Picture Frame

Materials Needed:
• picture frame
• scrap pieces of paper
• Mod Podge
• vinyl contact paper
• etching cream
• silk flowers
• rhinestones
• craft knife
• 2 photos
• cardboard
• hot glue & hot glue gun



This is a frame I made for my little sis who is going to camp for 3 weeks. I wanted it to be fun and funky and several layers. I bought a frame that was simple but had a 3-dimensional quality since I had planned to make it with layers. Then I grabbed my scrap pieces of paper and Mod Podge and decoupaged the frame (I took out the glass and mat board and back piece off). On the back area where the back piece would fit in I tried to keep any paper and Mod Podge off of it (it didn't work out to well but I will get to that).

While I waited for the sides to dry I got the glass and cleaned it thoroughly and then placed the vinyl contact paper on top of the glass where I wanted to etch the glass (it's a bit hard to see all the etching in the photo above but it adds a nice frosted layer to the frame). When they vinyl contact paper was in place and the bubbles smoothed out I drew a leaf vine type design on 2 of the corners and then got my craft knife and cut out the design. Next I got the etching cream and brushed it on according to the instructions and waited the directed amount of time. Then I rinsed it off thoroughly in warm water and took the stencil off then cleaned the glass again.

When the frame was dried I placed the etched glass into the frame. Then I printed out the photos I wanted to use. One for the foreground cut out collage style and black and white and the other to be the main picture. Then I figured out where I wanted the front picture to be placed and hot glued cardboard behind it to make it more 3-dimensional.

Once the pictures were in place I put the back of the frame on, which as you know I had some issues with- I guess some Mod Podge or paper got into the spot or something. So I grabbed my craft knife and trimmed the back board to fit into the frame snugly.

Once that was all done I hot glued little purple bows and some of those silk flowers I have lying around and rhinestones on top. Now she will have a nice handmade picture frame to bring with her to camp.

Super Simple Pocket Notebook

Materials Needed:
• thin cardboard
• decorative paper
• hole punch
• paper of your choice for inside
• glue
• ribbon
• sticker or other decorations (optional)


* front


* back

So this little pocket notebook is a really easy one to make. I just grabbed some thin cardboard laying around and cut it to the size I wanted my notebook to be. Then I cut out an exact replica so I have 2 pieces of thin cardboard for front and back of my book. Next I got my decorative paper and glued it onto each piece of cardboard separately. I trimmed around the edges so that I had enough to fold over but not too much so that it would be bulky. Then I folded it over to the other side and glued it down. Then I grabbed a piece of plain colored paper and folded the edges to be just short of my original measurements and then folded it the other way and gently tore where I folded it (giving me a nice deckle edge). Then I glued that onto the inside cover (do this twice so you have a front and back piece). Next I got my hole punch and punched 2 holes in it where I wanted them.

Then I cut out my writing/drawing paper to be the size of my cardboard and punched holes in it using my covers as a template to match the holes. I grabbed some next and threaded it through the holes and tied a few knots. Finally I added a thick glittery heart sticker on top. You can decorate however you want or even leave it plain and draw on it as you go.

Recycled Paper Mache Vase

Materials needed:
• empty plastic container (I used my old Mod Podge bottle)
• newspaper
• white glue
• water
• paint
• hot glue (optional
• googly eyes (optional)



This idea came from my Ready Made Magazine this month. They made paper mache vases out of old plastic containers. I of course wanted to make my own so I decided to make a monstar case.

To start this project I cleaned out my Mod Podge container getting all the gunk out and taking the label off and using some Goo Gone to get rid of the sticky parts. Once it was washed and dried I made a bowl of 50/50 white glue and water mixture and tore my news paper into strips. Then I dipped the newspaper stripes into the glue/water mixture and placed the strips around covering the whole area. Once completely covered I let it dry.

Once it was dry I got my stripes of newspaper and bunched it up to make a nose. Then I used small stripes of the glue/water covered news paper and placed it over the nose until it was well connected to the bottle. I did this for the mouth and the nose and mouth on the other side (it's a 2 headed monstar). Then I let it dry for a long time (the bunched up part takes longer to dry but you want it completely dry before painting to avoid mildew).

Once it was dry I painted a white base coat of acrylic all over and then once that was dry I painted the vase how I wanted it and then when that was dry painted a layer of Mod Podge. When all of that was dry I hot glued googly eyes on it.

You really can have as much fun as you want with this. Paint it one color or paint a picture, add embellishments like ribbon, glitter, jewels, wire, shells, whatever really.

Recycled Jar Lid Collage

Materials needed:
• jar lid (mine had about a 3 in. diameter)
• Mod Podge
• paint brush
• scrap paper
• scrap ribbon
• scrap felt
• photo (I printed mine out after resizing it to fit into the 3 in. jar lid)
• cardboard scraps
• glue on jewels
• hot glue




This idea sort of came to me after finding this lids that I had saved to one day do a craft project with (that was like 3 years ago) and so I decided it was time to use them. At first I just Mod Podged the pictures in and painted the Mod Podge on top and added some of the jewels. It looked alright but I wanted to add an element of fun to it, so I went back to the drawing board and came up with the idea of a 3-D collage lid.

First, I got a picture of my husband and I at our wedding and printed it out (sized to fit my 3 in. diameter). Then I traced the lid onto a sheet of scrap paper and cut a circle out (cutting inside the edge a bit so that it would fit). I did this to the polka dot paper and the pink tree paper-both being cut into circles. Then I put the polka dot one for the background in the lid and used Mod Podge all over. Then I took my pink paper and drew a tree shape on the back side and cut it out. Then I used the Mod Podge and placed the tree inside the lid.

Next I took the photo and cut out the background and cut the bottom into a circular shape to fit the lid. I glued the photo to a scrap piece of cardboard and then hot glued it into the lid. Then I cut out a heart out of some orange scrap paper and painted some glitter on it then glued some thinner cardboard to it and glued it behind out heads. Then I got some glue on jewels and made little blossoms for the tree.

Then I got some scrap ribbons and took a white one with wire and scrunched it around the back hot gluing as I went. Next I took a thin ribbon and glues it on the edges of the lid. To finish the back I cut out a felt circle and hot glued it to the back of the lid.

I am not sure yet what this will be but it can be a magnet by gluing a magnet on or I may hang a piece of ribbon from it and make it a hanging picture or an ornament for our tree this year. Not sure yet but there are a few possibilities for sure.

Decoupage Box

Materials needed:
• box
• scrap paper
• Mod Podge
• paint brush/sponge brush



This project came about yesterday morning when I picked up a box of my stamps and it fell apart. I decided to decoupage it using some old scraps of paper left over from a scrap book I made my little sis and news paper.

First, I cut the box top off (I used a shoe box that had a flip top-some have a removable top and then of course you don't have to cut it off) and then I proceeded to paint the Mod Podge on a small area and then placed scraps of paper down and brushed the Mod Podge on top. (I really love Mod Podge- it's a glue and a sealant!) I continued doing this until the whole bottom and top of the box were covered (I included a piece with stamps stamped out on it to let me know what was in the box). When it was all dry I took some book binding tape (I had some but if you don't you can use duct tape) and taped the top back on. I did it this way because when I try to leave the top on it inevitably seems to get so thick on the hinge I can't shut it. Then it was finished and I could place my stamps inside their new sturdy box. What is great about this box is that if I decided to change the contents I can just make a new piece with the content title and use my Mod Podge on it and voila- a new box.

Star Seed Ornament

Materials needed:
• clay (I used Sculpy and it worked but the guys recommended oil clay)
• plaster of paris
• aluminum pie tin
• oil (I used olive oil)
• junk mail (I love that about this project- a use for junk mail)
• seeds (I used a wild flower seed mix)
• powdered tempra paint (optional)
• hemp string
• white glue
• clean sponge



So my son would have been 2 this year (he was stillborn on May 26, 2007), so for his birthday this year we decided to name a star after him. I had seen this craft show where they made ornaments out of paper pulp and mixed seeds in with it. I loved this idea because it was a beautiful idea of creating life in memory of my child. So I made this simple star paper pulp ornament that was mailed to our family along with where the star we named after him was located and then when they were done with the ornament the flowers from it will hopefully grow and be a reminder of their nephew/grandson/cousin that they lost.

To start decide what shape of thing you want to create. In my case it was a simple star but the guy who I saw talk about it did a butterfly. You can go more complex with it if you want- adding dimension and detail, your imagination is your limit. I also recommend making 2 of the shapes you want so that way you can make 2 ornaments at a time. Next I baked my stars according to the directions on the clay (I used Sculpy which is a oven bake clay- I am not sure you need hard clay that is just what I did- feel free to experiment).

Once the stars were done I grabbed my shapes, my pie tin, my oil, and my plaster of paris and measured out the plaster of paris according to the directions. I mixed it up and pour it slowly into the pie tin. I had bubbles in it and they said to tap it to get them out. I couldn't get them all out but it didn't affect my end result. Once I had about the plaster about 3/4ths of the way filled I then put olive oil on my shapes that I baked and placed them in the plaster of paris. They didn't go down as far as I wanted it to so I placed some small bits of clay on top to give it a bit more weight. In about an hour I took my shapes out and let the plaster of paris dry for another 23 hours.

Once my plaster of paris was dry I oiled the mold up and I gathered my junk mail and ripped it up (good therapy I tell ya) then placed it in the blender til it was half full. I then filled the rest of it up with water. Blended it and got wet pulp. Next I added the tempra powder (your choice of color) and ran the blender once more. (Now this is the messey part) I then grabbed a handful and gently squeezed over my sink to get most of the water out. I kept doing this until I felt like I had a good amount of it for the mold then I added a bit more of the wet pulp and a sprinkle of seeds. Then I squished it into the mold. Next I got my sponge and pushed it on top of it and got as much water as I could. Then again I worked the pulp mixture into the mold until I was happy with it then I placed it outside under the sun to heat it (this gave them a more muted look to it) you can also put it by a fan and let it sit there for a long time (this is why I recommend doing more than one mold).

Once they were dry I pryed it out with a craft knife (really easy once it is dry) then I painted both sides of the ornament with a mixture of 50/50 water/white glue solution. Then when that was dry I glued a loop of hemp string onto it to create the finished ornament. Then I packaged them up with a hand made card and then sent them out. We only sent out 8 of them but we got amazing responses from it. Mine has already started sprouting!!