Recipes and Tips for the Crafter

So many times we run out of things at the most inopportune time, or your in a small town and you don't have access to a lot of products and you have to order what you need.  What ever it maybe we have all been in that situation at one time or another.  Here are a few things to help you out when your in a pinch.

Have you ever ran out of Snow Paste and it's midnight, nothings open, well here is a tip and I use it all the time now, I just seem to like it so much better than the store stuff.

Materials Needed:

2 Styrofoam balls (the coarse kind)

Container

White Glue

Craft Stick

You sand your Styrofoam balls together over a container for the shavings, once you have the amount of shavings you need, add your white glue and mix to farm a paste.  That's it, how simple is that.  Store in and airtight container.

Sometimes I will add Mica Flakes or Glitter for some variations. I pick up Styrofoam at the dollar store or when I find it on sale, so I always have a supply of stashed away.

Grubby Snowman Heads

Materials needed

Styrofoam Balls approx. size 2.5 to 3.0 inches

Joint Compound or Plaster

You can coat your Styrofoam balls with your joint compound or plaster and let dry. I like to insert a stick in the styrofoam balls so it is easier to coat the balls and let them dry. Once your heads are dry then you are ready to paint them, you can hand paint or spray paint the heads completely.(This also will help your joint compound and plaster cure and get hard.)

Add your faces and ear muffs, hats and what ever else you want to decorate your heads with and also remember you can shade your snowman heads too. If these are going to be an ornie then attach your hanger and your ready to go.

Grubby Jars

Material Needed

Jar

Old Cookie Sheet

Sponge Brush

Wax Paper

Glue

Cinnamon

Ginger, Nutmeg, allspice - optional

Spray sealer

Take your jar that you want to have the grubby look and paint a thin even coat of white glue over the whole jar. Then put your spices in the bottom of the cookie sheet and roll your jar in the spices until the whole jar is covered with spices and tap off the excess and let dry approx. 1 hour. Then repeat the process until you have achieved the desired look that you want, once that has been completed use your spray sealer and seal your project and let dry and you might want to put two to three coats, letting each one dry completely before you put the next coat on. The type of spray sealer is for your desired look, I like the Satin or Matt sprays the best, gloss and high gloss are just to glossy for me, but it is your preference and the look that you want.

Variations: You can use instant coffee grounds to dust with and it will make a darker look for your project.

You can also mix glue and your spices together and paint this on in thin layer and let dry and repeat the process until you have the desired look you want and then seal once completely dry. If you put this mixture on to thick it will slide down the jar and glob around the bottom and peel off, so your key to success is to apply think layers and let dry dry between applications.

We hope these tips and recipes help you with your up coming projects.

Enjoy and Happy Crafting