Odds & Ends

Are you looking for some great decorations to celebrate the 4th of July? This DIY Americana Cross Door Hanger Project is perfect for any occasion. We will start with an MDF Cross cutout and embellish it with metallic foils and stencils. It’s easy, inexpensive, and most importantly… FUN!

DIY Americana Cross Door Hanger Project

Gather supplies for this project. You will need at least one wooden Cross cutout. If you are crafting with a friend, gather a couple of crosses or other wood cutouts to create together. You can find the cross I used HERE or the complete kit HERE. I like to use MDF because it is lightweight and perfect for painting and embellishing!

I used metallic foils for my project because they reflect light beautifully and give it some added bling. You can also use glitter, paint, or any other great crafting supplies! The sky is really the limit here!

Here are the step-by-step directions:

1. Basecoat the Cross with Vintage Linen DIY Paint and apply two coats. Allow each coat to dry before applying the next coat. Allow your Cross to completely dry before moving on to the next step.
2. Next, you will free-hand paint the Foil Adhesive creating diagonal stripes. Take some of the foil adhesive out of the container and put it onto a foam plate. Then add some water (just about 1-2%). Using a 1/2″ artist wash brush or foam brush, brush on the foil adhesive in a diagonal stripe. I just eye-balled the distance between the stipes. Remember beautiful things are never perfect!
3. Allow the foil adhesive to dry for at least one hour or longer.
4. Then take the Glitter Stars Red Foil and lay it over the adhesive. Rub lightly to achieve a distressed finish. The lighter you rub, the less coverage you will achieve. Transfer the foil over all the stripes.
5. Apply at least two coats of topcoat over the entire project to seal the foils and foil adhesive. Allow this to completely dry.
6. Using the Let’s Be A Star Stencil, stencil the stars all over the cross using Foil Adhesive. Allow this foil adhesive to dry for at least 30 minutes.
7. Using Sapphire Blue Glitter, sprinkle the glitter over the sticky stars and completely cover all the adhesive. Brush away any leftover glitter that didn’t adhere.
8. Use a spray varnish, like Rust-Oleum 2X clear varnish to spray over the surface. This will set all of the glitter.
9. Apply an Exterior Topcoat if using outdoors for extra protection.

Your DIY American Door Hanger Project is finished! What do you think? Let me know what Patriotic projects are your favorites this year! Comment below with any questions you have or share your project with us by texting us a picture to 714-202-9356 😁

I hope that this project has inspired you to create something fun this holiday season!

Have you ever wanted to give your bathroom a makeover? What about just a little decoration update? You can add some flair and personality with a custom tissue box cover that you paint yourself! This project is easy and fun. In this blog post, I will walk you through the steps of painting your own DIY custom-painted tissue box cover in any color or design that suits your personality!

How to Paint Your Own Custom Tissue Box Cover

I loved how this project was so imaginative. It’s the perfect way to spend an afternoon!

Where to Find Your Tissue Box 

I started with a wooden tissue box that I found online and decided to create something completely adorable! You can find one HERE!

Basecoating Your Project

I base-coated the surface with acrylic paint in the color buttermilk. You can pick whatever color works for your project. I applied two complete layers and allowed each layer to dry before applying the next one.

Choosing the Perfect Stencil

The Rosie Posie Flower Pot Stencil is a great way to create some cute flowers. You will position the stencil on the surface and start painting with your favorite colors!

Adding Some Flare to Your Custom Tissue Box

I thought it would be fun to add a little something extra to my tissue box cover, so I used an embossing tool and added La De Da Dots around the flowers in black. Then, I scattered some white dots in the open areas for good measure!

We hope this DIY project has given you the confidence to create your own custom tissue box cover. Have fun with it! And if you have any questions about how we made ours, feel free to email us at jennifer@artisticpaintingstudio.com. If you create your own, please text me a picture of yours to 714-202-9356. I’d love to see it and share it with our community. Happy crafting!

Can you imagine a beautiful, weathered wood finish without the work? Well, it turns out that you can create a weathered wood finish simply by using paint and few other items you can find in our shop.

How to Create a Weathered Wood Finish

I love to create and pretty much finish anything! So one day I was looking for an old-looking weathered wood background. Creating this amazing finish was a breeze with my new secret trick!

Get your hands on some of our: Texture Medium, a Corduroy Tool, Glazing Medium, and Colorants in White & Van Dyke Brown Hue. That’s all you need!

This is a really neat technique to do some weathered wood-looking surfaces. The first thing you want to do is apply the texture medium onto your surface area, which can be done either by troweling or brushing it on with a chip brush. Make sure that this layer isn’t more than about 1/8″ thick at most.

Once covered and dry, just use the corduroy tool horizontally over every part of where there’s been applied texture. Make long strokes going back and forth for best results!

After you’ve let your project dry, sand off the high areas and smooth it out a little. Depending on what kind of job you want to do will determine how much time or effort goes into this step.

Creating a glaze mixture is the key to perfecting this look. You can use any clear glazes mixed with Van Dyke Brown Hue and some white for the right color.

Then just brush it on and wipe off the excess glaze using some cheesecloth or a soft rag. Allow it time to dry before top coating!

That’s it! Add some laser cut words or hooks and you have a fabulous Weathered Wood project.

Now that you have the basics on how to create an old-looking weather wood decorative finish, it’s time for your next project. I want to see a photo of what you make, so we can all admire your work! Send us a message with your masterpiece to 714-202-9356.

We always say that you can FOIL EVERYTHING…  So, we put the foils to a fun test to update my step-daughter’s (Amber) roller skates. Let me just tell ya, creating these custom roller skates was a blast!

Amber is obsessed with roller skating and is pretty darn good at it as well.  I’m not really sure how the conversation ever started, because I have no memory left, but somehow we got to talking about her old skates and giving them an update!  Oh, it might have been when she saw the Groovy Kaleidoscope Foil for the first time… She fell in LOVE with that foil, everything about Groovy Kaleidoscope screams Amber!

Custom Roller Skates w/ Metallic Foils

That’s the backstory on how this project began! Now onto the foiling… I had to do a little testing at first because the skates are suede leather and I wanted to make sure what was going to be the best application for not only the best results but also the most comfortable application as well. I didn’t want to make the leather stiff because that would not be very fun to skate in.

So… I tried multiple applications to get the best results.

One test was applying the Bondago black paint as my base coat and then applying the Foil Adhesive and foiling over it.  This did provide the best results but also made the leather stiffer.

This is why I also tried just applying the foil adhesive directly to the leather and using it at full strength. Applying the foil adhesive liberally making sure it didn’t all soak into the suede.

My second test worked great as well! The main difference between the two application processes was that over the bondago black paint, the foils appeared to transfer a little shinier. Amber didn’t care about this, she just loved the new look and was super excited about her updated skates!

The application process… 

First, you will want to apply a full layer of Foil Adhesive at full strength (do not water down).  Then add a second layer of going over suede leather to make sure it doesn’t all soak into the leather.  Allow this to dry for at least two hours before trying to transfer your foils.

Once the foil adhesive has dried to a nice firm tack, apply your favorite foil over the surface with the pretty side facing you and scrub the foils onto the surface.  I put my hand on the inside of the skate to give resistance when scrubbing the foil onto the surface.

To finish and protect your fabulous skates, you will want to apply two coats of our Final Coat in Semi-Gloss. Now you are ready to WOW all your friends with your custom roller skates!

Now I know I’m a little late with this project. Time just gets away from me with everything I have on my plate, but I wanted to get y’all this awesome DIY foiled Easter eggs project before the weekend. This is a super fun project that you can do with your friends, kids, or just by yourself!

DIY Foiled Easter Eggs

I found these paper-mache eggs on the internet. To be honest, I really don’t remember where, but I bought a bunch of them in different sizes: small, medium, and large!  One really large egg that gave me a lot of trouble… you will have to go search for that Facebook Live if you want a good laugh!!

You will want to grab some skewers to put in the bottom of the eggs so that you can easily handle them while painting/prepping them for the foils.  Then you can stick the other end of the skewers into a foam block while drying.

First, base paint all of your eggs. I painted some of mine in metallic paint colors and some were just painted with our Black Bondago.  Allow the paint to dry and then you will apply your Foil Adhesive. You can add a little water to it so that it will brush a little smoother if needed. Your Foil Adhesive needs to dry for at least an hour, the longer the better.

Once your adhesive has dried you are ready to grab some of your favorite metallic foil colors or patterns!  I just cut a piece of foil large enough to wrap the egg in and did just that. I wrapped the egg in the foil and used my stiff toothbrush or nail brush to scrub the foils onto the eggs.

Now, there is nothing perfect about metallic foils but they are super pretty no matter what.  If you have a little adhesive still showing (it will be sticky) you can topcoat the eggs with any topcoat sealer, or you can just roll them in glitter for a sparkly shiny Easter Egg.

This was such a fun project! If you try it out, let us know 😁 You can text us a picture of your project to 714-202-9356!