Alcohol Ink Stamped Candle Holders

We created alcohol ink stamped candle holders for Mother's Day and end-of-the-year teacher gifts this year. These were SOOOO easy to make! And took no time at all!

Here's what you will need:
--Adirondack Alcohol Inks
--Alcohol Ink stamp handle
--felt pads to stamp with
--clear glass candle holder (I got ours at Dollar Tree and Target)
--votive candle (or LED votive candle)

We first played around with alcohol inks a couple years ago when we made all kinds of coasters. Check out this post for more in-depth information about playing around with alcohol inks.

For this project, I purchased a bunch of glass candle holders from Dollar Tree and Target (for $1.69 each). We used up to three colors of ink on the alcohol ink stamp pad (similar to this photo from our initial coaster project):

Then we simply stamped the ink around the glass. Let it dry and you have AMAZING results! It took maybe 10 minutes for the girls to each make 3 candle holders. This is definitely something you could make in bulk for party favors or gifts!

Here are the dramatic results! Forgive the multiple photos. You know how I LOVE LOVE LOVE to photograph glass art. Unfortunately, it was a really cloudy day when I took these or they could have been even more fabulous. Oh well. ;-)

 Here are the smaller versions from Target that we also gave to people:

I also bought a clear glass plate from Kohl's (for $10) and used alcohol inks on the bottom of the plate and gave it to my mom for Mother's Day. I will have to make more of these because I think they are so pretty!

I did seal the bottom of the plate with a coat of polyurethane spray so that she could wash the plate if she used it for serving desserts or anything like that. I did not seal the candles. We just let the recipients know that they shouldn't leave them outside or get them wet.

Such an amazingly easy project!

Craft Project: DIY Nail Polish Wash Necklaces & Magnets

Have I mentioned that I am my younger daughter's Girl Scout troop leader this year? Well, actually one of four leaders. We are doing a co-op leader thing, which has been great! Every year, our service unit puts on a holiday boutique for the girls. Troops create something to "sell" at the boutique and each troop has a booth set up to sell their wares. Each girl brings an envelope with some amount of money up to $20 in it. The girls walk around to the different booths and buy different crafts to give other people for the holidays. When they spend their money, they are done shopping and they get to eat holiday cookies. :-) The money collected is donated to a charity of the hosting troop's choice. This year the 363 Day Program was chosen. And can you believe it, in just under 2 hours, our service unit collected $3,127 for this charity! 2 hours, people. That is just amazing to me!

We gave the girls four different options for craft projects to create for the holiday boutique. They chose to create washer necklaces and gem magnets. These were soooo easy to create! And at minimal cost too.

Washer Necklaces--
What you will need:
--different size washers (I even found a mixed-size container of washers at the Dollar Store! But they aren't as nice of quality as the washers I bought at Home Depot)
--colored nail polish (again, I found this at the Dollar Store! GREAT find!)
--glitter nail polish
--clear nail polish
--string, yarn, twine--something to string the washers on for necklaces


Step one:
You can either spray paint the washers ahead of time. We did this for the girl scouts, but not the necklaces I painted with my daughters. Either way works just fine. The sprayed painted necklaces have a nicer finish on the back side. So it just depends on how picky you are with the finished look.
Here is a great tutorial for spray painting them.

Step two:
If you haven't spray painted the washers, paint a nice thick base coat of one color on the washer. Or, start using multiple colors to create stripes or a design. Let dry several minutes (Usually 10 minutes max was good) and you can then paint other designs or layers over the base coat. Sometimes you may have to put on more than one coat.

Step three:
If you like, once your design dries, paint a layer of glitter polish over the top to give it some sparkle!

Step four:
Once all layers have dried, paint a nice thick coat of clear polish over the top to seal it all and give it a nice shine.

Step five:
Leave it overnight. The next day, hang them on a string or chain of some kind and you have a great necklace!

Here are all the AMAZING necklaces my girl scouts created! These are seven and eight year olds!

Variations:
--You can layer multiple sized washers to make your necklace more interesting
--You can add beads to the string if you like
--My daughters were intrigued when I showed them this post. They set out to use toothpicks to swirl the paint. And it turned out amazing! The problem with taking pictures and then posting later is that I cannot seem to find where the photos are that I took. I know I took close-up photos of this but can't find them now.
--You can use a hair dryer to dry the layers more quickly if you're in a hurry.

You can see the toothpick swirl technique used in these Mickey Mouse necklaces we created. (We found this idea for the Mickey necklaces here.)

For the swirl technique, we just painted on a base layer of white nail polish. We were liberal with the application, then add about 4 dots of color evenly around the washer (we just used red with these Mickey necklaces, but you can use multiple colors and swirl together). Add the dots of color immediately after you paint the base color. Use a toothpick to gently swirl the colored dots around the white. Sidenote: To finish the Mickey necklaces, I used wire from a picture hanging kit I bought at the Dollar Store.

You can also see how we displayed the necklaces both for the girl scout boutique and for holiday gifts for family. I just cut up thick scrapbook paper. Added 2 slits on the top. I twisted the excess necklace on the back and secured it with a piece of tape. For the gifts we gave to family, we added our "Created by" stamps.

My older daughter is currently in an "all things Minion" stage, so of course, we had to make a Minion necklace too! ;-)

And if the links above didn't satisfy you, here are two more for you to see: here and here.

Gem Magnets--
What you will need:
--clear glass gems (may be able to find at the Dollar Store, otherwise Michaels carries these)
--round magnets (Michaels sells two sizes, get the larger size. The smaller size will not hold much to a magnet board as the gem is too heavy)
--colored nail polish
--glitter nail polish
--clear nail polish
--E6000 glue

The gem magnets were even easier than the necklaces. Here's a link to a tutorial. All you have to do is paint a layer of glitter paint first. Let that dry for a few minutes. Then paint colored nail polish over the glitter layer. You can create patterns if you like. You may have to paint a few coats to get the polish thick enough to not be see-through. Once dry, you can seal with a coat of clear polish if you like. Let sit overnight. Once dry, use a small dab of E6000 glue to apply the magnet to the back.

Here are the girl scouts' creations:

I LOVED both the necklaces and the magnets! We created both for many people we gave Christmas gifts to, including teacher gifts along with a Starbucks gift card. We received wonderful feedback that everyone really liked them. I highly recommend this project for nearly all ages!

The Best of Pour Paint

We LOVE pour-paint projects around here! They are messy, fun, and they always turn out beautiful! I thought it would be fun to post them all together in a "Best of" post! Click on project titles to head to the post and directions for the project!

Pour-Paint Vases

Pour-Paint Glassware
Wine Glasses

Cosmo Glasses

Pour-Paint Christmas Ornaments

Pour-Paint Pumpkins

Pour-Paint Flower Pots

Pour-Paint Handmade Cards

Craft Project: Pour Paint Glass Flower Vases

We've created pour paint wine glasses and pour paint flower pots. I thought it would be fun to combine the two and create pour paint glass flower vases! We gave these away for mother's day gifts!

Here's one of them with flowers in it after we gave it to my stepmom:

In the above photos, I just masked the bottom of the vases. Below, I masked the top and bottom of the vases. We poured paint along the sides with a spoon as we did for the wine glasses we made in another project.

 

Just be sure to cut along the edge of the tape before you pull it up, after the tape has dried.

I happened to be at the Dollar Tree and noticed they had cosmo-style glasses. I decided that we needed to make pour paint cosmo glasses to add to my glassware collection!

 I really LOVE how these turned out! They are so fun to drink out of!

Craft Project: DIY "Faux" Stained Glass Frames

Anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time knows we LOVE sun catchers or anything pretty and sparkly in a window. :-) A year and a half ago, we worked on a faux stained glass project with black glue and permanent markers. The girls' projects have been hanging in my kitchen window over the sink ever since. I decided it was time for something new to look at. :-) We had a teacher workshop (no school) day at the end of February, and inspired by this post at Play at Home Mom, I thought this would be the perfect project for the girls.

What you'll need for this project:
--pictures frames (any size)--I got ours at Dollar Tree, we used 8 x 10
--clear glue
--Glass mosaic tiles or gems--We used the glass tiles and gems shown below from Michael's at $2.99 a bag. I think we used 4-5 bags total with some of certain colors leftover). You can also buy glass gems at Dollar Tree. At our Dollar Tree, the colors are limited to blue and green and maybe clear. I wanted a greater variety in color for the girls so I shelled out for the Michael's brand. ;-)
--Gorilla Glue
--suction cups (also found at the dollar store)
--sorting dish (optional)--you can even have the children sort the tiles/gems by color as an added educational activity. I found my tray at the dollar store as well.

This project is GREAT for all levels as you can do as much or as little to help the kids with it. Since my girls are 9 and 7, I let them do most of it. If you are adapting it for smaller children you can just let them put the gems wherever, and either add the glue yourself or let them do it. I have somewhat perfectionist little artists, so I had them plan ahead.

Step 1) This is actually for the parent. I used gorilla glue to go around where the frame and the glass would meet to create a seal. This way, when the clear glue is applied, it will not leak. I didn't take a photo of this step before we were finished. You can see it below in the photo that shows the finished underside with the suction cups. I did this step the day before I wanted the girls to do the project so the glue would have time to cure.

Step 2)--for older (or more particular) children--I had the girls plan out their design on a piece of white paper.

Step 3) Spread a good amount of clear glue on the TOP of the glass in the frame. So the frame creates an edge for the glue. We put enough to cover the glass and then some. After squirting from the bottle, the girls used a foam brush to spread it around.

Step 4) Add your tiles/gems to the glue on TOP of the glass in the frame.

Step 5) We added a bit more glue over the top and between the tiles. Just to make sure everything was sealed for sure.

This step might have been overkill, but I plan to have these hanging in my window for at least a year. I don't want any of the tiles to start to fall out. My window does get some sun, though it is not direct light for the entire day, just in the morning hours. I'm hoping it holds with all the UV exposure.

Step 6) Let dry for several days. This step actually didn't take quite as long as I anticipated. After dealing with the cookie cutter suncatchers, I think these dried even faster than those. Two days maybe. Though I left them on the art room table in the sun so that may have sped up the drying process a bit.

Step 7) I used gorilla glue to secure suction cups to the back. I used larger ones at the top and smaller on the bottom. These 8 x 10 stained glass frames are pretty heavy so I wanted to make sure they would stay in the window.

I included a couple extra photos so you can see the seal I created under the glass and along the frame edge as well. It's not pretty on the underside. Remember gorilla glue will expand when it dries.

And here are the finished frames in my window! I LOVE these! They are so bright and fun. Just makes me happy to look up and see them in the window.

 My nine year old created the one below. In her words, "just a design":

And this is my 7 year old's. She called hers "Garden". You can make out flowers with a green leaf by each one. And there's a dragonfly in the lower left on the side. And a butterfly on the right side above the red flower.

This project is perfect for any child who likes a tactile experience. Also, it's a good sensory experience with putting the tiles in the clear glue. I tried to take a couple photos to show the depth of the tiles in the frames and the tactile nature.

Now, if you are worried about the weight of these in your window. Or you might like a less "messy" version. OR you are short on time for a gift idea, I have a SHORT-CUT to this project. This came about just this afternoon when my daughter had a friend over and they were looking for a project to do in the art room.

I quickly pulled out some 5 x 7 Dollar Store frames. Cut contact paper (you can get this at the Dollar Store too!) to fit the glass in the frame. Taped the contact paper down with the sticky side up. They cut out tissue paper however they wanted, in the shapes they wanted, and placed the pieces on the contact paper.

 My daughter used scrapbook punches to cut out these circles in the tissue paper:

Because both my daughter and her friend left "holes" where the contact paper showed through, when I turned it over it stuck to the glass. This was a nice way for it to be secured in place while I put it in the frame. I also trimmed any excess tissue paper that hung over the edge of the frame glass.

This can be adapted for different ages. If you have smaller children, you can cut the tissue paper yourself and just have them put the pieces on the contact paper. You can have them rip the tissue paper into small pieces first for a more organic feel to the work. They can practice using the scissors by cutting the tissue paper themselves.

Once the contact paper is covered with tissue paper, you can turn it over and put it on the BACK of the glass going into the frame. Then put the prongs down to hold it all in place. The contact paper stayed in place with the frame prongs. You could use tape to secure the contact paper more. I probably will glue it just to really secure everything. You can secure it however you like, depending on how much time you have. These would make fun gifts for Mother's Day or an end-of-the-year gift for teachers.

I think these turned out great! And are super fun in the window with the light shining through. The cool thing about these too, they look pretty neat in the window even when it's dark out. Sorry I don't have a photo of this. But the tissue paper appears opaque and you can still see the design when it is dark outside.