We carry these great paper Mache mailbox sets, so I thought I would decorate them and reminisce a bit.  Hey, maybe I’ll save them and give them to my {future} children to bring to school one day – ha-ha!

Supplies:

• 3 Piece Paper Mache Mailbox Set
• Matte Mod Podge
• Scrapbook Paper  of Your Choice – I used the paper from the Love Complete Scrapbook Kit
• Ribbon – 1” for the Large Mailbox and 5/8” for the Medium Sized Mailbox
• Coordinating Paint (optional)
• Embellishments of Your Choice – I used Foamies Valentine Cookie Magnet Kit , Foamies Valentine Foam Stickers, Scrappy Cat Dimensional Stickers and Darice Silver Glitter Chipboard Letters
• Foam Brush
• Scissors

First, remove the mailbox flag and hardware in order to get a nice, smooth, Mod Podge finish.  They come off pretty easily, I just kind of yanked at them and they popped out. 

Cut your paper to the size of the side of your mailbox; not including the raised, rounded edges.  I used pattered paper for the main center part of the mailbox then used a plain coordinating color for the ends.  Note: for the largest mailbox, you will need two pieces of paper to cover both sides and you will have a small seem.  Using your foam brush put a coat of Mod Podge onto the side of your mailbox then lay your paper on top of it.  Add another layer of Mod Podge over the paper and using a pencil, poke holes in the box where the original flag and hardware holes were.  This will make it much easier when you are ready to reattach the pieces.  Let dry completely.

Trace both ends of the mailbox on the plain colored paper, cut them out, and Mod Podge them to the ends. 

Trace the mailbox flag onto a scrap of the plain colored paper and cut it out.  I painted the back side of the flag a coordinating color, and Mod Podged the cutout piece of paper to the front.  Let dry then reattach the flag and hardware.  Glue your ribbon around the exposed paper Mache edges between the ends and the middle of the mailbox. 

You are now ready to embellish and pretty-up your mailbox however you would like!  The smaller mailbox was more of a test and I didn’t really care for how the color combo came out, so I made it a little more childlike with all the stickers and Foamies.  For the larger, pink mailbox, I really liked the scrapbook paper design and how simple and pretty it was so I didn’t want to do an overkill decorating job.  I just added some sparkly ribbon, a cute Foamies heart to the flag and called it a day! 

I thought this was a pretty fun project so I can only imagine how much kids would love it!  Try it out and give your child’s Valentine cards an extra special home!

We hope that you all had a great weekend and thank you to everyone who entered our Freebie Friday giveaway!

Lucy Says: 28. January 2012 at 7:14 am Great ending to a week of fabulous projects! Thanks for the chance to win some great goodies

Anne's Antiqued Paper Rose Wreath

 AND

Both projects featured Core’dinations Cardstock and since they were such a huge hit, we thought we’d give a nice Core prize pack away for today’s Freebie Friday!  The lucky, randomly chosen winner will receive:

• Core’dinations The Whitewash Collection 20 Sheet Pack
• Core Impressions Pink Paislee (coming to ConsumerCrafts.com soon)
• Core Tags in Brights - Assorted
• Core Tags in White – Medium
• Core’dinations Sand It Gadget
• Core’dinations Sand It Gadget Refill
• Core’dinations Dust Buddy Cloth
• Protect and Store 12×12 Scrapbook Box

To enter, leave a comment below telling us how you would use these awesome Core products!

Giveaway (Sweepstakes) Disclaimer:

• Odds of winning are based on number of entries.
• This giveaway begins: 1/27/12 and ends: 1/30/12 at 9am EST.
• To enter this sweepstakes, leave a comment on this blog post.
• One comment per person, please.
• The winner will be contacted via email
• The retail dollar value of this prize is worth: ~ $50.00
• No purchase is necessary.
• You must be a US resident aged 18 years or older and live in the Contiguous US to be eligible to win. Sorry, my international friends!

Here is a gift bag, a card and bonus mini cards that will really show your Valentine how much you care!

Supplies:

• Core’dinations Ebony & Ivory Cardstock
• Gift Bag
• Felties Valentine Pink Owl
• Felties Valentine Peace Hearts
• Aleene’s Quick Dry Tacky Glue
• Red Marker
• Thickers Alphabet Stickers – Cherry
• Gingham Ribbon
• Fiskars Paper Trimmer
• Sizzix Big Shot Die Cut Machine
• Sizzix Polka Dot Embossing Folder
• Core’dinations Sand it Gadget
• Core’dinations Dust Buddy
• Clever Lever Scallop Punch

 Directions:

1.   Assemble the pink owl.  Adhere pieces together and set aside to dry.

2.  Cut black paper to fit your gift bag.  Cut pink paper to size  similar to one shown. The main card is 6×6″ and the small cards are 3×3″.

3.  Place cardstock in embossing folder and follow manufacturers directions on how to emboss.  Remove from embossing folder.

4.  Use the Sand-It gadget to sand the paper.  Use the Dust buddy to remove the dust.  (I like to tap my Sand-It gadget on the inside of the garbage can to remove the excess dust that can build up on it.)  Repeat this step for all of the cardstock you wish to emboss.

5. Adhere your completed owl to the gift bag and add the sentiment of your choice.

6. Adhere the paper pieces to the 6×6″ card base.  Adhere heart and add sentiment of your choice.

Use the scraps of the paper to make the mini cards. The circles are made with Clever Lever punches. Embellish as desired.

If you would like to see a photos on how to sand the Core’dinations card stock, check out this card.

Supplies:

• Core’dinations 12″ x 12″ Paper – WhiteWash Collection – Color: Barn Siding  – Pack of 20 Sheets (available through our customer service department at 1-888-552-7238)
• 10” Straw Wreath
• Poly Satin Ribbon in Ivory
• 6″ White Sparkle Tulle
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue
• Spray Adhesive
• Martha Stewart Fine Crystal Glitter

I used my paper trimmer to cut the 12″ x 12″ sheets into four equal 6″ x 6″ squares.  I then made a template of a circle on each one (I traced around a CD, but it doesn’t need to be exact by any means).  I then tore out the circles by hand.  Because the paper has a color core, it gives a great antique look when torn.  For an even more antiqued look, sand the circle to distress it and reveal more of the Core’dinations ColorCore center.

To turn these imperfect circles into flowers you want to start at the outer edge and carefully rip them into a spiral.  It is helpful to keep the size of the spiral consistent, so you might want to pencil in the spiral shape before you start tearing.  This process took a while, but it’s an easy one to do while you catch up on some TV.

Next you can start rolling the roses.  Start rolling the flower beginning with the outside edge.  Roll as tightly as possible, keeping the bottom edge aligned at all times.  You can either roll the white or the deep red side toward the inside.  I did both and mixed them up.

When the flower is rolled completely tight, carefully pinch together, then let it go and it will spring into shape. 

You can experiment with how much you want it to open up and manipulate it to how you like.  When you get the rose to its desired size, hot glue the base together.  For more rolled paper rose techniques, click HERE.

Once you have all of your roses assembled, line them up on a piece of newspaper or a drop cloth and lightly spray with the spray adhesive.  While the roses are still tacky with the adhesive, sprinkle them with the Martha Stewart Glitter.  I love, love, love Martha glitter so I used a heavy hand.  Obviously the glitter is not necessary, but even if you don’t glitter them, you will want to give them a little spray just to keep the roses in place.

Next, while your roses dry (about 15 mins) wrap your straw wreath with the satin ribbon.  I like the one I used by Darice, because it is not slippery – it is more of a floral ribbon.  Hot glue the ribbon into place.  Warning- the wreath will shed some, don’t be alarmed.  The ribbon will keep it from continuing to shed. 

Start to assemble your roses onto the wreath.  This part is like a puzzle.  I just kept fitting them in and once I found a spot I liked, I hot glued it in.

Continue to place roses until you have the desired fullness.  You will be surprised by the weight of the overall wreath (that’s a lot of heavy cardstock!).  Overall I used about  75 roses on a 10” wreath.  I added a white tulle bow to hang and finish it off beautifully!

Voila!  This wreath is not only perfect for Valentine’s Day but versatile enough to stay up all year-round!

For this week’s Meet it Monday, Jenny introduced us to a fun new tool: the Sew Easy Stitch Piercer from We R Memory Keepers.  By using the Sew Easy Stitch Piercer and Piercing Mat, you can easily create a perfect stitched look to your paper crafts without having to drag out the sewing machine!  The Sew Easy line also features a variety of attachment heads and threading floss to achieve almost any look.

A card embellished with the Sew Easy Collection

 Today, we’re giving one lucky winner a large Sew Easy starter pack!  The winner will receive:

• Sew Easy Piercing Tool
• Sew Easy Piercing Mat
• Sew Easy Needles
• 8 Packs of Sew Easy Floss (assorted)
• 6 Sew Easy Attachment Heads (assorted)

To enter, leave a comment below telling us how you would use the Sew Easy Collection.

Giveaway (Sweepstakes) Disclaimer:

• Odds of winning are based on number of entries.
• This giveaway begins: 1/13/12 and ends: 1/16/12 at 9am EST.
• To enter this sweepstakes, leave a comment on this blog post.
• One comment per person, please.
• The winner will be contacted via email
• The retail dollar value of this prize is worth: $70.00
• No purchase is necessary.
• You must be a US resident aged 18 years or older and live in the Contiguous US to be eligible to win. Sorry, my international friends!

Craft Test Dummies featured review!

So many of us like the look of stitching on our paper crafts….but it can be tricky to get that look “right”- uneven stitches, problems piercing the paper, inability to make those cool designs. Now, though, there is a cool tool on the block from We R Memory Keepers- the Sew Easy Stitch Piercing Tool that make it tons easier to add that special touch.  Let’s give it the CraftTestDummies once-over and see how it really works!

To use the product successfully, you MUST have both the Paper Piercing Tool and the Pink Piercing Mat.  The tool itself is made of plastic and has 2 parts- the handle and the piercing roller. It comes with a straight line for creating french knots, a running stitch, or backstitch.

To use the tool, you position a piece of paper on top of the mat and apply pressure to the handle while rolling the tool forward or backward. The spines in the roller will pierce the paper and get it ready for you to sew with a needle and floss.

Steady pressure and not moving too quickly works best.

The big question in my mind was “What kind of papers will it work with?” First try with scrapbook-weight paper, and that was easy-peasy.

Nice, clean holes all the way through the scrapbook paper.

So I gave it a good work out on some other papers, as well:

Core'Dinations Cardstock also worked well.

A more complex pattern, on a card blank.

What I found is that thinner paper works best, especially with more complex patterns. Now, after I tested the tool, I actually got to do some stitching! I used the Sew Easy Needles and the Sew Easy Floss. Both were high-quality and easy to use- and certainly on par with other flosses I’ve used.

I really liked that there were diagrams on the package to show you the ways you can use the pierced holes to make a different stitching patters. Here’s how my stitching samples turned out:

From top: a card blank, scrapbook paper, Core'Dinations cardstock, foamies.

You may notice that I even tried the Sew Easy Paper Piercer on a sheet of Foamies! While it did NOT pierce the foam sheet all the way through, it left deep enough indents so that I could use a regular embroidery needle to follow the pattern.  Fun, right?

I used the Sew Easy Paper Piercer to embellish a simple thank you card.

I’m excited to play with it more and add cool stitching to my cards, tags, and scrapbook pages.

What ways could you use the Sew-Easy Paper Piercer?

Depending on the color scheme that you choose, these fun snowflakes can stay up all winter long!  So, are you ready to make this intricate and complex-looking but low effort craft?  Here’s how:

Supplies:

• Darice Cardstock
• Glue Dots
• Paper Cutter (optional)
• Scissors
• Stapler

1. Take 6 pieces of cardstock in your choice of colors – I used white, light blue and dark blue so it can stay up all winter long.  Cut them into a square.  I used an 8.5” x 11.5 piece of paper and made it into an 8.5” x 8.5” square, and it turned out to be a very large snowflake.  Choose the size of your squares depending on how big you want your finished snowflake to be.
2. Fold the square into a triangle, and then fold it again into a smaller triangle.  Note: if your paper is not a perfect square and you have excess on the sides, that is okay, it will not show.
3. Unfold the small triangle so you are working with the big triangle piece.  Cut diagonal lines from the bottom of the fold up to just before the crease of the paper – DO NOT cut all the way to the crease!  Do the same to the other side of the triangle and match up the distance of the slits the best you can.  I cut 4 slits on each side, but that might differ depending on the size of your triangle.
4. Unfold your triangle and starting with the middle, roll the two points together, forming a tube.  Adhere with a glue dot (I started out using tape and it was a little hard to use and you could see it, so glue dots are perfect!).  Flip the paper over- so the next tube will be on the opposite side of the first- make another tube and adhere the point together.  Continue with the rest of the paper, making sure to alternate sides with each cut out.
5. Repeat steps 2 – 4 with the other 5 pieces of cardstock.
6. After all 6 sides of the snowflake are completed, take 3 of them and staple the bottom points together.  Do the same with the other 3, then staple both sets together by matching the center points together.
7. Once the snowflake is fully assembled, staple the snowflake sides together so they look more connected and do not come apart.  The staples should not show.  Add a ribbon or string to hang, and your pretty, 3D snowflake is done!

To use the paint, you’ll need to shake the bottle  for 10 seconds or so to remix the mica particles that have settled to the bottom. The mica reintegrated easily into the paint, and when I poured it into my tray, the paint was smooth and creamy. It’s not as thick as some other mica-infused acrylics on the market, and I’d say the viscosity is somewhere between syrup and honey consistency.

I put my first layer of paint on my recycled box with a foam brush. I found that it went on easily, but because my surface had printing on it, it needed two coats for sure.  I even opted for a third, just using my finger to liberally spread around the paint. (Messy, but fun.) I found that applying the paint in this manner made it look almost like metal foil! The color was rich and vibrant.

Moving on to another “upcycled” craft, I used Precious Metal Colors in green to paint over a plain, glossy black frame. I did no prep to the surface, just brushed the paint on top. It covered the black frame beautifully, and again took 2 coats. Precious Metal Color has a great “grab” to it, and even thought I didn’t sand, it adhered well. You can see the first coat as pictured in the first photo on this post, and the final project is here:

I used the paint for the chipboard letters, too! LOVE!

The packaging says it’s good for non-porous surfaces, so next I literally poured some of the paint in an old votive glass. I swirled it around and then smoothed it out a bit just using my finger. (I use my fingers to paint a lot, as you can see.) Wow! This effect is impressive. The paint actually sticks to the glass, and gives the feeling of silvered glass. The mica flecks show through the glass as well, making it wonderfully glimmery!

To finish off my Precious Metal Colors playdate, I used some nice thick watercolor paper and just painted random swatches, occasionally blending with a water mister. Again, these colors are jam-packed with mica, and you could see them swirling around on the surface. Amazing. I could barely wait for the paint to dry so I could make a mixed-media art tag.

Photos can’t do this paint justice

Fast Facts from the manufacturer, Viva Decor:

• Metal-look water-based “varnish”
• 1-3 hours to dry,  depending on the surface and conditions
• Use a synthetic or foam brush to apply
• Water clean-up
• High opacity
• 28 fabulous colors

I know that you’ll really enjoy Precious Metals paints–and you can get them for a great price at ConsumerCrafts.com!

*Parts of this article were originally published on CraftTestDummies.com.

We love tissue paper crafts – they are cheap, fun and beautiful!  What more could you ask for in a craft, right?  So today, we have a step-by-step tutorial on how to make some super cute tissue paper pomanders. 

Supplies:

• Tissue Paper – We Used the Red/Green/White Assortment Pack
• Floral Wire
• Styrofoam Balls (We Used 6″ for the Red and 4″ for the Green)
• Ribbon
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue
• Scissors

Using 7-8 sheets of tissue paper cut a plentiful amount of approximately 5.5” x 6” rectangles.  (Based on your preference, you can go smaller or larger, but the smaller you go the harder is it to pull the paper apart.

Fold the rectangle accordion style – about ¾” to 1” thick, then wrap the middle with floral wire.  Cut both sides of the paper in the shape of the top of a heart.

Fan out one side and gently pull apart the individual layers of tissue paper.  Do the same with the other end.  Fluff for desired look. Note: this does take a little bit of practice, so if your first rosette does not turn out perfect, just keep trying!

Cut a piece of ribbon at your desired length.  Make a loop and attach it to the Styrofoam ball with hot glue.  Flatten one side of your tissue pom pom rosette and apply a generous amount of hot glue.  Place on Styrofoam ball.  Repeat until the whole ball is covered.

The great thing about this project is that you can personalize this any way you like with the colors, shapes and sizes.  Be creative and experiment!