DIYPROJECTS

FOR THE

craftyARTIST

TABLE OF CONTENTS:1 baking soda clay2 lightbox3 watercolors4 watercolors onthego5 textured roller6 mod podge7 spray paints8 plastic bag yarn

BAKING SODA CLAY

Materials:1 cup corn starch2 cups baking soda1.25 cups cold waternon-stick potwooden spoonmed-large bowldamp cloth, lid or plate

Combine ingredients into pot Stir until smooth

Cook over low-medium flame, stirring constantly, until the mixture resembles mashed potatoes.

Remove from heat and let cool in a separate container either covered with a damp towel or mostly covered with a plate/lid.

Sculpt. If necessary, use a bit of water to stick bits of dough together. Be careful, though, as the softness of this dough makes it prone to dissolve.

Allow to dry, about 2 days depending on the size and thickness of your finished piece. You can speed up drying in a 150 F oven, cracked open, or a 350 F oven turned off (heat the oven to 350 F and then turn it off).

LIGHTBOXMaterials:Plastic container (any size)Christmas lightsMasking TapeAluminum foil (optional)

Here's how simple it is.

First, you take your plastic contrainer.

Turn the lid upside down and arrange the string of lights evenly all over it. Stick the wires in place with masking

tape.

Invert the box over the lid. Voila! Instant light box.

You can line the lid and inner walls of the contrainer with aluminum foil. This reflects the light back into the box, and prevents it from leaking out. You'd get an overall brighter lightbox & no wasted light.

WATERCOLORSMaterials:3 Tbs corn starch3Tbs baking soda3Tbs vinegar1 1/2 tsp of corn syrupfood coloringsmall containers

Mix first four ingredients in a bowl. Enjoy the fizzing combination and then pour small amount into little containers. We used empty applesauce cups.

Add 6-8 drops of food coloring. Mix well.

Have fun painting right away or allow the paint to harden in the containers for future paint days.

WATERCOLORS on the go

Materials:A tinmoldable claywatercolorsfantastix (or coloring tools)a round marker or lip balm

Mold your clay into strips as long as your tin (if your using a square or rectangle). I made mine similar to the circumference since my tin was round.

Leave enough room for your coloring tools. Using the round marker or lip balm create indents where you would like your paint to go inside the clay.

Pop it in the oven! (Nothing but your clay and tin)

Follow the manufacturers instructions, and give it plenty of time to cool off.

Add paints, and let dry. Decorate however!

TEXTURED ROLLER Materials:a roller of some sort (I used a brown tube and tubes I created out of clay).a sharpie. (optional)a hot glue gun. They only cost a couple of bucks.extra hot glue sticks.

You can draw the design of your desired texture onto what you plan to use as a roller, or you can just wing it.

Heat up your hot glue gun, and start tracing over your design, or drawing what you would like.

Give time to dry! Dip in paint, and roll!

SPRAY PAINTSMaterials:Acrylic paintWaterSpray Bottles

Did you know you can make your own spray ink? All you need is a spray bottle and acrylic paint. Mix 2 parts paint to 1 part water and shake to mix.

PLASTIC BAG YARN

Materials:plastic bagsscissorspaperclips (optional)

Gather up all your plastic bags!Sort them out by colors if you’d like.

Flatten out seams and smooth wrinkles.Fold the bag longitudinally into a 2.5 - 3cm wide strip. Handles at one end and bottom seam at the other. Cut off handles and bottom seam.

Cut remaining folded strip into 'biscuits' to whatever width you prefer. A good width is approximately 2cm.

Unfold biscuits (loops). Knot loops together into one long piece of double-stranded yarn. tighten the knotResulting double-stranded yarn.Wind the yarn up into balls.

SPRAY PAINTSMaterials:Acrylic paintWaterSpray Bottles

Did you know you can make your own spray ink? All you need is a spray bottle and acrylic paint. Mix 2 parts paint to 1 part water and shake to mix.

MOD PODGEMaterials:A jarElmers GlueWater

Create a mixture that is 50% glue and 50% water.

shake shake shake

And you are done!!

I know it works because i used it to paste this paper label onto the jar :)It could make a great gift for your crafting buddies

an artist often sacrifices material well-being in order to focus on their artwork

As an art student, most of my paycheck (which is quite small) goes towards my art supplies and projects. No matter how I try to make my money stretch, it never stretches far enough.

The bright side is there are things you can make, which are fun and save you some money.

BYCECILIA MORALES

for more of my work visit; ceciliamorales.wordpress.com