I was scrolling through YouTube yesterday and saw this really cute Christmas craft that is easy, cheap and turns out really nice. It looked to me like the hands belong to a young child, so I assume children can do this with supervision. I really liked the finished product with the glitter on it. I can see it on the tree twinkling with the lights.
Anyway, without any further ado, here is the video. Let me know if you try this and show me pictures, please. I think I may be trying my hand at this on the weekend. The only drawback I could see was that it is time intensive, in that you have to let them dry completely between stages and that could take a while.
I hope you try this with your family. It really looks like a fun family craft to me! Also, please leave me a comment here to let me know that you visited. I really appreciate you spending some of your precious time here with me. Thanks for reading!
I was scrolling through my Instagram feed yesterday and I spied a really cute idea for a Christmas craft (but I forgot to bookmark it and can’t find it now). It is perfect for this time of year, but I can see it being used anytime during the year as decorations.
Basically, we all know that when you have children in school, they love to bring you their art they made. You of course put it up on the refrigerator because you are so proud of your baby. However, it quickly gets covered over with other important stuff and then it gets lost. Well, what if you too, that beautiful art and made a decoration from it? That was the premise for the Instagram story/post.
She cut stars out of the art and folded the stars to be somewhat 3-D, then she placed the cut out stars back to back and glued the edges after inserting a string for hanging. What you end up with is a beautiful 3-D star made from your child’s art to hang on the tree or on the garland around the house. Think how proud your baby will be when their work is hanging on the tree!
All you have to do is find a template for your star and then cut out both sides from the same piece of art.
Here’s a tutorial I found for both cutting out the stars and gluing them together. The only thing different is you are using your child’s art to make them. I think this is a really neat way to showcase your child’s artwork and show your child just how much you like their work. We all know how important it is to build esteem in our children and this is one way to do just that.
As you can see below, I have made these stars before myself and they are really simple and easy to make. I just made mine into a wreath and painted my stars. I hope you try this craft out and enjoy the process. If you make some, please send me pictures and leave me a comment about the process.
My stars are ready to paintAll painted
As always, if this post interested you, you might want to visit my FB page to see another idea there. If you go there, please like and comment on the page. I really appreciate you spending your time here. Come back soon.
There is something about this time of year that makes me want to do fun crafts–maybe it’s the time change, or the change in the weather, or just the holidays all lined up at the end of the year. Whatever it is, I have been in the crafting mood lately and I wondered if you also might be feeling the urge to craft?
If so, then you are going to love this post. I have a round-up of cool crafts for you to try. So let’s jump in:
If you have toddlers at home, here are a few crafts you can do with them and they can ACTUALLY do these crafts quite easily. I know when mine were little it was a challenge to find fun crafting activities geared to their little hands and coordination. So, try some of the crafts found here: https://www.lifewithmylittles.com/toddler-christmas-crafts/— I really like the photo tree here.
If you don’t have toddlers, but still have young children at home, here are a list of fun crafts that you can turn into fun family activities: https://crazylittleprojects.com/simple-christmas-crafts/— since this blogger is a mom to 4 boys, I think she may know what she is talking about. I especially loved the String Christmas Trees; I thought they were really pretty and would look lovely as part of your Christmas décor.
Last year, I discovered how to make Christmas star yard decorations using plastic hangers and this one was a really good tutorial for me: https://thefrugalgirls.com/2021/11/diy-plastic-hanger-star-with-lights.html . Try it out and let me know how yours turned out. Mine was really beautiful and I hung it on the door.
Here is a Pinterest board that shows you that you can configure
This is video that shows you how to use these hangers to make an angel: https://youtu.be/lvl6B8Vtq4I . I may try this at another time because it looks really big to me and I am not sure where I could put it up, but if that isn’t an issue for you, you may want to try it.
And finally, here is another video that shows you how to make another type of angel using Deco Mesh: https://youtu.be/_GkhiAGhvvw . I think they are precious and will definitely be trying my hand at these!
So if you try any of these, please send me a picture of how they turned out and I will post a follow-up here with all of your results. Don’t forget to leave me a comment below and visit my FB page to see more art and crafting posts. If you go there, please like my page and leave me a comment to say “Hi!”. Thank you for being here and enjoy the crafting time!
I had never before tried to use gouache. I barely knew how to pronounce it (see below).
Okay, that was silly. I could have just written out how the dictionary says to say it, but I liked the video better!
As he said, gouache is a type of paint that has pigment, a binder, white paint, and sometimes other add-ins. Gouache has been around since the 16th century. Currently, it is finding popularity with illustrators because of its vibrant colors and opaqueness. It is much like watercolor in that you use water to activate the paint and the opaqueness depends on how much water is added.
Here’s the type of Gouache I am using, but I also have a small collection of tubes. The thing about gouache is that just a little goes a very long way and you can rewet your palette each time so there is no waste of paint. For me, that is a game changer.
You can dilute it enough to use it as a wash of light color, much like watercolor, but what would be the point of that. Just use watercolor if that is the look you are going for. You can build up layers, but you have to go slowly and be very careful. Gouache paint is easily reactivated, so if the layer you add is very wet, all that happens is you reactivate the bottom layer and they combine to form another color. Sometimes you may want to have that happen, but usually you don’t. If you aren’t careful, you just create mud-like colors. Gouache can be challenging, yes, but the paint presents in such an array of beautiful colors that most artists cannot avoid using gouache.
Fast drying As with watercolours, gouache dries very quickly. This means you can add many layers in the space of a day or if you are only doing a basic painting you can mat, frame and hang you picture the same day.
Easy to clean
Because it is water-based, it is easy to clean up but has the advantage over watercolours of producing opaque colourings in the style of oils.
Easy set-up
Also like watercolours, gouache paints offer an easy set-up and are known to travel well. It also has the advantage of being mostly cheaper to purchase.
Best of all worlds
Gouache could be considered a super paint in the way that is has the best properties of many different materials: it can do a wash like a watercolour, blend like an oil and dry brush like acrylic.
Easy to photograph
Because it dries to a matt, you do not get the glare from a gouache painting, meaning it is easy for you to photograph. Here are some examples of gouache paintings for inspiration.
Rewettable
Gouache does not chemically change when it dries which means it is always possible to re-wet the paint and amend a picture. Likewise, you can rewet the mixed colours you have prepared in a palette and previously allowed to dry.
So with that said, what can you paint with gouache? Anything you want.
Below are a few videos that show you how you use this medium:
So now you know what it is and how to use it. Right? That’s what I thought, too, but it seems that there is a long learning curve to using this medium. I am slowly getting better and I really love how this paint covers the page. The colors pop and painting is relatively easy. The paint, however, does pretty much what it wants, so learning how to corral it and get the results you are looking for takes me some time.
All that said, I plan to continue to use this medium because it is fun and beautiful. I think time will make it easier and easier for me. Just like anything else, I think it requires lots of practice to become proficient with this medium.
Here are a few of the sketches I have painted using this medium:
You can see that I am learning how to use this medium, but I think I have slowly gotten better. What do you think?
There is another type of gouache called Acryla Gouache that is more like acrylic paint. I have not yet tried this type of paint out, but do plan to at some future time. If you have used this paint, let me know in the comments what you think about it and do you like it.
On my Facebook page, I have just posted a really fun craft that is suitable for the whole family to work on together. I have done this craft myself before and am planning to make more soon to add to the festive décor for the upcoming holidays. I am always looking for fun and CHEAP crafts to do, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know.
I think it is never too early to start making Christmas cards and getting the entire family in the process is even more fun! Try out some of these videos to see if you can find the cards that are just perfect for your family to send this year. We all know that homemade cards are the best and mean the most, so let’s start crafting!
I don’t know about you, but I watch quite a lot of art videos now that I am retired; but even before that, I used to watch these videos in my spare moments. There is something about watching an artist at work that I find fascinating and that inspires me to make art too.
Recently, I have been watching YouTube videos about using the Gel Press Plate because I got one for my birthday way back when and really never did anything with it. I decided to watch the videos and learn how to use the darn plate correctly. Boy, was it an education. These plates can absolutely do amazing things if you know what you are doing.
If you Google Gel Plate, you will get a list of over 100 million listings about it. When you click the video tab, you get a list of over 400,000 separate videos showing how to use the gel plate and new and different ways to use it. So, with all these videos to watch, I will become an expert soon, right? Wrong.
The problem with the videos is that the person making it can edit out all the time spent waiting for paint to dry, so it appears to be a quick and easy thing to do. I have, however, discovered there are many things left out in these videos and what is absent really does make a difference in whether or not your prints turn out and whether or not you like using the gel plate.
A Little History:
The Gelli Press were introduced in June of 2011 and was created by an artist named Joan Bess (who is co-owner of Gelli Press). She created a way for other artists to make their own monoprints to use in their work without making linocuts or other processes that are either time consuming or incredibly messy.
Frequently Asked Questions:
When someone is considering printing with a gel plate, they may have a few questions about the plate itself as well as about how to use it. Some questions about the plate itself may be about whether or not it is reusable (yes); if the plate will dry out between uses (no); how long does the plate last (indefinitely if stored properly); and the basic question of how does it work?
How Does it Work?
Basically, the plate is a squishy, semi-soft gelatinous mass that you apply some type of paint, ink, etc. to and then press a piece of paper on top of it to pull a print. That sounds so simple doesn’t it?
It really is how it works, but the end result will depend on numerous things, like what you use for color, if you make marks in the color, if the paper makes “good” contact with the plate (that means it almost melds with the plate and there are no air bubbles). Also, the amount of time you leave the paper on the plate plays an important part in what type of print you will pull off.
As I said earlier, that part is not really as clear in some of the videos I watched. You need to give the paper time for the color substrate to actually transfer to your paper–sometimes it is instantaneous and sometimes it takes a few minutes. You will know only as you pull your print and see whether all or just part comes off the plate.
Below is a short video from Joan Bess describing the plate and how to use it.
What can you do with these?
Gel prints are for a myriad of different things. You can use your prints to make cards or use them to make homemade wrapping paper or use them in your art journal; and you can use them to make beautiful prints to frame. Some people use them to make ATCs or print onto fabric; or make gelli printed backgrounds for zines. There really is no end to the things you can do with the prints you pull off your plate.
What do you need to make prints?
There are very few supplies you need to get started. First, you need a gel plate and you can get one here if you are ready to start. Next, you need paint or ink and paper. I frequently use my junk mail for printing.
You usually can use the backs of the papers, or use the front if the printing won’t make you upset. You can even print on index cards, and envelopes at times and that I seem to enjoy most.
After paint and paper, you may want to get a brayer to help you spread out the paint on the plate and it can help you to make sure the paper is flush on the plate. You can get a brayer here if you don’t already have one. That really is about it.
Use any paint to make your prints and I usually use cheap craft acrylic paints when I make my prints because they are easy to get and come in so many colors. You can get a starter pack here if you really don’t have any lying around your house right now.
What They Don’t Show You in the Videos:
Earlier I talked about what gets edited out of the videos. Time for paint to dry is the most obvious. This may not sound like a big deal. But if you put on several layers of paint, waiting for paint to dry can add up. The last print I made took over 45 minutes to complete due to paint drying times. For me, that was really a long time to hang out between layers. I discovered that the video host will go do something else while waiting, which is exactly what I did too.
Another thing I was confused about was if I needed to clean the plate and how. Some videos said to clean the plate with baby wipes and others said they never clean their plate! So which is it? I still am not sure, but if a dirty plate bothers you, please clean it with baby wipes. I hate to put my plate up dirty so I decided to clean mine at the end of each printing session.
To see all the various techniques you can use, try the videos of Gelli Arts, Carolyn Dube, Brigit Koopsen, or Denise Lush. If you watch those, you will get more inspiration than you ever will be able to use up.
I hope this information was useful. Please feel free to let me know in the comments if you have any other questions. Although I am by no means an expert, I will try to help.
Hello, my friends! Welcome to this site. I hope you have come here on purpose and not by accident.
I have been blogging since around 2009. I have always blogged about art, painting, crafts and such. I have also blogged in the past about my pets and about retirement. So you can see that I have a lot to talk about here.
Please feel free to check out this site and see if anything interests you.
If you have suggestions or ideas to new posts, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I would like to build a relationship with anyone reading my blog and look forward to that.
these hangers in many ways to get different looks: 
And finally, here is another video that shows you how to make another type of angel using Deco Mesh: 
