Cover a Letter Box With Postage Stamps

I gifted a few letters to a daughter, sealed
inside a wooden decoupaged purse.

Brief Description: So cute and so chick, this wooden purse is actually a letter box for all of those handwritten messages you'd like to keep for sentimental reasons. I decoupaged my letter box with stamps and gave it as a gift to a certain someone that I knew collected old letters.

Supply List:

• Mod Podge
• soft bristle brush
• 3D alphabet stickers
• real stamps and or sheet of stamps for collage work only 
• wooden box shape (I chose a purse with a bamboo handle and brass latch.)
• tacky white glue

Directions:

1. First make sure the surface of the wooden box you intend to decorate is free from dust and dirt and dry if you wipe it down with a damp cloth.
2. Apply a generous but not messy coat of Mod Podge to a small area of the box and layer stamps onto it in a way that seems pleasing to you. 
3. let this area dry a little to the touch and then brush a coat of Mod Podge over the top of the stamps. Now repeat this step over until the entire wooden box has been covered. Dray overnight.
4. Use a tacky white glue to apply 3 dimensional alphabet stickers to the front. Spell out the recipient's name if you like.

More postage stamp crafts:

• decoupage a postage stamp vase

How It's Made - postage stamps

Apply a Faux Metal Finish to An Egg

Brief Description: High school kids might enjoy this egg decorating project. It is certainly a bit more complicated than most Easter egg crafts. However, if you enjoy this one, you may like to try even more of my egg decorating crafts here.

My egg sample showing a faux metal
 finish technique.

Supply List:

• a plastic egg
• aluminum foil (The type you buy at a grocery store)
• black acrylic paint
• white glue
• puff paint (any color)
• masking tape
• Mod Podge 
• soft cloth or tissue

Directions:

1. First cover the surface of the entire plastic egg with masking tape until none of the surface is left bare.
2. Use you puff paint to draw a swirl pattern around the entire egg. Let parts of the design dry as you proceed. 
3. Once you are finished and the surface is completely dry, this could take some time, apply the white glue to areas of the egg while applying the aluminum foil. Take care not to rip the foil and do not layer more than one sheet. 
4. Use your finger tips to press the foil down into the surfaces of your design over and over until you are satisfied with the overall effect. 
5. Now let the egg dry completely and then brush a watery layer of black acrylic paint onto the egg's surface.
6. Wipe away the paint with a soft cloth or tissue so that the raised areas made by the puff paints are shinier than the crevices of the design. Let the egg dry.
7. Apply Mod Podge to the finished surface when done.

 An alternative faux metal technique from Aleene.

decoupage a valentine post box

Above is a traditional, Valentine mailbox made
from a shoebox. (Note. The heavenly, halo effect around the
Valentine mailbox is necessary for proper interpretation.)

Brief Description: During my own childhood, Valentine's Day was celebrated in school with ambitious dedication. Every child took great care to design a shoe box that would reflect one's superior crafting skill and every teacher would complain about the wasted time given them during school. Annually homeroom teachers would beg the art teacher or parents to take over the craft, but to no avail. Kiddom would not allow the Valentine custom to die out; the making of the mail boxes was almost equal to the "sanctity" of Santa Claus, but not quite.

Supply List:

•  one shoe box
•  white butcher paper
•  scissors
•  white glue
•  Mod Podge
•  ribbon and rick rack to trim
•  Victorian scraps
•  paper clay molded angels, hearts, etc...
•  scotch tape
•  one pack of white paper clay, I prefer Model Magic for small children
•  candy mold tray, one with a Valentine theme, these may be purchased from a craft, hobby or cake decorating store.
•  tacky glue
•  soft camel-hair brush

Directions:

1.  Follow the simple directions on the Model Magic label.
2.  Mold as many little candy decorations with the paper clay as you wish. Let these dry for an hour after removing them from the candy mold.
3.  Cut a generous slot into the shoe box lid, this is where the letters are pushed into the Valentine mailbox.
4.  Wrap the shoebox in white butcher paper. Wrap the lid and the bottom half of the box separately. Tape down the edges of the paper with scotch tape on the interior of the box so that the wrapping will appear seamless.
5.  Now cut out your Valentine scraps. These may be downloaded and printed from a great variety of resources from across the web or purchased.
6.  Paste the pictures down to cover the surface of the shoe box.
7.  Paste the molded, Valentine motifs randomly onto the surface of the decorated box.
8.  Glue the trim around the bottom edge of the shoe box lid with tacky glue.
9.  Cover the entire outside surface of the decorated shoe box with Mod Podge using a soft, camel hair brush. Let the Valentine mailbox dry over night.

Overlap slightly the Valentine scraps and white, paper clay pieces.

The SITS Girls show how to make 

a Valentine Letter Mailbox.

Craft More Valentine Mailboxes:

• Valentine mailbox competition at doll school
• "Sweet Notes" from laura vegas 
• Mailbox Valentine Countdown
• Dog Themed Mailbox - Welsh Corgi

make a miniature decoupage bottle

Mona Lisa smiles on this miniature
decoupaged bottle.

Brief Description: Turn miniature bottles into keepsakes.

Supply List:

• miniature bottle
• tiny metal star
• decorative string
• Mona Lisa graphic
• blue butterfly wings (below)
• Mod Podge
• soft brush
• scissors
• glitter
• white glue

Directions:

1. Thoroughly clean and dry the bottle you intend to work with.
2. Cut out the pictures that you wish to include in the project. I've included a set of blue butterfly wings for you to download below.
3. Glue the pictures and glitter in place with ordinary white glue.
4. Now layer the Mod Podge on top of your work with a soft brush and let this dry. 
5. String the star onto a twine and wrap this firmly around the bottles neck and knot. 

Additional Suggestions: These little hand-crafted vases are perfect for miniature collections.

Blue butterfly wings.
This template may be downloaded and sized in a
word document. Read the Terms of Use before
using it folks.

All instructions, template and photographs copyrighted by Grimm 2017

Watch Aggie Craft paint and decoupage a bottle.

craft a vintage envelope tag book

A student's sample of a vintage envelope tag book.

Brief Description: My daughter decoupaged this little envelope tag book several years ago. There are also letters tucked inside of each page as well.

Supply List:

• You may either purchase envelopes or make your own. I've included a template below.
• scraps from newspapers, magazines
• Stamps and inks
• small additional charms, tokens etc...
• yarn
• scissors
• white glue

Directions:

1. As with most collage craft projects, the object of this process is to basically cut and paste. One needs very few directions when this is the case.
2. As for the template, down the image below, drag it into a Word document and size it according to the size you would like for a envelope tag book. 
3. You will need some kind of paper, preferably not too light weight.
4. Use glue sparingly as you go into order to keep the envelopes in shape.
5. Tie the pages together with an interesting bow or yarn.

All instructions and photographs, templates are copyrighted by Grimm 2017

The envelope tag book template.
This template may be downloaded and sized in a
word document. Read the Terms of Use before
using it folks.

More Tag Book Crafts:

• A lovely circus tag book!
• Going Dylusional
• Mini Steampunk Book
• Mini Circular Tag Book

decoupage a purple crayon themed frame

This frame was decoupaged with pages from

a book called, "Herold and The Purple Crayon"

On a very rare occasions, I use old books 

for craft projects such as these. This particular

volume had been "loved to death" so to speak.

 I needed to replace it with a newer copy 

and so I recycled it into an art project 

appropriate for a child's room.

Brief Description: Even favorite books from childhood may be given new life in a decoupage art project. This one was from my husband's collection. It was literally falling apart at the seams and the pages were darkening from the acid content in the paper.

Supply List:

• one very old copy of "Herold and The Purple Crayon"
• a purple crayon
• Mod Podge
• tacky glue for the crayon
• a prefabricated frame with a smooth, clean surface

Directions:

1. Cut and layer the Mod Podge according to the directions on the container. 
2. If you are worried about the surface of the frame being a little to slick, simple rough it up a bit with a small piece of sandpaper.
3. Do not remove the protective paper of the crayon before adhering it to the frame. Waxy surfaces are near to impossible to glue to any other surface. You may need to hold the crayon in place for awhile until it sticks to the frame. 
4. Use words from the story on the frame too!

photographs and written craft pages copyrighted by Grimm 2011 

Harold and the Purple Crayon cartoon 

by Weston Woods

Craft More Decoupaged Frames:

• Decoupage frame using old Tokidoki Calendar 
• heart shaped decoupage frame
• Mother's Day Decoupage Frame with Inspirational Quote
• Decoupage A Frame For Your Doll's Picture

decoupage a postage stamp vase

Two glass bottle decoupaged
with old stamps.

Brief Description: This is a perfect project for used postage stamps. As long as these are not valuable, why not use them to decoupage a vase or two? These little vases display nicely on top of a bookcase or antique wooden desk.

Supply List:

• many handfuls of used postage stamps
• a small, clean and dry glass bottle
• Mod Podge glossy or mat
• twine for bottle lip (optional)
• old paint brush
• wood glue

Directions:

1. Wash and dry the glass bottle
2. Cover a small area with Mod Podge using an old paint brush
3. Layer stamps randomly on top of the glue.
4. Paint another layer of glue on top of those same stamps and cover a new area and then repeat the same step
5.  After the glue dries, glue on a felt bottom to prevent scratches on furniture. Use wood glue to add this felt.

Additional Suggestions: Mod Podge dries very clear so do not become concerned about how the end product will look.

Glue on a felt bottom with the wood glue only. Clip the
edges after the felt dries to give it a cleaner appearance.

photographs and written craft pages copyrighted by Grimm 2011 

More crafting with postage stamps: 

• Jewelry from postage stamps
• Resin Paperweights decorated with old postage stamps
• Photo charms from old postage stamps 
• Decoupage bracelet (postage stamps)
• Postage Stamp Art
• Funky Little Bird Houses

  Patioelf shows you how to crystalize bottles & jars.