I Love Stars!

I really wanted a large 3-d star to set on my mantle. All of the tin stars were too small or too large or too pricey. All of the paper mache stars were too small. Hmmm. I could make my own, right?  That's the best way to get one just the size I want, for the price (practically free) I want... Soooo, I gathered up some empty cereal boxes, glue, masking tape, scissors, and made a star. Well, first I made a pattern. I used this tutorial: http://rubberstamping.about.com/od/projects/ss/Paper_Star.htm . It wasn't exactly the easiest method, but I made it work. I enlarged the pattern, so my finished star would be about 16" point-to-point. The pattern needs to be a little bit larger than the desired finished size, because it adjusts a bit when the points are pushed up/out to make it 3-d.

Anyway, using my new pattern, I cut 5 points from my cereal boxes, folding along the fold lines and gluing where indicated in the instructions, turning the printed side to the inside. I used strips of masking tape to hold them in place while the glue dried. I also used it to reinforce the joints and seams after the glue was dry. I planned to cover the star anyway, so the tape was not going to show. When the glue had dried, I covered the outside with a layer of vinyl spackling. An easy shortcut here, is to mix some regular acrylic craft paint into the spackling before it is applied. This cuts out the painting step. After the star dried, I antiqued it with a dark brown glaze and wiped off the excess. A coat of sealer and it was done. I just wrapped a strip of patriotic fabric tied a bow, but I am already planning to replace it with different ribbon and embellishments for other seasons, so I can use it year-round.

Cardboard form.

Honestly, it would be a lot easier to buy one ready-made. Since I couldn't find what I wanted, this is a great solution, but it was a little more work than I would normally do for a simple cardboard doodad.
The other upside is that is didn't cost anything, because I already had all the supplies on hand...overall, it's a winner!

Covered with spackling.

Vintage Photo Page

This photo of my grandmother and her parents and sister has always been one of my favorite family photos. The original is framed and protected, but I scanned it so I could put copies in scrapbook albums. On this page, I tried several different techniques. First, I took a piece of copper tape (used for stained glass) and lightly sanded it to create a lot of rough surface area. I brushed on patina medium and let it sit until it had the effect of oxidized copper that I wanted. After lightly spraying with a clear sealer, I peeled the backing tape off and mounted it to my card stock. The other experiment was to seal a grungeboard element (from Tim Holtz's "Elements" collection) with multipurpose sealer and apply a coat red base paint designed for gold leaf application. When that was completely dry, the adhesive sizing is applied and allowed to dry until tacky. I used a variegated leaf and covered the top surface and edges, brushing away the extra leaf with a stiff paintbrush. After sealing, I had a beautiful accent piece that blends perfectly with antique photos. The final touch for my page was to add a rub-on flourish and accent with blue "gems."  This is a technique best used with copies of photos rather than originals, as the patina medium and leafing adhesive and sealers may not be safe for archival use.

Have a wonderful day!