Enlarge and elevate tiny artwork with a shadowbox

Sometimes tiny art is hard to display. I'm a firm believer that the scale of artwork should match the scale of the space where it's hung, so unless you have tiny strips of wall, tiny pieces can get lost. A great way to give them a little more bulk is to put them inside a shadowbox.

This small 4.5" x 5.5" piece was painted by my great grandfather. I don't know much about him or his art hobby, but this painting didn't have any glass to protect it. The least I could do was take care of it properly.

I took a small scrap of gold fabric (leftover from a pillow) to use as a background.

I stapled it directly to the backing of the frame. This is an inexpensive shadowbox and the backing is just thin cardboard, so it wasn't difficult.

Then I took a T-shaped pin and put it through the fabric so I could hang the painting on it, just like I might put a nail in the wall to hang a picture. The pins are strong and this painting is very light, so it worked fine.

I love how the gold fabric and gold frame look together. Dare I say, kind of fancy? Kind of like a museum display.

But really, I think having the whole painting and frame behind glass elevates it in a way that just hanging it on the wall does not. The shadowbox is only 8" x 10"; not huge, but it's a little more substantial on a wall than the painting alone.

Faux abstract kid paintings

My two-year-old daughter is somewhat of a reluctant artist. Elise loves the idea of painting; sometimes I give her a dry, clean paintbrush and she walks around "painting" everything.

But when it comes to the real thing, she only is interested for a couple of minutes. She doesn't like anything wet or messy on her hands, so that's somewhat limiting. Because of this, we did this project in four very short sessions.

One of the things I dislike about kid's art is that it's typically made with inferior materials or strictly primary colors. As Elise is starting to do projects, I'm trying to let her use the same materials I use. This might change as she gets older if she wants to make a bazillion things, but for now it's manageable.

Progress, two layers

I found two 5" x 7" canvas boards I had laying around. They were already painted black from some unfinished project of mine from years ago. I structured the project and chose the colors, but all of the brushstrokes were hers.

We layered one color at a time and waited for each layer to dry before adding another. This avoided any "muddy" paint (another typical drawback of kid art). This process also coordinated nicely with a two-year-old's patience. We did four layers in all (white, pink, a subtly lighter pink and an orangey yellow). When everything was dry, I sprayed the canvasses with a clear sealer to give it that "finished" look.

The backs of the canvas boards were not so pretty and I didn't want to frame the paintings, so I used Mod Podge to glue some scrapbook paper onto the backs. Then I added a small label with Elise's name and age. Now that I think about it, I should have done something quirky in the format of a museum plate, but too late.

Painting #1

Painting #1, detail

After the first couple of layers, I thought the paintings would turn out looking very kiddish, but they ended up looking a bit sophisticated! I'm kind of in love with them, but they were Mother's Day gifts for Elise's grandmas. We will have to collaborate on another piece of artwork just for us very soon.

Painting #2

Painting #2, detail

Kid hand print art

This was a simple kid craft that Elise and I did to commemorate her second birthday this week.

Last year, we stamped Elise's footprints around her first birthday and I thought I would start a mini tradition of making a piece each year.

I used acrylic craft paint rather than a stamp pad because I knew it wouldn't stain her hands. They probably have washable stamp pads, but I was trying to this only with what I had in the house. I didn't take any progress photos, but you can find the process in last year's post.

I started with this nine-inch square frame I bought on clearance last year for about $2. It came with a not cute die-cut mat, but the frame itself is basic black. Small tip: know your dimensions before you start so you won't spend forever looking for a frame to fit what you create.

After a few practice rounds...

we had the perfectly imperfect final version.

After the paint dried, I stamped a tag labeling her name and age and attached it to the paper with some adhesive. Simple and quick! The whole thing took approximately 15 minutes, which is about the time limit on craft time for a two-year-old.

Record the ridiculous: Kid quote notebook

Elise is jabbering away so much these days. I just know she's on the verge of saying something ridiculous and I don't want to forget any of it. I've kind of stopped filling out her baby book. I'm not sure there's a place in there for crazy toddler speak anyway, so I wanted to dedicate a notebook to record all those "kids say the darndest things" moments.

 

I found a small 4" x 5" blank book in my stash. I'm not quite sure when I bought it or what it was for. It was so long ago, it can now be considered free. Just to dress it up a little, I took a paper bar coaster I had laying around, covered it with a cute piece of scrapbook paper and hot glued it to the front cover. (A thin piece of cardboard or chipboard would work just as well if a bar coaster is unavailable.) Then I added a vinyl letter sticker in the corner.

I stamped labels for her age and the date on every page as reminders to actually include that info in each entry.

I used a printer's kit I bought a long time ago at an office supply store. With a little patience, you can put together your own stamps with your name, address or any words for a special project.

Of course, you don't need to make a cutesy notebook to record your kid's silly sayings; any notebook will do. The most important part of it is writing things down before they're forgotten!

Upcycled "peek-a-boo" paint chip valentines

I had a few red/pink paint chips from painting this playroom nightstand, and I thought they would be great upcycled into valentines.

First, I took a heart cookie cutter and traced it with a pencil on the backside.

Then I took a razor blade and cut out the heart, leaving one of the straight sides connected to the outside frame to create the flap.

Next, I took a coordinating scrap of paper, spread glue on the back of the paper, adhered it to the backside of the heart and trimmed around the heart.

I took a photo of Elise and resized it to fit inside the heart opening and printed out a few copies.

Then I sandwiched the photo between the paint chip and a thin piece of scrap cardboard with a glue stick.

After the glue was dry, I gave Elise some red and pink crayons and heart stickers and let her decorate the backside of the valentines.

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Upcycled gift topper tags

These cute little tags are pure recycling, folks. And you'll never guess what they were made from.

Old counter top samples! (And wrapping paper and ribbon scraps.)

I ran across the business card-sized samples in a box full of junk. My parents built a couple of houses when I was a kid, and my younger self found that type of thing irresistible.

I used Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the formica. When that was dry, I coated the whole thing with Mod Podge to seal it and tied on a scrap of ribbon. Easy and quick!

For the first three (in the very top photo), I used "new" wrapping paper scraps. For the second three, I covered them with a used piece of vintage wrapping paper I had been hoarding. I love that snowy log cabin.

I plan on using these as gift tie-ons, so I tied slips of red cardstock to the backs to write to/from info, but they can be torn off if the recipient wants to re-use the tag.

Glittery snowflake ornaments

My mom had given me a couple of packs of these chipboard snowflakes. I have no idea what they are supposed to be used for, and I sat on them for nearly a year before inspiration struck.

I paired them with a sample pack of glitter I picked up on clearance for less than a dollar. It was knocking around in the same drawer as the snowflakes; sometimes proximity makes brainstorming easy.

The sample pack contained ten or twelve small packets in a rainbow of colors. I sprayed adhesive on the chipboard, then coated each side with glitter. Each packet was just enough to cover one side of one snowflake, so no two sides are the same color.

 
After the glue was dry, I sprayed the snowflakes with a generous dose of clear sealer. The snowflakes went from shedding like crazy to shedding almost nothing. (I'm sure the recipients of my snowflakes will be grateful for that.) And it didn't dull them at all!

I plan on tying these ornaments onto gifts, so I added a little silvery foil paper circle tag to each of them. The tag can be ripped off and the snowflake can be re-used as an ornament or gift tie-on.

Simple drawstring bags

I needed a couple of bags to contain some tiny toys Elise will be getting for Christmas. If the toys have a home, there's hope they might get put away. I had never made these before and just sort of winged it with fabric and twill tape scraps I had on hand.

This pink one was made from the leftover side from the pillow I made and then disassembled. It's a long and skinny 9" x 16" when flat. Bigger than it needs to be, but I just used the entire piece of fabric.

The yellow ginham bag is smaller at approximately 9" x 9" inches (again, made from a scrap and the scrap determined the size). I made it to house the matching game I made earlier this year.

Pay no mind that Elise is playing with the farm animals she is getting for Christmas in the above photo.