How to Create a Literary Vase

A beautiful fall vase!

I was in St. Louis last week, visiting the Carondolet Branch Library for their Author Breakfast event. On the tables were lovely vases, created by Sarah Zolezzi. As a gift for us authors, we were allowed to take one home. But I walked off and forgot mine! ARGH! At least I took this photo.

Sarah asked library volunteers to bring in their old vases. Here's what I imagine she did next:

* Wash, clean, and dry the vases thoroughly.
* Rip the pages from old, unloved books.
* Cut the pages into strips of various sizes. (You could also tear them.)
* Dip the pages in a bath of tea or coffee. (Just pour old, leftover tea or coffee into a shallow container and dip the pages in.)
* Allow the pages to dry. (This gives them a uniform "old" coloration.)
* Use Mod Podge to adhere them to the vase.

Isn't this clever? I love it!

How to Make Paper Beads, Part II

Now that you have a plethora of long, skinny triangles, it's time to make your beads. For the next step, you'll need:

1.  A lot of wooden toothpicks or skewers. They have to be ROUND, not squarish. These will be used as spindles. You'll wrap your paper beads around the toothpicks to shape them.

2. A block of Styrofoam. As you finish your beads, you will stick the toothpicks into the Styrofoam so that they can rest and cure.

3. Glue. I like Aileen's Tacky Glue. Whatever you choose should dry clear, dry fast, and grip quickly. I've tried glue sticks, but they are too mess. I like to use a coffee stirrer or a toothpick to dip into my glue and use as an applicator.

4. Sealer. Some people use clear nail polish. I prefer Diamond Glaze. I like to apply it with a brush.

Next, I'm going to show you my super-secret, super-duper, extra-special technique tip for making beads. You won't read this anywhere else.

 

1. Put the large end of the triangle in your mouth and get it moist. Not wet! This will cause your paper to lightly grip the toothpick.

 

 

2. Wrap the triangle around the toothpick. Remember: The big end starts on the toothpick. Try to keep your triangle centered as you wrap it. If it gets off centered nudge it with your fingernail.

 

 

 

3. Dab a bit of glue to the tippy end of the triangle and smoosh it down to glue it to the bulk of the triangle that is now rolled onto your toothpick. You should have a slightly ovoid shape, bigger in the middle and tapered on each end.

 

 

 

4. Stab your toothpick into your Styrofoam block. Admire your garden of beads. Paint the beads with the Diamond Glaze and let them dry. You might want to do two thin coats.

 

 

Now we let them dry!



 



 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Create Inchies -- and What to Do With Them When You're Done!

In my newest Kiki Lowenstein short story, she runs short of craft supplies and ideas. But Kiki never fails her customers, so she came up with a wonderful "make and take" project--inchies!

Inchies are one inch by one inch pieces of original art. Typically they are collage art, but that's not always the case. What's so wonderful about inchies? Making them will...

• Stretch your creative muscle,
• Use up odd scraps of paper, 
• Encourage you to try new color combinations
• Supply you with an endless source of cool embellishments!

 

Kiki Lowenstein’s Inchies

 

This is such a fun project because you literally cannot do it wrong! Best of all, it’s a thrifty way to use up those small bits of paper that you hate to toss. When you’re done, there are tons of cool products that can be used in a variety of places on your cards or scrapbook pages. You can even trade inchies with your friends. And yet another benefit…inchies force you out of your crafting comfort zone. Think of them as an exercise to strengthen your creativity muscle.

 

 

Supplies:

 

Thin cardstock—flattened cereal boxes or old file folders work best

Trash—pages of magazines, bits of scrapbook paper, foil from candies, snippets of ribbon, pieces of cardstock

Embellishments—faux gems, glitter, sequins (if you like sparkle, that is)

A variety of glues, especially one that dries clear

A ruler and a pencil

Scissors

Inks and rubber stamps

A sanding block (if you use a cardboard box with slick printing on one side

 

Method:

1.    Turn the cardstock over to the blank side. Draw a grid in pencil. Make the squares 1” by 1”.  (Tip: Want an easy way to draw a grid? Use your Fiskars Personal Paper Trimmer as a guide!)

 

 

2.    Flip the cardstock over. Sand off the shiny print on the "right" side. (Tip: Wear an apron as this gets messy.) You don’t have to sand off every bit of the slick print, but do scratch up the surface so that the glue will stick more easily.

 

 

3.    Start by gluing down a magazine page and then glue pieces of paper on top of it randomly. (Tip #1: Glue down small bits of ribbon or netting. Cut out words and glue them down. Tip #2: This is a great place to use negative spaces left by punches! Tip #3: Kiki likes using her small punches to create tiny shapes. These she places on the surface randomly. Tip #4: A pair of tweezers and a craft knife are helpful for manipulating the tiny pieces of paper.)

 

 

4.    Keep adding until you like what you have. You can also ink the design and/or rubber stamp on top.

 

 

5.    Cover the piece with Mod Podge and let the piece dry.

 

 

6.    Once it's really, really dry, turn it over and cut it into one inch squares. Or leave it in larger sections if so desired. Remember, the guidelines you drew are for your convenience. You can do whatever you wish with your inchies.

 

 

7.    Be sure to sign the backs of your miniature pieces of art!

 

What to do with your inchies:

 

 

1.    Add them to greeting cards as miniature pieces of art.

2.    Use them as you would any scrapbook embellishment.

3.    Trade them with your friends.

4.    Line them up along the bottom of a scrapbook page for a border.

 

Okay, what do you think of Kiki's inchies?