Simple Nativity Scene

12 days 'till Christmas already?!   WHAAAAT?

Yup, that's right! I hope everyone's holiday season isn't too crazy!

How's that holiday shopping? It seems to get harder and harder every year.

For those of you looking for an easy-peasy piece of holiday décor that would also

be great as a gift for a church-goer or who likes the sacredness of the Christmas season,

I have a beautiful and elegant wooden nativity scene!

All you need are a few salvaged items from your basic crafts pantry.

 

 

Supplies Needed

Jumbo Popsicle Sticks

Wooden Figures

Raffia

Jute Cord

White Felt

Wooden Bead

Rolled Paper Floral Wire

Snowflake or Star

Shell (optional)

Brown Stamp Pad (optional)

 

First, distress your popsicle sticks with a brown stamp pad.  It's really up to your personal style.  I wanted to give this a primitive and antique feel, but you can leave it plain if you'd like.  Second, hot glue all your sticks into a triangle form.  I made sure to make one flat so that it could stand on its own when not on a Christmas tree.  Next, I cut out a semi-circle piece of white felt for Mary's veil, then hot-glued the curve to the crown of her head.  I then cut a piece of the rolled paper wire for Joseph's can and curved the top to create a small cane.   For Baby Jesus, I cut a small piece of felt and wrapped it around a small wooden bead.  I hot-glued the little bundle into a tiny shell.  

 

After the Mary and Joseph figures were hot-glued onto the floor of the stable, I hot-glued a couple pieces of raffia on either side of the couple and then placed Baby Jesus at the very center.  To finish it up, I glued a "North Star" (snowflake) at the apex of the stable roof and then glued a piece of jute rope onto the back for hanging on a tree.

 

There you have it!  A cute little nativity that although primitive,

makes a great and meaningful gift. 

 

See you next week!

Erika @ PC



Distress Stain Postcard

Hi, Everyone!

 

Today, I'm going to show you how to do a really simple technique that involves the elusive Distress Stain inks that we have in our scrapbooking sections.  They're a product that something that kind gets looked over often and I wanted to start bringing them back into the "Crafter's Spotlight". 

I'll start off small.  5 x 7 inch to be exact.

 

I chose stains in Frayed Burlap, Stormy Sky and Weathered Wool.  I also have a .08 tip Micron pen for some hand-lettering. 

 

 

 I taped down a 5 x 7" watercolor postcard to my table with masking tape to keep the paper from bowing too much.  I put a wash down just to get the paper wet.  This is just so that the distress stains, which are water-based and can therefore be handled like watercolors, will flow freely without forming a harsh edge when dry.  Just make sure that your brush is sopping wet before doing so.  I then brushed on a little bit of Frayed Burlap. 

 

 

What I wanted to achieve was a somewhat tie-died look.  Soft edges and colorful patches that sort of "bloom" on your paper.  So, use a lot, but not too much water.  You'll see amazing colors flow out of each ink and they will just get more amazing as they dry like this little patch of Stormy Sky. So cool!

After the paper was completely dry, I added a little saying in Micron pen at the bottom right hand corner.  And that's all she wrote!  This is a very versatile technique that's great mixed media scrapbookers and watercolor artists.  It's a beginner technique that is great for making quick postcards to send to family overseas.  And as always, a quirky saying will make it 100 times more personal and cute.

 

Have fun!

Erika @ PC

Chunky Letter Photo Holder

Hey, everyone!

I hope you guys had an awesome Halloween last weekend. 

So, it's November and it's almost time for Thanksgiving!

Time to count your blessings and be grateful for what you have. 

Family, friends, pets... I know we all have a small photo of them somewhere

on our work desk or in our planners.  So today I will be showing you a fun way

to display a special photo using our brand new mini paper mache letters!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Supplies Needed

Mini Paper Mache Letter

Chalky Finish

Acrylic Paint

Foam Brush

Natural Bristle Brush

Small Paint Bowl

Thick Floral Wire

Montana Marker (not pictured)

Pliers (not pictured)

Needle

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Let's get started!

 

First, use the foam brush to paint the letter with the chalk finish in the

color of your choice.  I decided to go with a teal

tone with a white distressed accent.

 

 

Second, after letting your base color dry, I used a dry natural bristle brush

to distress the letter with white acrylic paint.  Lightly dip the tip of the

flat brush in the paint, wipe the excess off on a paper towel or scratch paper,

and use light strokes to apply the paint.  The light strokes create the light and streaky

look.  Only apply a heavier amount of paint on the angles so it appears scuffed.

 

 

 

 

Next, color the bent floral wire.  The Montana paint marker provides

a smooth matte finish and it also dries pretty quickly, so I went with that instead

of spray paint or regular acrylic.  I had actually bent the wire with a pair of long nose pliers to form this curled shape. It's pretty easy.  Just start by bending where you want the base of the curl and go upwards from there.  I recommend leaving about

3 inches for your "stem".  This curl is where you will stick your photo on.

 

 

After that, poke a hole into the top of your letter with the needle.  Be sure not

to make the hole too big.  You want it to be tight around the stem so that your photo

stands up straight.

 

 

Lastly, stick the wire in and you're finished!

 

 



 

These are great for gifts, favors and place markers for parties! 

Embellish with glitter, stickers and rhinestones or tie on some beads.

Glue on some shells or pom poms.

Mod podge some scrapbook paper on each side!

Whatever you do, have fun!

 

Erika @ PC



How to Distress Unfinished Wood with Acrylic Paint

Supplies: 
SPC Unfinished wood (your choice)
Paint Brush
Acrylic Paint (2 colors)
Cup of Water
Paper Towel
Scratch Paper

Step One:

You can clean your SPC unifinished wood with a damp paper towel (optional). 

 

Choose your base paint and paint your wood.

Step Two:
Let your base coat dry. Squeeze your distress color (second acrylic paint) onto scratch paper. Dip your paint brush and brush your paint onto your scratch paper until paint looks a bit dry.

 
Step Three:
Brush along the edges of your wood until you are satisfied.

Once you are done let your paint dry.

And you're done!

Have a Craftastic Day!
-Julie @ Enchanted Lakes