Category Archives: DIY

How To Make DIY Art Journals

First, she gathered the materials and tools needed. She used resources we had on hand. She used recycled cereal boxes and granola bar boxes, glue, paper, decorative ribbons, foam stickers, pen, pencil, ruler, scissors, hole punch, cotton swabs, and markers for this project. She has plans to make more varieties of art journals using different fabric covers, beads, and sequins too.

Next she cut different sizes of boxes open, laid them flat and trimmed off what she did not need. Then she laid them flat on the paper to measure and leave a ledge of paper for folding over and cut off any excess paper. Then she glued the cardboard to the paper. Then folded over the ledge, creased the paper ledge, and glued the folded over portion to the cardboard.

She tried two different applications for glue. She tried using liquid glue spread with a q-tip on some of her projects, and she used an extra strength glue stick on another projects. She said both types of glue worked fine, but the glue stick dried a little nicer than the liquid glue as it tended to leave a wrinkle if she applied too much.

Next she cut different lined and colored papers to the desired size. She used a variety of plain, colored, and lined paper to create lots of opportunities for sketches, water color paintings, doodle art, and areas to write her thoughts on.

She hole punched the papers, and the outside covers.

Then she attached the papers to the cover with ribbon.

She inserted the ribbon through the holes and lined up the papers and repeated this a couple of times.

After several times of inserting the ribbon with her fingers, she found it was much easier to insert the ribbon with a large sewing needle.

These little books are so fun to make. Besides using these for art journals or writing journals and giving them as gifts, they would also make wonderful ABC books for younger kids, or use to write a story book, or make them into prayer journals too.

Next she decorated the outside of the art journals. On some of the journals she used foam stickers and ribbons, and on others she also used Magic Stix Markers by The Pencil Grip to make her designs.

Be sure to read the post about our experience using these markers to find out more.

She added in mini-pockets and mini-envelopes to the inside covers of some of the journals.

In some of those she plans to store special items like admission tickets to museums or pictures from flyers from she visits and in others she wants to put a pencil and eraser for sketching.

We also cut out some one time use watercolor paint pallets from unused activity books. You can find these at most stores in the dollar or coloring book section.

With these one time use paint pallets, all she needs is a dab of water and either a cotton swab or a paint brush. She can paint lovely watercolor pictures with the six colors that are included, and then throw away the little slip of paper and swab when the paint is used up.

We eventually plan to make reusable watercolor paint pallets with up cycled Altoid Tins and various lids, gum containers, and pill boxes. These are so cute!

These portable paint kits could be held in place inside her art journal with a rubber band or elastic ribbon.

In the future, she would like to add stamps, fabric and lace, buttons, beads, and sequins too. She will use her hot glue gun for embellishing the journals with these things.

I am sure she will have a lot of fun filling these books with colorful thoughts and art projects.

These DIY portable art journals were simple to make and turned out so cute!

Below are a few videos that might give you more ideas in creating your own DIY journals.

and

Have fun making your journal and be blessed!

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DIY Candle Holder From Recycled Milk Jug

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This project is really simple and affordable. You can recycle or upcycle a used milk jug into a fun craft to decorate your home and also have a special gift to give away.

You will need:

Empty clean milk jug
Scissors
Ruler
Pencil or pen
candel
hot glue or super glue
Paint of your choice. (we used Thin Stix tempera paints. See info below to enter our Giveaway!)

Cut out random size flower petal shapes from milk jug.

We cut about 7 small, 10 medium, and 8 large. Cut as many as you desire.

Paint the petals in the color (s) of your choice. Let the petals dry. If you desire a white flower, then leave the petals unpainted. The painted petals will give off a lovely reflection of light. The unpainted flower will glow with a beautiful soft light allowing you to almost see through the layers of the flower. It is up to you if you desire to paint them or leave them unpainted.

Glue the base of the petals together.

We found it easiest to start with the larger petals and then glue on the medium and we glued the small petals on last. Then place a dot of glue to attach the base of the candle to the flower.

If you want to use a candle version without a flame, then instead of using real candles, use battery operated candles. They look just like the real thing but are safer because there is an LED light instead of an open flame. You can find these at most big box retail stores and online. You can even find inexpensive ones at the Dollar Store for $1. The Dollar Store also carries the tea candles in packs of 8 for $1. These flower candles are not expensive to make, especially if you can make 8 of them with real candles for only $1.

Whether you choose to use a regular candle or a battery operated candle, either way they will look beautiful and be something homemade with a personal touch. They also help the environment by recycling or repurposing milk jugs that otherwise would have been thrown into the land fill. These lovely flower candles will become a special gift to give to loved ones and friends.

GIVEAWAY

Be sure to ENTER the GIVEAWAY for a set of THIN STIX !

Thin Stix Giveway

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DIY Art Kits

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Here is a fun and affordable DIY Art Kit for travel, hiking, art classes, or to use around the house.

We have two birthdays coming up and both birthday kids have requested a set of Thin Stix paints for their birthdays. We recently reviewed these fun tempera art sticks and the kids had a lot of fun. Be sure to read about our experience reviewing Thin Stix.

So in addition to adding these to our art supplies at home for art classes and crafts we make, I have also ordered additional sets for both birthday kids. I ordered the Neon Colors pack for my daughter and the Creative Colors pack for my son. I am hoping they arrive in time to add into their art kits I made for their birthdays.

These Thin Stix tempera paints are “take anywhere” and “mess free” so they are perfect to take on the go in the car, or to a game, to sit outside and paint a scene from nature, or if they want they can even color in bed.

DIY Art Kits are portable, can be easily carried, and are light weight so the kids, or mom (I want to make a kit for me too) can sit anywhere and have the basic art supplies they need to create something beautiful.

Watch this short video about using Thin Stix tempera paint sticks from The Pencil Grip, Inc. to see why these are such a great addtion to your art kits.

DIY Art Kits:

For these kits, I used a re-purposed container. I saved a see through zippered plastic pouch from a bed sheet set. This container is the perfect holder for their kits, they can see everything in it at a glance, and they will fit nicely in a shoulder bag or backpack.

DIY Art Kits we made include: Thin Stix tempera paints, Mixed Media Sketch Paint Pad, Charcoal Pencils, Graphite Pencils, Colored Pencils, Pencil Sharpener, Eraser, Ruler, Gel Pens, and a small Watercolor Kit, various Paint Brushes (not pictured) and a sponge.

You can add crayons and oil pastels, a protractor, origami papers, colored tape, glue, various colored tissue papers, and and exacto knife if desired to this kit still and a fold-able easel if desired.

These costs will vary in making these kits. Two of the kits I made cost about Art Kits $30 +/- and a larger kit I made for my older son that included more Thin Stix colors cost about $40 to include everything.

Some of the individual costs of items to put this together for example included: Sketch Pad $8, Colored Pencils $8, Thin Stix 6pk of Neon Colors $7 and the other kit included Thin Stix 24pk of Creative Colors. Some of the other items came from the Dollar Store and the outer case was repurposed for free.

The outer case is a zippered plastic cover that came on a couple of sheet sets we purchased a while back and I saved the covers thinking I might use them some day. Sure enough, they are great for holding these art supplies. Some items will cost a little more if you purchase them online from e-bay or a lot more if purchased from an art supply store. It is up to you what you include, and the ages and needs of your kids, so costs will vary.

The paint brushes for the DIY Art Kit are back-ordered, and I am hopeful they will arrive in time for their birthdays. I wanted to keep these kits mess free and easy to use. Thin Stix are wonderful for keeping them mess free, but sometimes you want to use watercolors too. These brushes will help watercolor paints to be less messy because they hold water in the handle of the paint brush. For the watercolor brushes all you do is squeeze the brush then dab the brush onto the dry watercolor and use it. Then to clean it just squeeze the brush again so water reaches the brush and wipe off on the sponge before you get your next color.

I think my kids will really enjoy using these homemade portable DIY Art Kits. I am thankful for the opportunity to try out the Thin Stix 6k Classic Colors tempera paints and we are excited to include them in our portable travel kits and our art supplies in our home.Stay tuned for pictures of other projects we make with our Thin Stix! They are a lot of fun, mess free, and so easy to use!

I found a cute method for downsizing all of this into one small bag that is taped (using cute paterned duck tape) to the art pad so you can hold all of this on your lap without loosing anything. I don’t have my kit finished yet. But check out this video by Coloring Pages Bliss so you can see how to attach your zippered pouch of supplies right to your art pad and an extremely light weight easy access portable art kit.

I made two of these kits for birthdays we are celebrating next month. I liked them so much that I made one for myself too. And now the other four kids have requested them too. So that is a future project.