam Block - $1.00 Dollar Tree
• Berry Stem
• 7/8" Christmas Ribbon
• Hot Glue/Sticks
• Golden Metal Stars
• Star Anise
• Floral Moss
• Rusty Bells
• Glitter
• Wire Cutter

Directions:

1. Pour Coffee Granules into a large plate.
2. Working in sections, apply Mod Podge to Jar
3. Roll Jar into the Coffee Granules until jar is completely covered
4. Let dry overnight and repeat process 4-5 times

5. Please note: some of the coffee granules will fall off and/or melt.
6. When you are happy with the jar's look, apply a final coat of Mod Podge and sprinkle glitter all over the jar. Let dry completely

7. Following Rub-On directions; apply Rub-On transfers to Jar. I decided to add Gingerbread men on each side of the jar, plus a Christmas stocking in the back.
8. The Jar's surface will be rough. Therefore, take your time transferring the rub-ons.
9. Apply a coat of Mod Podge all over the jar to seal the rub-on transfers.


10. Paint the Wooden Spoon with the Metallic Glaze. Let dry completely.
11. Cut floral foam block in half. Glue the two halves together vertically.

12. Using the wire cutter; cut two 4", three 3" and 2" length of greenery.
13. Snip the berries close to the stem.
14. Glue a berry to one end of each greenery lengths, except for one of the 3" length, which will need a berry at both ends.
15. Beginning 3" from the spoon's bottom, start forming your tree by gluing the 4" lengths opposite each other.

16. Continue adding two - 3" lengths spacing 1 1/2" from the 4" lengths. Add two - 2" lengths spacing 1 1/2" from the 3" lengths. Add your final 3" length with the two berries.

17. Insert and glue spoon bottom into foam. Add glue to foam's bottom and insert inside jar. Glue Floral Moss to Jar's top to cover foam.

18. Begin embellishing your tree. Glue stars, rusty bells and Star Anise to the tree branches and spoon's bowl. Add the ribbon to the jar's mouth and embellish as desired.

I love how my "Charlie Brown Tree" turned out. The Grubby Jar adds a rustic primitive look to the tree. This Grubby Tree will add a country charm to my kitchen Christmas Decor.

Here is the back side of the tree and the Grubby Jar.

Merry Christmas!!!!

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