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Clipboard Art Frame and more! Cool2Craft TV

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Mixed Media Cool2Craft TV

This week, the Cool2Craft design team is sharing some of cool mixed media ideas! Join EcoHeidi Borchers, Tiffany Windsor, Candace Jedrowicz, Lisa Fulmer and Savannah Starr for this week’s online episode.

EcoHeidi is crafting a Mixed Media Pop-Open Journal, Tiffany is creating a Decoupage Clipboard Art Frame, Candace is making a Polymer Clay Mixed Media Brooch, Lisa is crafting a Textured Mixed Media Box and Savannah is decorating a Mixed Media Composition Journal.

It’s easy to watch the Cool2Craft TV Channel right from your computer. Watch craft demos and join in the live chat at showtime at Cool2Craft.com. Monday December 31, 2012 – 9 am Pacific/10 am Mountain/11 am Central/noon Eastern. Join the chat on Monday and mention this blog post to be entered to win our weekly prize giveaway!

Confessions of a Mod Podge Addict Part 3: Picture Frame Collage

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Today’s Guest Post was written by Nichole Nelson.

This is one of my favorite projects of all time. It makes my heart happy every time I see it. I love these frames! I made this wall collage for my sweet mom for Mother’s Day last year. Needless to say, it was a HUGE hit.  And it’s super easy!

Materials:

  • Mod Podge
  • Wood Frames (purchase at the craft store, or make your own)
  • Scrapbook Paper
  • Paint
  • Ribbon & Embellishments

Total Cost: $2-3 per frame (give or take)

  1. I just bought the frames at the craft store (they are $1 each) and gathered together corresponding scrapbook paper.
  2. Paint the frames (the edges) and then Mod Podge your paper on. Remember to rub, rub, rub out all the bubbles.
  3. Apply a couple top coats and let it dry.
    Embellish with ribbons, flowers, beads or whatever else you want and hang it all up.

Here’s a tip: if you are making a collage like this, trace the frames onto paper and cut them out. Then, using tape or straight pins, create your design on the wall. Once your design is perfected on the wall, put the nails in and hang it all up. It’s so easy!

I loved my Mom’s collage so much I just had to create one in my house. I needed to dress up the landing in the stairway, and this collage looks great there. It’s not quite finished yet–I still need to put some vinyl lettering up. (I’m currently trying to convince the husband to let me buy a Silhouette so I can do it myself. Wish me luck!)
Up next: a cute and easy way to keep all your hair accessories and tools organized. Sometimes I have brilliant ideas and this was one of them!


Nichole Nelson admits she’s a Mod Podge addict and craftaholic. She’s a self-proclaimed word nerd and writer for TopTenREVIEWS by day and an avid crafter by night. In her spare time, she enjoys crafting (obviously), reading and trying to help her sweet husband understand her love for all things crafty.

Crafts for Grandpa

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Today is my grandfather’s 92nd birthday. It is difficult to think of an appropriate gift for someone of that age; someone who has everything and needs nothing. But my grandfather – no matter how gruff he can be – has always been a sentimental guy. My mom prints everything I write for him to read, and he reads and saves it all. He even still occasionally wears the baseball cap I gave him when I was in 3rd grade that has a screen print of a Picasso painting that I drew with oil crayons. So I knew creating something from scratch would be the perfect way to give my grandfather something he would appreciate. His living room is full of family photos, so I figured giving him a recent photo of my brother and me in a handmade frame would be a nice gift. I am a big fan of the embossed metal frames (pictured below) on FaveCrafts, but not having a lot of time to work on this project, I instead decided to create a collage frame. Since this was a project I had done previously, I got it together pretty quickly and it looked great! I am hoping he likes it when I take it to him on my next visit.

If you’re looking for a great personalized gift for someone who has everything, try a frame. FaveCrafts has a number of great handmade frame projects like the ones above. Check out the button mirror frame or the beaded daisy frame for a fun and easy project.

How to Make a Great (Cheap) Valentine’s Day Gift

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Deciding on a good Valentine’s Day gift for your partner can be tough. It may be that you want to avoid those cheesy cards and lacy hearts in Walgreens, it may be that you don’t have the money to spend on something extravagant or it may be that you’ve just started dating and you aren’t sure if a gift is even appropriate. But whatever the problem, this project can solve it.

Oh yeah, and the gift is a collage frame.

This personalized collage frame (photo to come soon) is the first gift I ever gave my boyfriend. (He’s still here two years later if that tells you anything). I had the misfortune of starting a relationship with him a few months before the holiday season. So feeling like I had to do something for Hanukkah, I decided to decorate a frame. It was easy, cheap and somewhat quick. And it also doubles as a great Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Anniversary or Guy Fawkes Day gift.

The project is designed for you to make it your own, but here are the basics.

How to Make a Collage Frame:

1. Buy a plain, solid colored frame (size is up to you) with a smooth surface. I bought a solid black 4 x 6 frame on sale at Macys and if I remember correctly it was well under $10.

2. Grab a stack of magazines and start rummaging. This step will take up the most time. Cut out images, designs and phrases that suit the person you are giving the gift to. Do not cut images and phrases right up to the word or picture. Make sure you leave a sufficient border or area around your cut-outs, so that you have extra to work with when fitting the collage together.

3. Arrange your pictures/words around the frame to get an idea of how they will fit together. It’s a good idea to cut out a few extra pieces of a color you like or a background pattern, to fill in any oddly shaped spaces as you go.

4. Glue your pieces around the frame as desired.

5. To add a glossy shine and to make sure my collage stayed together, I borrowed my (art major) roommate’s acrylic medium. I brushed it over the top of the collage and let it dry. There are many art glazes you could use here, this just happened to be what I had.

6. After the frame dries completely, add your photo. As a personal touch, I wrote a message on the back of the photo.

7. Give to your honey. Watch as their face lights up but his eyes say, “Wow that’s really sweet and personal and all I got you was this $5.99 bouquet of Tulips”

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