Friday, June 6, 2008
Blog Search
Her blog is: "A place for knitting, stitching, quilting, rugrats and insane husbands". I came across it in a blog search using the word "knitting."
Reading the musings of others is fun, and I always pick up new ideas from crawling over different blogs.
It is interesting to observe others' calendars and see what they enjoy glancing at for a whole month...sort of a mini-intrusion into their thoughts. Voyeurism? Probably.
We'll see who wins the contest in a few days.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Making Paints for Kids: Scratch 'n Sniff Watercolors
This really works!Art activities will stimulate your child's imaginations and enhance their creativity. Scratch 'n Sniff Watercolor paint is an entertaining activity that will leave them with a unique keepsake.
Things You’ll Need:
A Variety of Unsweetened Kool Aid mixes, the more the better!
Tablespoon, Warm water, Empty baby food jars, small cups, or a muffin tin, Paper, Paintbrush, Table, Newspaper or Plastic Tablecloth to cover the table, Smock or old clothing
Step1: Cover the table with newspaper or plastic tablecloth.
Step2: And 1 tablespoon of kool aid mix and 1 tablespoon of warm tap water into a baby food jar, small cup, or muffin tins. Repeat until you have enough of the desired colors that you would like.
Step3: Stir the paint.
Step4: Cover the child(ren) in a smock or old clothing.
Step5: Set the paint, paintbrush and paper out for the children to paint with. Enjoy!
Step6: Let painting dry overnight before scratching and sniffing. These paintings make a great gift for grandparents, baby-sitters and more!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
How to Paint on Glass (Reverse Glass Painting)
Reverse painting on glass looks more complicated than it is. It requires painting a design on one side of glass that is viewed from the other side.
Materials: Traced or freehand design, Glass, Black acrylic-enamel paint, several colors of acrylic-enamel paint, long liner brush, small paintbrushes, water
Begin by choosing a design to duplicate. Trace the design or draw one freehand. Tape the traced pattern on the right side of the glass -- the side that will be viewed.
Use acrylic enamel (which is a permanent glass paint) and a long liner brush to begin painting the outline of the pattern on the reverse side of the glass. After main colors have dried, begin adding accent colors.
The DIY Network also gives this information:
Anything that is glass can be used to paint on. The plainer the glass the better to paint on. Do not let the painted glass sit in hot soapy sink for long because other objects bump up against it and can chip it. Just paint simple designs on your glassware. You do not want to cover the entire glass with paint, because part of the beauty of the glass is being able to see what is inside. Once you have painted your design on the glassware, let it cure for at least 24 hours. Make sure your oven is off and then put your glassware in and bake at 325 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes but no longer because the colors will change.
My friend Janet will be the recipient of this painted platter, even though she asked me to do this for her ages ago. Did you forget, Janet?