Picture Frame Thank You

Picture frame I made as a thank-you for my aunt. (She helped me every night with my hair for a 60s-70s themed show.)

I started with one cardboard/pressed paper picture frame that I gently took apart.

Then decoupaged with pictures and words cut from the program. (Seal well and let dry.)

Accented with blue glitter paint. (Then let dry.)

Using a hot glue gun, reattach front to back. Make sure to leave opening unglued. (Mark it when you take it apart of needed.)

When everything is dry and put together - add picture. (I added a  picture of her and I backstage with me in full costume.)

Decoupaged Elvis Picture Frame

I LOVE Elvis! For those who know me well, this is not a big surprise. I have a nice collection of Elvis memorabilia, but as with any collector they always have room for more. My love of Elvis reaches far before I can remember into early elementary school. No is one really sure how it started, it just did and it stuck. All these years later and it's still stuck... which led me to decoupage this pressed cardboard/paper picture frame with Elvis images.

Doing a project a project like this an be done with a thinned out white glue (the kind that dries clear) or a Mod Podge and an old paint brush. I have both on hand.

1) I started with one picture frame. (This holds a 3 1/2  5 inch picture.) I have a small stash of the that I picked up in a craft section. They have different shaped openings but for this project I liked the star. I then removed the plastic photo cover from the inside. (This keeps the paint off of it.)

2) I then gently seperated the front from the back. This is totally optional. They were glued together to start, but I figured it would be easier for what I was doing.

3) I collected my Elvis images cut from a magazine and laid them out to work.

4) I then went to work on decoupaging my images in a collage on the front of the picture frame, layering it securely between layers of thinned glue and Mod Podge. (My Mod Podge is running low so I stretched it with some thin white glue, but I made sure the top layers were all Mod Podge.) You want to make sure the keep everything nice and smooth, the edges sealed nicely under the glue or Mod Podge (or whatever else you have on hand.) Don;t be afraid to use enough layers that it is nice and thick and white. It will dry clear and you want to sealed in.

5) Let dry completely.

6) I then re-glued the front to the back, making sure to leave the opening at the top to insert the picture. (I have a few ideas for what might go inside it.)

Yes, I am an unapologetic Elvis-loving freak and I love every minute of it. And I really do not care that some people might not find it "cool" or whatever else. I say, embrace who you are and love what you love. Life is more fun that way.

Camp Crafts - Part 3

Sand Art

Yes, there are still more camp crafts to share. (Multiple summers at more than one location it's bound to happen.) Hopefully you will find inspiration or memories with at least one of these.

The tiger is a sand painting that used pre-stuck templates that were peeled off one by one then covered with colored sand, color by color, until everything was filled. You can also use a paint brush and glue for the same effect with coloring book pictures or your own design. If working with younger kids you can find much simpler designs, but I love tigers and grew up with posters and pictures of them on my walls (much to my younger sister's dismay at times).

The teddy bear picture frame in the picture was decoupaged using torn pieces of tissue paper and Mod Podge with a piece of lace as a hanger. I had a stash of these that ended up painted and decorated in all sorts of ways. There are a few that hang on my mom's Christmas tree painted and with pictures of us kids. Some got ribbon or lace hangers while others had magnets attached to the back. (It still amazes how often the projects of young kids end up looking at lot a show girl to the adult eye, with feathers and glitter and splashes of color.)

Teddy Bear Picture Frame

The paper box is a simple little thing that can be made from pretty much anything. It was another one of those things I learned years ago, but shared with a lot of kids to keep trinkets, treasures, or to put gifts in. It involved two pieces of square paper, one piece slightly larger than the other for the lid, a pair of scissors to make a couple slits, and the no how to fold them. Over the years I have made them in all sorts of sizes and using various paper to make them.

The peace sign medallion was made using a woodburner to burn the letters into the slice of tree, then stained. Wood burning was a popular thing for a lot of the kids to do, but took a lot of care in making sure everyone was safe. There is something strange about basically handing a bunch of nine to 14 years old branding irons and pieces of wood and saying, "Have fun!" Yet somehow, they with careful instruction they went home unmamed and unbranded (at least from the Craft Hall). I'm a stickler for safety and wouldn't tolerate any less from my campers or the counselors that I worked with everyday. The peace medallion was probably inspired by one of the many theme weeks or a themed dance one of the camps had. ("Hey man, give peace a chance. Won't ya?")