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Reclaimed Items Yard Fountain

First Published August 30, 2014 | By Diana Romaxx
http://retrobellish.com/2014/08/reclaimed-items-fountain/Click Here To See Original Post

Junk Mail Collage Flowers

This fun reclaimed project is made from junk mail and a few graphics that we made in a graphic program. If you receive a lot of junk mail, as a crafter you know that a lot of these papers have some bright and beautiful colors. I like to save scrap papers or cardboard that have bright or gradient colors that I can use to make paper collage art – it’s like painting with paper.

Paper-Colage-Flowers3

Paper-Colage-Flowers2

Sometimes, I also paint some of the pieces of paper with acrylic paints to achieve certain colors that I don’t have at the moment. Just let them dry and then rip them into small pieces or whatever size you need to create your own paper collage.

Paper-Colage-Flowers4

White glue is my perferred choice to glue down the scrap paper pieces but you can use your favorite choice. For me, I prefer a toothpick to glue down the paper pieces, but I have also used a junk paint brush when needed.

Paper-Colage-Flowers6

Paper-Colage-Flowers5

After all the paper pieces are dry on the background, I scan the complete piece, and then use a popular image editing software to compose the flowers with the pot images, or the pots could also be made of paper. The piece can then be framed for a more complete look. And although I chose to make a flower collage, one can make whatever you can think of. So just have fun and create your own piece of art.

Refurbished Foo Dogs

Foodogs

These two foo dogs were originally painted with a dark rust color and had gotten chipped from laying around the garage. After we did some redecorating in one of our rooms, I wanted to give these small statues a second life by giving them a faux rustic stone finish. I began by adding a layer of dark moss green acrylic paint with a soft brush. I let that layer thoroughly dry before adding the next layer. I then used a soft sponge to add a lighter shade of the same moss green over some areas of the statue and making sure to leave some of the dark moss color show through. Once that shade dried, I added a watered down medium shade of the moss green with a soft brush and the colors began to look blended in some areas and gave the finish a mottled look. Once the third layer was completely dry, I applied the fourth and final layer of very light moss green paint sporadically over the statue, which further blended the colors, and gave me the stone-like finish I wanted. I then repeated the same process on the second statue.

I painted the base with a soft brush using a flat black acrylic paint. Once that layer dried, I painted the next layer using the same soft brush, but for contrast, I used a flat navy blue acrylic paint. Once this layer thoroughly dried, I used a soft dry brush to apply a fast light stroke of metallic bronze acrylic paint, leaving very little of the navy blue and black colors showing through. Once the bronze paint dried, I sprayed the entire piece with a coat of clear acrylic gloss.

Foodog-L copy

Rustic Plaster Santa

Winkink-Santa

This whimsical winking Santa Claus came to us as a white-ware piece about 20 years ago. We painted the plaster piece with bright red, black and white acrylic enamels. We then gave it an antique medium wash which we then rubbed of with a soft towel to create the effect seen in the photo. So have fun and keep creating.

From our family to yours Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Diana Romaxx

Winkink-Santa-LSide

Winkink-Santa-RSide

Grapevine Holiday Wreath

grapevine holiday wreath

The holiday season is a fun time of the year to get creative with decorations for your home. This grapevine holiday wreath is very simple to make and could easily be updated every year with different ornaments of your choice. I had a very plain grapevine wreath at home that I wanted to decorate with some type of ornaments, but nothing too big that would hide the beauty of the vines. Previously Published 11/13 See Here

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