Tutorial – Decopatch Friendship Heart Pendants

Over Easter I shared with you all some crafts inspired by Polystyrene eggs. While shopping in the town centre when enjoying a recent holiday to Butlins in Bognor Regis, I popped into the ‘Works’ Where I uncovered these cute little polystyrene hearts.

Having recently used polystyrene miniature eggs to create Egg pendants with the children, it gave me an idea for a crafty project for these hearts.

The idea… Heart Friendship Pendants!

If you fancy a go at these yourself, they are relatively easy to make just a little fiddly if anything. Its the perfect craft to do with bigger kids. Alice who is 10 had lots of fun making hers.

Here’s what you’ll need to make two pendants like ours…

2 designs of decopatch paper (your choice of design and colours)

Decopatch Glue

Mod Podge Shimmer (gold)

Glue/Decopatch Brush

Tiger Wire/Craft Wire

fishing Wire

Tiny Gold Beads

Glass beads

Glass crystals (colours to complement Decopatch paper)

5 x 4mm flat backed crystals (colours to complement decopatch paper) I used white and blue.

Jewellery Findings (couple of crimping beads and crimp covers, 2x pendent attachment, jump hoops, 2x clasps & catches)

Tools…

Crimping tool
Brushes
Scissors
Nail (to pierce a hole through hearts)

Here’s how to put it all together to make your heart pendents

1) Use a sharp nail to pierce 2 small holes opposite one another, right at the top of your hearts in the centre, like so…

2) Cut papers into small manageable pieces. Decopatch your hearts using your paper pieces and decopatch glue. This is done by simply adding glue directly to the heart and over the top of the paper. Cover one side of pendants, allow to dry for 30-40 minutes before doing the other sides.

When it comes to covering the sections of the hearts where the two holes are located, do this using the nail to locate the holes and piercing the paper.

3) Once these are dry use a clean brush to apply a thin layer of Mod Podge gold shimmer. Apply to one side of the hearts, leave it to dry for 30 minutes before adding the shimmer to the opposite sides and again leaving to dry.

4) while the pendants are still wet, secure your 3 4mm flat back crystals in a row down the centre of one side of one of your pendants and the remaining crystals onto your remaining heart pendant in the same way. Now leave to dry.

5) Now take your two tiny gold beads and insert into the two holes with the holes facing up.

6) next take your pendant attachments and fit them to the hearts via the holes on the gold beads.

7) Next, take some fishing wire (enough to make desired necklace length) and thread it through each of your pendants hoops

8) Now thread on your glass beads and crystals like so. Five on each side looks nice. Do the same for your second necklace in a different style.

9) Make a knot on both ends of the wire while you prepare your findings.

10) Finally connect your crimps and covers, jump loops and catches. Sit back and admire your work.

We made 2 heart necklaces as Alice-Sara wanted to make these for herself and best friend as friendship necklaces.

The thing I love most about this project is the endless possibilities it brings. You can make a different heart for each day of the week just by changing the paper style or beads and crystals on your necklace.

What’s more, with the magic of Decopatch glue and Mod Podge your polystyrene heart is now stronger and much more solid, but still super light to wear.

Why not try it yourself, experimenting with different papers and beads as you go.

Hope I’ve inspired you to get creative with Decopatch papers… Enjoy.

Tutorial – Vintage Inspired Gift Tags & Keepsakes

I love giving vintage gifts and when doing so I always make sure that my packaging fits in with the whole vintage theme.

Recently I gave a friend a very pretty vintage boxed perfume bottle that I wrapped with layers of thin pink and blue tissue paper and finished with one of these awesome vintage inspired wooden heart tags that could be kept by the gift receiver as a keepsake.

This was quite simple to create and is done so using the decoupage technique. To try it yourself you will need…

Flat Wooden Heart (with two small hearts either corner)
Various Decopatch Papers
Lace Trimmings (blue and off white)
Old Victorian Portrait Image (I had one but you could easily find something similar on the web)
Decopatch Glue
3x Flat backed blue crystals
Pretty ribbon in baby blue
Baby blue mini bow
Mod Podge Shimmer Gold

Tools
Brushes for glues
Scissors

I brought my heart in a blue colour, if you want you can paint yours for the same effect.

Firstly cut a few small squares from your Decopatch papers, then cut down your lace trimmings into different size pieces. Lastly cut around your Portrait image So that it fits nicely in the middle not taking up to much room.

Now start sticking down paper like so using Decopatch glue..

Layer with ribbon as you go. As mentioned I’m using pale blue and ivory that I’ve trimmed pieces from.

When adding these different pieces don’t worry if they lap over your heart as once dry the edges are easily trimmed.

I’ve added my image at a slight angle for added effect.

I’ve then randomly applied 3 flat backed crystal in a green/blue colour using the Decopatch glue to secure

Everything now on the heart has been added using Decopatch glue. This dries clear giving it a smooth glossy effect.

I left my heart for around 30 minted to dry before applying some mod podge shimmer gold. I applied this to random areas of the heart (the whole thing) therefore giving more subtle hints of golden shimmer.

I then gave this a further 30 minutes to dry before adding my small blue bow to the bonnet worn by the little Victorian girl now featured on my heart.

The last step is to thread some thin baby blue ribbon through the holes in my heart and then tying in a bow to secure.

Doesn’t it look pretty?

Decopatched Valentines Gifts Made With Mod Podge

As some of you who visit the blog may have already guessed, this girl loves hearts, and what with it coming up to valentines day, its the perfect excuse to get crafty with hearts. Today I’ve decided to make some pretty sweetie jars with matching heart magnets.

The Jar is one I’ve had ready to decorate for some time. I brought a few of them on a bric a brac stall at a bootfair last year.

The hearts are made of paper mâché and already have the magnets attached. They are of a good size and once papered, look amazing on the fridge or a magnetic notice board. These can be brought from Hobbycraft and are available both in store and online.

So for this project I used 2 large heart magnets and 1 jar. (Pairing a jar with a magnet to make a gift set)

Both the gift set and Individual magnet have been decorated differently but were both extremely simple to create.

The first Tutorial is for my Retro Heart Magnet and Jar Gift Set.

You will need…

Medium size jar (the type with a glass stopper lid)

Large sized paper mâché heart magnet (Hobbycraft)

Funky heart Decopatch paper (Hobbycraft)

Ultra fine baby blue glitter

Mod podge (Gloss)

Thick – Satin blue ribbon (Baker Ross)

Bright red ribbon (Thin)

Dark red ribbon (medium thickness)

1 Red & 1 blue self adhesive button (baker Ross)

White acrylic Paint

Sweets or other items to fill jar

Tools…

Craft Knife
Scissors
3 Paint brushes (painting, mod podge, glitter)
Small sponge (to wipe excess mod podge)
Ruler
Pencil

First the heart magnet….

1) Give your heart magnet 2 coats of white acrylic paint as abase. Allow to dry in between coats and be careful not to get any paint on the actual magnet as it may affect how magnetic it is.

2) Take a sheet of your Decopatch paper (comes in a packet of three) and cut in half using a craft knife and ruler fir support. Place one piece aside for your jar. Now with a craft knife and ruler cut paper into squares so that you can easily piece them back together like a jigsaw.

3) With Mod Podge or Decopatch glossy glue get Decopatching. I’ve explain the art of using Decopatch to decorate almost any object or surface in numerous post here before. So, without going into to much detail I’ll explain in brief… Basically cover the heart in mod podge, lay the paper onto the heart and apply another layer of glue over the top. For this project you will want the pattern to be perfect (not all mix match) So join the paper together to form the pattern (like wallpapering).
Tips… Only apply the glue to the area you wish to cover, instead gluing each section as you go therefore avoiding any areas starting to dry and becoming tacky.

If you have small areas in need of covering, then patch them up with small strips of paper.

Now leave to dry.

Note. Decopatch Glossy Glue & Mod Podge (gloss) can both be used as a glue sealer and finish. Both glues dry clear and are both easy to use. I’m using mod podge as its much faster when drying.

4) Once dry add another layer of mod podge and leave it for around 20 minutes to dry.

5) Once dry take the dark red ribbon and run it around the sides of your heart starting at the tip. Cut any excess ribbon and then use the mod podge to add the ribbon to the sides of the heart adding a layer of mod podge over the top of the ribbon too.

Leave to dry for 20 minutes or so.

6) Once dry stick your self adhesive buttons to the front of your heart like so. Now place to one side.

Now for the jar….

7) Bring forward your other half of Decopatch paper and wrap it around your jar. Start around 5 centimetres down from the neck of your jar so that the paper stops 3/4 of the way up leaving a small area unpapered. Only once you are sure its right add mod podge directly to the jar applying the paper as you go. (Apply the paper as a whole by rotating the glass, gluing and papering as you go). You will notice that you have a little excess paper at the bottom of your jar. Don’t worry! This will be removed soon. Now, add a top layer of mod podge over the top of the paper (ignoring the excess paper) and leave to dry for 20 minutes. Once dry add another top layer of mod podge and sit to dry for the same amount of time as before.

8) Once your jar is papered and the mod podge is dry the paper will be stronger and look very glossy. Now use you scissors to remove any excess paper from the bottom of the jar as to tidy it up.

9) apply mod podge around the top section of paper like a boarder. It only needs to be as thick as your thin red ribbon. Wrap the ribbon around the top of the paper and wipe any excess mod podge quickly with a sponge, to avoid it drying. Now apply mod podge over the top of the ribbon again wiping away excess as you go. Leave to dry for around 15 minutes.

10) Now mix some mod podge with lots of the baby blue glitter. Apply this to the inner section of the jar that is still visible. Also apply some around the neck and top rim of your jar. The mod podge will dry clear leaving a crystallised glittery effect. Drying time is longer as the glue is thicker and no paper is applied. Mine took a few hours to dry fully.

11) once dry tie your blue ribbon around the neck of the jar into a pretty bow.

Dried Mod Podge Mixture

12) for the top section of the lid, place the lid face down on some heart Decopatch paper and with a pencil lightly draw around it. Once done carefully cut out the circle with a craft knife. Decopatch your cut out circle to the top of the jar again adding two top layers of mod podge to the top of the paper. Leave to dry for 20 minutes.

13) Fill with Sweets or anything else you like (tea lights, makeup, pamper goodies, cookies) and fit lid.

Now just use some pretty tissue paper to wrap your heart and jar, place in a pretty gift bag ready to give as a gift.

Fabric Flower Power Heart Magnet

You will need…

1 Large paper mâché heart magnet (Hobbycraft)

Some funky flower fabric (enough to cover heart) Mine is from eBay

Medium thick orange ribbon (Baker Ross)

3 Self adhesive buttons that coordinate with your fabric (I used red, yellow, baby blue) from Baker Ross

White acrylic paint

Mod podge

Tools…
2 brushes (for paint and mod podge)
Scissors
Craft Knife
Ruler

1) Paint heart in white paint as before.

2) use a ruler and craft knife to cut fabric into two pieces one 3/4 in size and the other 1/4 in size. Use ruler to support fabric as you cut. Remove any frying.

3) cover 3/4 of your heart in mod podge placing the 3/4 piece of fabric on top at an angle so that only a 1/4 of the heart is left to cover. If fabric comes over the edges trim or just stick down as I have done. Add mod podge to both the heart and the top layer of fabric just as we did the decopatch paper.

4) Mod podge other 1/4 of heart and add the other half piece of fabric joining the pattern. Again add a coat of mod podge to the top layer of fabric working in the same way as the first piece. Leave to dry for around 20-30 minutes.

5) Once dry add the ribbon to the sides of the heart as we did for our retro patterned heart above. Leave to dry for 10-15 minutes.

6) Now stick on your three buttons like so and you’re heart magnet is set to go.

So… There you have it. Some fantastic Valentines handcrafted inspiration.

Have you made anything for Valentines Day?

Shabby Chic Inspired Mod Podge & Decopatch Tea Light Jars

I love using Decopatch papers to decorate items and surfaces. I had some pretty pink rose Decopatch paper left from another project and decided to use it to make some pretty tea light jars to match my heart twinklets I made a while back.

The results were fabulous and I was left with a really pretty tea light jar that I now plan to make more of.

Regardless of the beautiful result, these tea light jars are relatively simple to make and don’t require very many materials to create.

Here’s what you will require to make one of these tea light jars…

Small jar (Ikea spice jars are ideal)
Decopatch pink rose paper
Mod Podge
Hot pink fine glitter

Tools…

Scissors
Hog brush for Mod Podge

How to make your own pretty candle jar…

1) Cut your rose paper into medium size pieces.

2) Apply Mod Podge directly onto the glass jar in the area you want to apply your first piece of Decopatch paper.

3) Once you have stuck down the paper, add a thin layer of Mod Podge over the top.

4) Continue doing the above steps in till your jar is completely covered.
Be sure to slightly over lap the papers. Cut smaller pieces of paper for any patch ups. With this piece, try to ensure your papers at least match somewhat and the pattern doesn’t look too odd.

5) leave to dry for around 30 minutes

6) Once dry add a layer of Mod Podge around the jars neck and its bottom before sprinkling the fine pink glitter over the glued areas. Shake off any excess glitter.

7) Now add a small amount of Mod Podge to the middle of your jar and then cover with a little glitter (few pinches). Now leave the jar to dry for another 30 minutes.

8) Once dry finally add a final thin layer of Mod Podge over your entire jar and leave to dry for an hour or more.

9) Now, its dried, all that’s left to do is pop in a tea light and light it up with a candle lighter.

As the flame take form you will notice how your candle jar begins to spakle with the light and glitter.The effect is simply stunning and I’m really pleased with mine.

So… There you have it! Really cute tea light jars that are easy to make and don’t cost a fortune either. Why not make them for a loved one this Valentines Day?

Mod Podge Miniature Craft Jars

So I recently brought these cute little jars from ikea. They came in a set of 4 and were a bargain at under £2.

Although they are very sweet and all, I felt they could do with a little decorating.

The jars could be used for anything but were advertised as a set of spice jars. I’ve however decided that they would make great little craft jars, perfect for buttons, sequins, pins and more.

To decorate my jars I used a number of different items… Here’s what you will need to make yours…

Ikea set of 4 spice jars ( from the marketplace)

And to decorate…

Section of patterned papers
Mod Podge Gloss
Paper Lace Trimming
Ribbon
Selection of embellishments (I used card buttons, a foam butterfly and a couple of sequins)

Firstly chose your papers. I’m aiming for a real girly design with floral papers that give the jars a bit of a shabby feel.

Take the lid of your jar and use it as a template to draw around leaving a circle template on your chosen paper. Do this 4 times, once for each jar.

Carefully cut out your circles and use mod podge Glossy Lustre to secure to your jar. The circle shape on the jar is the same size as the lid so the paper is a perfect fit. Add the mod podge to both sides of the paper using a decoupage technique.

Leave all to dry for around 30 minutes then add your finishing touches.

I’ve done the following…

Added lace paper trimming, and ribbon around the centre of each jar.

I’ve used embellishments to decorate the front of each jar. I’ve secured each embellishment to the middle of the jar where i’ve covered each one with paper. I did this by using the mod podge and again using the Decopatch technique.

Be sure to let your jars dry fully before filling with your craft bits and bobs.

2 of my finished jars are currently being used to store buttons, another is used for small cotton reels and mini pegs, where the last is housing some of my glass beads.

I really like the results. The jars are very easy to decorate and provide me with a great little storage solution.

Pretty don’t you think?

How Too Use Decopatch To Decorate Paper Mâché Letters

I love working with Decopatch and always get excited when ordering new papers.

I visited one of my favourite stores last weekend… Hobbycraft! Floors and floors of crafty loveliness. Sadly there wasn’t many decopatch papers in stock as it seems everyone has taken up the hobby of late. I did buy some more rose patterned papers and a gorgeous set of funky heart papers, perfect for valentines. They also had lots of paper mâché shapes and boxes in the sale. I grabbed some more hearts, a few tiny picture frames, 3 gift boxes/gift bags, a heart embossed box and some great large Decopatch letters.

Most of the items I’ve covered in Decopatch paper have been covered in just the one pattern or colour, this time I wanted to cover the letter “A” in a variety of different paper designs to create a really funky design for my daughters bedroom. I was planing to buy all the letters to spell out the name Alice which I was planing to hang on her wall but sadly they didn’t have the letter “L” so I designed just to do the one letter that she can hang on her door or free stand on her dresser or chest of draws.

Luckily I had a nice collection of left over paper pieces that ranged from pretty shabby pink and floral prints to funky denim and bold star designs… Perfect for what I had in mind!

Here’s what I used…

Paper mâché large letter (A)
Lots of odd pattern Decopatch paper pieces
Antique cream paint (white is perfect)

Tools
Deco patch glossy glue
Glue brush
Paint brush
Scissors

I’ve spoken about how to work with Decopatch before on the blog. So with this I won’t go into to much detail here in fear of boring you all.

Basically I cut my random pieces of paper into various sizes shapes and sizes.

Before applying these to my paper mâché I painted the letter in an antique cream colour with acrylic paint. I would have just used white but because I only had white spray paint and didn’t fancy chocking oneself I opted for the cream instead.

My reason for painting the paper mâché is because its rather dark before beforehand and some of my papers were quite light. This is why Taking the time to give your paper mâché a quick lick of paint makes sense! It may be more preparation and time but you save on papers (these are not cheap) plus its easier later on.

I find that acrylic paint is really fast to dry so I was able to get started within a an hour of painting the paper mâché letter.

I do enjoy Decopatch but its so messy and I often end up looking like I have skin melting of the tips of my fingers. I worked on one side at a time, adding a layer of glue to my base and one over the paper to seal in place, slightly overlapping each piece along the way.

I decided not to rush my letter letting each side dry fully before starting another. While your Decopatch paper is wet it is more likely to rip especially when the glue is drying with your finger tips stuck to it! Hence the reason patience was important.

I worked on all sides in the same way patching up any gaps with tiny pieces of paper.

I decided to give it another glossy coat of glue once finished and then left over night to dry.

Funky wouldn’t you say?

Homemade Cath Kidston Inspired Christmas Baubles

My tree is extremely fun this year, I’ve let go and just gone with the flow! I’ve not tired myself down to a colour scheme or particular style as I usually would. seriously, this year its an explosion of colour and creativity with shop brought bright baubles, handmade wooden gingerbread hearts, shabby chic ornaments and dazzling home made snowflakes.

I must admit I’m feeling pretty proud to be out of my comfort zone. I love brights and this year I even brought neon baubles in funky pinks, blues greens and yellows. These mixed in with all our homemade crafts give the tree a very unique edge and I’ve got to admit I’m kinda loving it.

Yes, my love of all things vintage and shabby chic would seem something of an odd mix with that of bright bold colours, but again the home made girly decorations of pastel yarn tied hearts and gingerbread men slot in rather nicely.

Some of my favourite decorations I’ve made this year are that of the Cath Kidston inspired shabby chic fabric covered glitter baubles in pretty pinks and creams. These fabric covered baubles have been glittered with shimmering golden Mod Podge with an added touch of ultra fine pink glitter dust making them beautifully unique.

These are really extremely easy to create and a great way to upcycle them old baubles that have seen better holiday’s.

So here’s what you’ll need and some very quick simple instructions to get going and create your own baubles.

You will needs

Some old baubles (as many as desired)

Fabric scraps (Cath Kidston never fails to impress)

Selection of thick ribbon (long enough to tie around the middle conference of each bauble)

Selection of thin ribbon to hang baubles from your Christmas tree

Ultra fine glitter dust in pink (or whichever colour suits your fabric)

Mod Podge Shimmer (gold)

Decopatch Glossy Glue (optional as can just use the mod podge)

Tools

Glue brushes
Scissors
Embellishment sticky tabs

Your Baubles don’t have to be recycled as you can always pick up a bargain pack from your local PoundLand or equivalent. I also brought some great baubles for another craft project for 10p each in our local charity shop. Basically… If you have no baubles to Upcycle these can be picked up both easily and cheaply.

Step 1 – once you have decided on your fabric, cut it into small pieces (size can vary depending on bauble size and desired style)

Step 2 – Right, firstly add some mod podge to a mixing cup followed by a good few sprinkles of ultra fine glitter. mix well and cover till needed.

Step 3 – Now, given the mod podge is a gold shimmer with added glitter, you may feel its a waste to use it as the undercoat for glueing fabric. However if your using a bauble that has a very dark or prominent colour, then using the mod podge will help to prevent the colour gleaming through. I used just the shimmer mod podge for my pink bauble and both glossy Decopatch glue and shimmer mod podge for my cream bauble.

Now start coating the bauble with your chosen glue. If working with both glues, use the Decopatch glossy glue for the undercoat and the mod podge for the outer coat (this requires patience as you will be required to continuously swap between brushes every few seconds). If using just mod podge then just paint it directly onto the bauble layering fabric and mod podge as you go.

Note… The outer section should only have a thin layer of mod podge as this will be the baubles finish. If second coats are desired these can be applied only once your first coat is dry. This avoids bumps and drips forming. Also try to brush in pretty much the same directions to avoid noticeable odd looking brush marks.

Step 4 – now attach a decoration hook or if you don’t have any some thread or ribbon (don’t worry you can change for prettier hanging ribbon later). You need to attach either one of the above now so that you are able to hang your baubles as to allow them to dry quickly and evenly. My mod podge only pink decoration was actually dry in an impressive 30 minutes where my cream bauble took considerably longer. I just left them both over night as they were decopatched in fabric just before I headed of to bed.

Step 5 – Once dry inspect baubles and if second coat of mod podge is required then again cover in a very thin layer and then allow to dry (do not add any more fabric just mod podge)!

Step 6 – Once all coats are applied and baubles are nice and dry, its time to add the finishing touches.

For each bauble take your chosen thick ribbon, cut down to size and wrap around the middle of your bauble (securing with a few glue dots or embellishment sticky tabs if needed). Now, tie into a centre bow. If desired, use a small piece of ribbon in the same colour to wrap around the centre of your bow. Secure in place with a glue dot or very small embellishment sticky tab. This will give the bow a really neat and tidy finish.

Step 7 – now choose your thin hanging ribbon. for my pink bauble, I have gone for a striking thin pink ribbon to match my bow and a white glittery organza ribbon to hang my cream bauble. If you don’t fancy adding any more ribbon at all, yarn looks really effective! You could just use a decoration hook for a really easy and simple look.

So, there you have it! Cath Kidston inspired fabric glitter baubles that are simple to create.

Shabby Chic decorations for my tree of randomness!

How Too Make Shabby Chic Style Christmas Decorations

I love these hanging Christmas tree hearts. I brought the paper mâché hearts with a set of paper mâché decorations from eBay (see earlier post where I use Decopatch and paint to decorate the paper mâché stars for our tree).

Again, I used both paint and Decopatch to decorate the hearts.

Here’s what else I used…

2x Decopatch Paper mâché heart decorations
Baby pink metallic pearlised acrylic paint
Fine baby pink glitter
Pearlescent pink tissue paper
Small white paper doyley
Strip of black lace
Small self adhesive crystals
Hot pink ribbon
Gingham baby pink ribbon
2 Medium baby pink buttons
Tiny hot pink button
2x small white bow embellishments.
Decopatch glossy glue
Glue dots

Tools…
Scissors.
Paint and glue brushes

How to Make Acrylic Pink Christmas Heart.

First apply two coats of the baby pink pearlised acrylic paint to both sides of your heart (leaving to dry in between each coat).

Once dry take your strip of black lace and cut into small pieces. Now use Decopatch glossy glue to apply the lace to your heart. Stick the pieces of the lace to the heart leaving spaces In between. Make sure you glue over the top of the lace as well as the bottom. The glue dries clear so don’t panic. Now just leave to dry for an hour or so.

Next stick some self adhesive crystals to the floral sections of the lace.

Now add a white bow embellishment to either side of the heart using glue dots.

Lastly tie a bow to the stars tread with the hot pink ribbon.

How Too Make The Decopatch Heart decoration…

Cut or just rip an A5 size piece of your pearlescent pink tissue paper into small pieces. Now glue the pieces to the heart using decopatch glossy glue. Do this by overlapping the pieces and applying glue to both the heart and over the top of the paper. Add two layers on each side.

Leave for around 3-4 hours to dry, however if you can leave over night this would be best.

Once dry cut 2 small pieces from the outer section of a small sized paper doyley (no bigger than the length of your heart). Line up the piece of doyley on your heart so that it goes down at an angle starting at the top right hand side and finishing at the bottom left hand side.

Now glue it in place with the glossy Decopatch glue. Add the glue both to the body of the heart and over the top of the doyley just as you did with the tissue paper (only don’t rip it up). Do this for both sides of your heart.

Now hang someplace safe and leave to dry for around one hour.

Once dry carefully brush a little glue over the top of the doyley so that the glue falls between the holes. Then sprinkle your fine pink glitter over the top before shaking off any excess. Do this for both sides of the heart.

Next use a glue dot to add the medium pink buttons to each side of the heart. Add the buttons to the centre of the heart on top of the doyley.

Lastly tie a bow to the tread of the heart using the gingham pink ribbon before finally adding the tiny hot pink button to the middle of the bow.

Now all thats left to do is hang your decorations. These can be hung from the Christmas tree, over a fireplace or anywhere else you like! What’s great about these shabby chic Christmas hearts is that they can actually be used to decorate the home all year round. They look awesome hanging from a dresser or bedpost.

Where to buy materials…
Patterned and pearlescent tissue paper (PoundLand)
Fine glitter (PoundLand £1 for 4 pots)
Hot pink ribbon (HobbyCraft)
Gingham pink ribbon (Baker Ross Ltd)
I got my buttons and Lace strips from eBay but you can buy from most craft stores.
Baby pink metallic pearlised acrylic paint (Baker Ross Ltd)
Decopatch Decorations eBay (but Decopatch sell similar online)
Self adhesive crystals (PoundLand)
Doyley (30 pack PoundLand)
Bow embellishments (PoundLand)
Decopatch glue vanish (Decopatch Place online store) Note this may seem expensive but it last forever.

How Too Make Twinkly Star Christmas Decorations

I’ve been in a real festive mood this week. Ok there is that stress that I haven’t yet got my Christmas shopping, but I’ve been feeling pretty festive all the same.

The Christmas tree is up and myself and the children have been enjoying lots of Christmas crafts.

We have made some beautiful tree decorations that look fantastic. Normally I have a particular colour theme that I follow, but this year anything goes.

I recently brought some paper mâché decorations ready to paint or Decopatch. I’ve been doing both of these techniques and had some great results.

In this post I wanted to share the hanging stars we have made for the tree. These are properly the most simplistic we have made out them all.

What I used…

Paper mâché decorations (2x Stars)
Blue metallic pearlised acrylic paint
Blue extra fine glitter
Gold tissue paper
pearlescent white tissue paper
Glue (clear drying)
Glossy Decopatch Glue (or make your own with watered down PVA and glitter)

Tools…
Paint and glue brushes
Scissors
Heart punch (small)

To Make The Blue Star…

The blue star is really very simply to make. First you must paint your star in blue metallic pearlised paint. Give this two coats either side. The paint we used is pretty fast drying.

Once your star is dry, with a thin paint/glue brush apply clear drying glue around the edge of the star (as to create a boarder). I just used some of my Decopatch glossy glue for this.

Now sprinkle the fine blue glitter over the star, banging of any excess glitter afterwards. Allow to dry then do the same on the other side.

Once dry cover in a vanish. I again used my Decopatch glossy glue. This is just like PVA but dries clear and glossy.

That’s it… Very simple. The metallic pearlised paint and fine glitter give the star real sparkle. When the Christmas tree lights are on, the star really twinkles, looking very Christmasy.

To Make the Gold Decopatch Star…

For this I used some gold tissue paper that I cut into small pieces. I then glued each piece (using Decopatch glossy glue) onto the star using the Decopatch technique.

To Decopatch, you must paint the glossy glue direct onto the star, then add the pieces of tissue paper making sure they overlap. You must add another layer of glue over the top of each piece of the tissue paper like you would when making something from paper mâché. Build up over a number of layers (we did two layers). Glossy glue gives a really shiny vanished finish and although this is white on application, it dries clear.

Work on both sides of your star. Try to do this at the same time (instead of allowing one side to dry before applying to the other)! You can do this by holding your star by its points. Work quickly to avoid glue drying and your fingers ripping the tissue paper.

Once you have covered the star in your gold tissue paper allow it to dry by hanging it somewhere out of reach, a place it won’t be knocked or touched.

I left my star for a around 3 hours. However if you can do this before bed, you can be confident that it will be ready for the next stage by morning.

Now use you heart punch, to punch some hearts from some pearlescent white tissue paper. Apply the hearts to your star by carefully pasting them on with glossy Decopatch glue.

Allow to dry for a few more hours then hang on your Christmas tree.

These are great homemade decorations. They are easy enough for kids to make too. Although smaller children may need some help with the Decopatch star.

Also you may have noticed that I’ve used tissue paper instead of Decopatch paper. I do love Decopatch paper and it does leave an amazing finish. However, Decopatch Papers are not cheap (almost £4 for 3 sheets). Tissue paper that is very glossy and shiny works really well especially for small objects like these decorations. I got mine from poundland. There was a good selection in the pack, including pearlescent glitter speckled paper and more.

The metallic pearlised paint is from Baker Ross Ltd and the fine glitter is again from PoundLand. I brought the Paper Mâché decorations and heart craft punch from eBay but u can find these at many craft stores both on and offline (Hobbycraft stock heart a craft punch plus for the stars rucraft online do some really similar stars by Decopatch).

Crafting With Decopatch – Make Vintage Inspired Frames

I really enjoy crafting with Decopatch. I’m forever on the lookout for things to cover in Decopatch paper.

I’m currently awaiting some great paper mâché Christmas decorations which I plan to Decopatch in some beautiful new Christmas papers I brought from eBay, but in the meantime I’ve been busy making things pretty in my bedroom.

Below is a pretty little frame I decopatched and decorated this afternoon.

I’d be lying if I wrote that working with Decopatch was really easy. In theory Decopatch is relatively simple, however, in reality it is much more tricky than one would expect.

You see, its rather messy to start with and its also a bit of a fiddle when layering the pieces of paper. If your wanting your design to look complete in terms of the paper design you need to patch it together like a jigsaw. I never worry to much about this part! As long as the patten doesn’t look to odd its fine by me.

For this frame, I used an A5 piece of Decopatch paper cut into small pieces. I then covered a small square frame in Decopatch glossy glue (normal glue is no good, Decopatch glue dries with a glossy finish). I then layered on the pieces of paper adding a layer of glue over each piece as I went.

This time I was sure to allow the paper to crease as to give it a more aged effect.

Once I had covered the frame I took a corsage cream flower I had made previously and glued this to the top left hand corner. I covered the flower in the same glossy glue as to give it that same glossy finish.

I than left it to dry for 3-4hrs.

This frame could actually do with a few more layers as you can still slightly see the lines from each piece of paper. I would normally do this once the first layer or two have fully dried. However, I kind of like the effect and have therefore decided to keep it this way.