It's National Craft Month! Craft painting is a personal favorite!

Hi there!  

In honor of National Craft Month I am sharing some projects that I created a few years back.  I still find them fun and interesting and thought you might too!  

The closest I have come to being a person who loves puzzles has been with creating shapes and projects with dimension out of small wood pieces such as Woodsie's.  Basic shapes, i.e. circles, hearts, teardrops, ovals and craft sticks make up most of the projects you will see here today.  I use the wood shapes as you would if you were drawing a picture.  I draw the picture, then find the shapes I need to create the object I want it to look like.

The picture below are some of the projects created for a Fiesta party.  A one dollar wooden bag was painted and embellished with the Woodsie shapes. The center project is a napkin holder and the flower on the chip bowl has a clip on the back.

Next up is a grouping I designed with a Luau theme.  These are fun for place settings, decorations and the wooden bag with the flamingo is a straw holder.

I thought a Jungle theme would be fun to throw in the mix.  An inexpensive wooden frame and clay pot were the basic surfaces I used to paint and embellish with the wood designs.  I painted everything with Deco-Art Americana acrylic paints.  Monkeys, elephants, a lion and tropical birds were all fun to assemble and paint.  The circle on the front of the pot is a sssnnaaaaaaake!

Tropical birds as a frame embellishment and a plant poke.  OR, candies can be put in the small pot and the bird serves as a decoration perching above the candies. 

A pirates theme!  The bones were a bit of a challenge, but I got it figured out....again using basic shapes and craft sticks.  The pretty girl is a friend of my daughter's.  If she sees this, she will probably be surprised.

The Under the Sea grouping pictured below was one of my favorites!  I designed these around 2008 so would do some updates on them today.  I would add some glitter to the mermaids.  See the little crab climbing on the treasure box?  The small jars contain bath salts and are great party favors.  On the far left is a little gift bag with a mermaid clip closure.  There is a wooden spring clothespin on the back of the mermaid.  Doesn't she make a cute embellishment?

How about an Uptown Girl party?  An inexpensive mirror and clay pot were painted for favors and decorations.  The name plate is a personalized eye shadow compact and the lipsticks and perfume bottle are cupcake toppers. Fun, huh?  I think so!  The most fun was in creating them!  

Have you heard the phrase "What the mind can perceive and conceive it can achieve"?  I absolutely believe that!  You just need to have a plan and then work it! 

Hope you enjoy the rest of the hop.  Take time to enjoy life's little blessings and....

Live Life with a Flourish,

Marilyn