Project Wednesday: Faux-Glass Glitter Photo Board

Last year I was to take a trip with some friends and colleagues to the CHA {Craft & Hobby Association} Winter Convention.  It was sooooo much fun!  I was wishing I could have gone again this year.  It just wasn't in the cards.  Next year probably not looking that good either.  Sigh... I'll always have Anaheim 2010, though. 

One of my favorite things about going to CHA {aside from getting my picture taken with Tim Holtz and winning a Wacom Bamboo Touch Tablet and a Cricut} was all the Make-N-Take projects that so many of the booths were offering.  I came home just brimming with ideas and inspiration! One of the booths I really enjoyed was the Product Performers booth.  Their guest designer was Donna Salazar, a mixed media artist that I really enjoy.  One of the days we did these cute little photo boards and learned how to make her signature paper flowers.  If you haven't learned how to do those, you can check out her blog.  They are easy and very pretty! 

The project supplies included a gorgeous crushed glass glitter.  Pretty to look at, not pretty to work with as I quickly found out the hard way.  I think of crushed glass glitter like I do many of the desert plants that grow around our house.  Pretty to look at, but containing thousands of tiny barbs ready to embed themselves in your skin at a moments notice.  As a mom with young children, this is probably not a product I want hanging around the house.  I can imagine that if ingested, it wouldn't be very nice.  And, as the owner of a tiny dog that is part goat, I really don't want to make a lot of projects using it.  One might argue that regular glitter probably isn't all that good for a dog to eat either, but neither are all the numerous Barbie Doll hands and feet he's ingested over the past year and that's not slowed him down.

I've never forgotten that I really loved how crushed glass glitter looked.  Then I started thinking, "There's got to be something I can use to mimic this look!"  I think I've come up with a pretty good substitute.  Sparkly, chunky, pretty, but not ouchy.  Kid and dog friendly.  And so without further ado...

Today's project is ... Faux-Glass Glitter Photo Board 

First, I suppose you'll need the recipe to make your own Faux Glass Glitter.  Here it is:

Faux-Glass Glitter

Supplies:

1 bottle regular glitter

1 bottle superfine glitter

1 bottle micro beads

1 package tiny rocaille beads

1 pint mason jar with a screw top lid

Instructions:

Pour all above ingredients into the mason jar.  Close the lid and shake, shake, shake!

That's it!  The ratios really don't matter.  If you want it chunkier add more of the rocaille beads.  I got all my supplies at Michael's and used the Martha Stewart brand except for the rocaille beads.  The nice thing about the MS brand is you can pretty much do any color you want as they have coordinating supplies in lots of colors.  I made mine clear to mimic the look of the clear glass glitter. 

Now, just in case you don't read through the directions for the photo boards I have to clue you into a little secret.  The secret to making this look really three dimensional and not just lie there on your project like dust on one of my bookshelves, is to use something like Diamond Glaze or some other really shiny, thick adhesive.  It will definitely add to the shine and the depth of your project.  Okay, continue on with the project, why don't ya?

Photo Board

Supplies:
6"x6" Board - you can use heavy chipboard, pressed board, wood, canvas, etc.
Paper
Mounting glue
Twine or ribbon
3" Paper or silk flower
Glaze glue or something similar (I used Aleene's Paper Glaze)
Faux-Glass Glitter (recipe above)
Quote or saying (I printed mine on vellum)
Wallet sized photo

Instructions:

1. Cover your board with patterned paper using the mounting glue.  Allow to dry.
2. Punch or drill holes in the top corners of your board and thread ribbon or twine through the holes for hanging.
3. Adhere a flower {make your own if you'd like!} in the upper left corner.
4. Glop a little of the glaze glue around the corners of the board. 
5. Dribble glaze around the edges of the flower. 
6. Dump a bunch of Faux-Glass Glitter onto the glaze, shake off the excess.
7. Allow the glaze to dry completely.
8. Adhere a quote or title onto the bottom of the board.
9. Tuck your photo behind the quote and/or flower.
10. Hang on your wall to enjoy!

I made my flower on the board using layers of decorative paper, old sheet music and tissue paper.  I smooshed them up and sprayed them with some glitter spray, following the Donna Salazar method mentioned above.  Then I added a large craft gem to the center.  It was soooo easy.  You could also make some nifty paper rosettes for this project.  Come on, you know you love those! 

If you make any projects using these ideas, feel free to post them on your blog and include a link in the comments section below.

Linked at:












Time to get crafty, people!