3D Cardboard Stars

If your like me and you love those metal stars for decorating but find them way to pricey, then here is an alternative that is really easy to make and costs almost nothing.

What you'll need is a star template, some cardboard, and some metallic craft paints.  Of course you'll need some scissors and some primer too but I just used what I had. I printed my smaller star on the computer but to make a larger one I added an inch to each point and valley, then connected the dots.

For my cardboard I used the side of a box of frozen chicken nuggets for the two smaller stars and a side of a beer box for the larger one. You'll want the sturdy cardboard these boxes are made of.   My stars are about 8 and 30 inches.
Open up your cardboard box and lay it flat so you can trace your star template on the back side.  The front of most of these boxes is waxed and hard to draw on.
Cut out your stars and then using something with a firm edge score each star from the V to the point ...repeating for all five points.

Fold on your scored lines so you have valley's between the points.  This will make sense once you start folding and see what happens.  When your done folding you will have the 3D star shape you want.
Now paint a couple of coats of your primer on the front of the cardboard.  Paint on what was the waxed or printed side of your box. I used a thick version of my DIY chalky paint adding a little more Plaster of Paris than I usually do.

For the metallic look I used two different colours, a bronz gold and a champagne.  I used a stencil brush and loaded it with both colours at the same time and pounced it onto the stars.

I painted the little ones with a white primer but thought it would be better to use a dark green for the base. This way when I dabbed on the metallic paints it had a bit of patina. For the smaller ones I added tiny bits of green trying to get the right look.

I love how the paint looks like hammered metal.

Once all the paint is dry the stars are really sturdy.  I just added a bit of twine on the backs with my glue gun so I could hang them.

I think they look really good and am pleased to say that I fooled a few people who actually thought they were metal until I told them otherwise.

One piece... Three Projects. -part three - Paint Caddy

A while back I traded up for a vintage style wash stand. If you read that post you will remember that it was really wobbly and missing a few pieces to fix it entirely.
The bottom part of the wash stand was done over and used (once again) as a wash stand. See that post here.

The second part of that project was the Tween Vanity I created by using the mirror from the wash stand on a early 1900's oak desk.  See that post here.

From the beginning I said  I could get at least three projects from the wash stand.  Well I still have a bunch of little spindles left over from the mirror.  This is what I did with one little piece.

I attached four soup cans to the bottom of the spindle with little  screws, and spray painted it. I threw some pencils and things in it to see how well balanced I had it..  but it was a bit wobbly so I wrapped the cans in jute twine to keep everything together and stable.  Of course I wrapped the handle too, just because I wanted too.

Now I have this cute little caddy that holds all my painting tools.  Lovin' how I can grab them and go  to where ever my current project is happening.

This little caddy could be used for picnic cutlery, for makeup brushes, or for art supplies. What would you use it for?


And there are still spindles left.  I'm sure I will think of another use for them.

Wax Paper Transfers

I've been wanting to try using wax paper to transfer an image to a project for some time now.  There are many tutorials out there for this method so I read three or four different ones and the consensus is that it is a really simple method and requires no expensive tools other than your computer and printer.

Some of the instructions said to attach your wax paper to a normal sheet of printer paper and others said it wasn't necessary.  I tried it both ways and they both worked but it is much simpler to just cut your wax paper to the right size and use it on its own. I stood right at the printer in case it jammed but it went through just fine.  Remember to print using a mirror image if you have text or everything will be backwards when you transfer it and also to print on the side of your paper that has the waxy surface. This is what you are going to rub onto your surface.

The first one I tried was this grocery sign because it was an easy project, and if it didn't turn out, all I had to do was paint over it.  This is a fairly rough piece of wood and it still transferred really well.
At first I thought it was a little on the light side but the print darkened considerably when I added the wax finish.

Since the "grocery" sign worked so well I decided I wanted to try it again to make sure I had it right.  I love serving trays and wanted to make one with a farmhouse vibe.  I chose a nice long board and painted it this pretty "Queen Anne's Lace" colour I've been using for my basic white. And printed a Milk and Cream Co. onto my waxed paper.

I had two door handles in my stash.  I taped off the white enamel on the handles but painted the ugly 70's gold over with black spray paint. These handles attached from the back and I wanted to screw them in directly so I used a metal bit and pre-drilled some holes.  If you do this be sure to paint your screws too.

I painted the grain sack stripe down the side of the board allowing me to place my image off center.

I taped my wax paper image and using a plastic measuring spoon  rubbed the image onto my board.

I sanded a bit over the stripes and  it's ready for some finishing touches.  I used a  coat of finishing wax to protect the surface and added the handles.  Then I turn it over and added little felt dots to the corners.  This protects any surface you sit your tray on and also prevents it from sliding around on your counter etc.

Anyone for iced tea?

Now that I know how easy this transfer method is I will definitely being using it for more projects.  There are so many free graphics to use and you could also use it to transfer script as well.  Way easier than trying to free hand everything.