St. Patrick's Day!

Try Decoupage with Wood Picture Frames

That useful product Mod Podge is a favorite medium when decoupaging. It is fast drying, and tough as nails. A little goes a long way with this finish, and sanding between coats of the varnish is not necessary.

In just a bit over two hours, I created two picture frames from unfinished wooden frame blanks purchased at the craft store. The frames cost between $1 and $2, depending on size.

There are many sources to learn how to make a picture frame using the decoupage technique. Check here and here for complete, easy instructions.

These two frames have an undercoating of blue acrylic paint. Then various photographs from the trip and a few post cards were used in the decoration of the frames, including maps and tour tickets as mementos. (You can tell that the recent New Zealand and Australia trip was good photo fodder for decoupage pictures.) There is even a whorl of indigenous possum and wool fiber incorporated into one of the frames that I am currently using to knit a lace shawl.

This is an easy and fun project to create for your favorite vacation photos that will incorporate even more memories preserved on the surface of the frame.

Crafting Boxes and PaperDolls

Looking for a box template on the internet, I came across a variety of sources. One especially talented crafter came up with many different designs, including a template for making articulated paper dolls.

The directions given for making these creations are given for using card stock. You can enlarge the size to make almost any small box. This being said, I looked through my file of greeting cards which I save for just such a project, and came up with a sweet little bear card which I cut out, making a small puffy box to hold gifted handmade earrings. There is no need to purchase new card stock paper if you have a few cards on hand. (This is a good way to recycle your previously received birthday or other special occasion cards.)

Here is the template for a box made from cardstock from websource Mirkwood Designs for the puffy box:
Please note the restrictions:

Copyright 1999-2008 Mirkwood Designs, a division of ruthannzaroff.com. These templates are free for your use to make craft items to give or sell, to use for teaching purposes, or for submitting projects to magazines. I would appreciate it if you provide a link to my Web site. The templates themselves may NOT be auctioned, sold, or published in any way without my permission.

This adorable template could provide hours of fun for all age groups from children to adults. One of my blogpals, Diane at Dianes Mixed Art could go to town with her mixed media talents, making a spectacular work of art from this template, courtesy again of Mirkwood Designs:

I am going to make this doll about 7-8" in height for an indoor potted plant, whimsically dangling from one of the leaves.

Here is the original template: