Personalised Plaquettes

Hi Folks,
Today I want to share my latest creation with you.  These are personalised plaquettes made using beautiful rice paper and napkins which are découpaged onto wood.  The names are done by painting on to pencil-outlined lettering using acrylic paint.  They are finished off with a matte varnish to protect the découpaged papers and some hanging ribbon added.

I hope you like my new plaquettes, for orders you can contact me by sending me an email using the form on the right hand side of this page.

What do you think?  Let me know by leaving a comment.

Valentine's Day Heart

Celebrate Valentines Day by decorating your home with a hanging wall heart that you decorated yourself.

To make one like mine you'll need...

A wooden heart shaped plaque
Some ribbon
Decorative roses
Butterfly motif
A napkin of choice
Glue gun

First of all paint your heart white, so that your napkin découpage has a neutral base to go onto.  When dry découpage with your napkin (or paper if you prefer), leave to dry and then give it a coat or two of satin/matte varnish to protect the découpage.

Add your hanging-ribbon and glue on the decorative roses and the butterfly motif.

That's it - simple!

Now you have a beautiful decoration that can be used the whole year through, not just on Valentine's Day.

Wishing You all a Wonderful Valentine's Day

By for now

Customised Journals

Hello everyone and Happy New Year,

I hope you all had a great Christmas and that 2018 will be filled with wonderful crafting ideas and creations!

For my first blog of the year I am going to talk to you about journaling - my new addiction.  As this is very new to me and I'm only learning it myself, I have started with customised journals rather than making journals from scratch as this is much easier and a great way to get into it without getting in over your head too soon.  It's the perfect way to ease yourself into making handmade journals.

As my customised journals are actually diaries, I wanted to get them done before the end of January so that the owners can get the full benefit of each month.

I used A5 sized day to page diaries with a hard cover but you can use whatever size you wish.  In order to decorate the cover as desired, it first needs to be primed for good paint adhesion.  For this I used Gesso which gives a really good base for the paint and hides any marks or writing that may exist on the cover.  Next, I used one coat of white acrylic paint on the cover once the Gesso was fully dried - depending on the original colour of your cover, two coats may be required.

The next step is choosing a colour scheme and adding your choice of paint to the journal cover before adding your embellishments.  For this I used two watered down acrylic colours and dabbed the paint on using a soft brush.

Journal Front Cover

Journal Back Cover

After the paint is dry the fun begins.  This is when you design your journal using any fancy papers, fabric, buttons, ribbons, lace, paper flowers, stamps and embellishments that you want!  Just layer them on and once you have decided what looks good just stick everything on using a hot glue gun.

You can then seal your project using some spray varnish - this will protect it and ensure the paint doesn't get chipped or damaged.

Below are some more pics of my own creations which I am very happy with.  You can also add some pockets or other additions to the inside on some of the blank pages at the front or back of the diary as per my photo below.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my customised journals and that you try it our for yourself.  I'll be posting more on this topic soon so keep tuned.

Bye for now

Christmas Decoration Sets

Hello guys,

As we are nearing the end of the Christmas decoration-making season I thought I'd post some pics of a few of the Christmas Decoration sets that I made this year  I and I hope you like them as much as I enjoyed making them.  They are a wonderful Christmas present idea for someone special as you can make each set in a different style and uniqueness for each person.  You can adapt this idea to make gifts for birthdays and other special occasions during the year too.  I do hope that you will join me again soon when I will be talking about journaling and showing you some photos of my recent journal making.  Don't forget that February brings St. Valentine's Day and I will also be posting soon with some great gift ideas for your loved one. So make sure to stop by and check out my posts.

Bye for now

Fabulous Christmas Decorations

Hi Guys,

I've just finished the second batch of these gorgeous clay decorations which are découpaged using ricepaper and napkins.

This time I used a very lightweight clay and of course moulds which made a big difference to the finish as you will remember my last lot were done freehand and were a bit on the rustic side.  For the round decoration I just used the lid of a pringles box as a mould as I couldn't get my hands on a round one anywhere. These are super easy and really fun to make.  I added some bows and glitter and aged the edges a bit with patina for effect.  You can click to enlarge the photos.

There are lots of ways you can finish these off.  You can add flowers, ribbon, use stamps or even a 3D effect - like snow paste or 3D acrylic paint to enhance the finish.  The sky's the limit and you will have your very own unique design.  These lovely decorations make fantastic Christmas gifts for friends and family .....or teachers etc.  Why not try some of your own?  You can even present them in little boxes for a really posh look - even better if the boxes match the decorations, and you can do that using the same paper to découpage them. 

I hope you enjoyed my post, like always if you would like to ask me any questions please do so by emailing me (see the 'Send us a Message' form on the top right of this page) and I will be happy to help.

Bye for now

Gwen 

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Gift Tag Tutorial

Happy Saturday Everyone!
I hope you are all having a fabulous Saturday and as I promised in my previous post that I would do a tutorial on how I made my Christmas Gift Tags I have posted the instructions underneath along with some photos and I hope you all give it a go.  Please do send me some photos of your finished tags and you can comment below to ask any questions or send me an email through the link on the right hand side of this page.

Hand Made Gift Tags

Gift Tags - What you need:
Ready made gift tags or some craft card (don't use copy paper)
One hole paper punch
Scissors
Découpage glue
Small flat brush
Ricepaper, Napkins or other thin paper scraps left over from other projects
Acrylic paints - I used gold, black and green
Glitter (optional)
Ribbon or twine (for hanging and adding to tags)

Gift Tags - What you need to make your own

Firstly, let me say that I used coloured ready-made tags as that's what I had to hand when I decided to make mine.  Plain white card is probably better though as you wouldn't have to match up the colours like I did so that the colour of the tag doesn't take away from the napkin colour by showing through it.  If this is the way you are going, use the scissors  to cut out the tag shape from your card and use the punch to make the hole.

Gather up all of your scraps and decide what you are going to use on each tag and place them roughly on the tag.  You can mix scraps that match for a more interesting look and don't forget you can add pieces of lace or ribbon to add to the finish.

Glue them on folks - go ahead and stick those scraps onto the tags using the découpage glue in whatever order appeals to you and then leave them to dry.  When completely dry, use your acrylic paints watered down to dab around the tag wherever you think needs tidying up for example if there are any white edges showing around one of your stuck on scaps, use paint the same colour to camouflage it.

Green Gift Tag by Funky-Junk

Using some gold or silver or black or any other dark colour paint, you can dab around the edges of the tag (using your finger) for a more aged look and to finish it off.  Next, stick on whatever embellishments you want, ribbon, a bow, crystals or lace and if required add some glitter by adding some glue here and there first.  Then add your twine or ribbon for hanging and you're done! 

Snowflake Gift Tag

Now you have your own unique Christmas Gift Tags to add a more personal touch to your gifts.  I hope you enjoyed reading my tutorial and that you will give it a go and don't forget to send me on some photos!  You can sign up to receive my posts quicker by adding your email address in the top left of this page.

Pink Gift Tag

Bye for now

Handmade Gift Tags

Hi Guys,

Today I'm going to show you the first of this year's Christmas Gift Tags - yep, I know, Halloween is just over and already we're taking Christmas!  Better to be organised early though as the weeks just fly in from now.

These were super-easy to make and this time I made them using left over scraps of rice paper and napkins from other projects which quite honestly I had never thought of until I watched a tutorial from Erica over at CottageChicClub recently.  I thought this was a great idea and more interesting than just using one paper or napkin for the job - so don't throw away those scraps people, keep them for your small projects!

I will say however that I found it a little bit more challenging using the scraps rather than using just one paper or napkin, I actually had to think about colour, placement, background, matching etc. so it does bring out your crafty side in a big way - and in a good way, ideas kept coming as I kept working.

I've made a short video of the first few tags to give you a more clear view of how they look.  I will be posting a tutorial on this later for anyone who's interested in trying to do their own, as I said, they're easy to do and will give your gifts a more unique and stylish look for Christmas.  See video below:

Thanks for watching, and remember you can contact me by email by using the form on the right or here at Funky-Junk Email  if you have any questions at all, I'm always happy to help.

Bye for now

Glitzy Faux Pumpkin

Hi Everyone,
I have been dying to glam up a faux pumpkin for ages but haven't been able to source a large one locally so I went ahead and used a small one that I have had for a few years which I bought in a Euro Store for a couple of euro.

First I painted the foam pumpkin in cream - two coats.  I then shaded the creases of the pumpkin using some watered down gold paint. When dry I glued on some gold leaves and painted up some cardboard motifs and glued them into place on the top of the pumpkin.  I added two pieces of gold ribbon and then I dabbed the top of the pumpkin with pva glue and sprinkled on the gold glitter.

I think the result is really lovely and there are lots of possibilities for more pumpkins - stripes, spots, découpage....

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial, please leave a comment below or send me an email through the link on the right hand side if you have any questions.

Bye for now

Découpage Tutorial - Cream and Gold Plaquette with Hand Made Ribbon Rose

Hi Funky-Junkers
I've been a bit silent recently but haven't forgotten about you.  I've been a busy bee and this is one of the things I've been busy with.

This lovely plaquette was a gift for a work colleague and I wanted to share it with you and give you one of my top tips on découpage.

First, I'll run through how I did the découpage on this one.....

You'll need a board - wood or mdf (not too thick)
Some nice paper or a napkin
Some mod podge or découpage glue and a small flat glue brush
Fine grit sandpaper
Varnish
Chalkpaint and paintbrush to suit size of project

Paint up your board in a colour that you like.  When dry and you are happy with the finish, take your napkin and pull away all but the top layer so that you are left with a much thinner napkin. Cut out the part of it that you want to use and position it on the board  - or you may wish to use the entire napkin.  Using your découpage glue, apply it to the napkin brushing outward from the centre until you have covered the entire piece and the board.  Be careful not to use too much glue.  Leave to dry.  Apply a second coat.  When dry sand lightly.  Apply several coats of varnish letting each coat dry thoroughly until the napkin looks like it is part of the board and not raised.  Sand lightly in between coats.

And you're done, you've just découpaged!

Today's Découpage Top Tip:  For a better look, if using an entire napkin, paint the board in the same colour as the napkin background. i.e. if the background is white on the napkin, don't paint the board dark blue as the napkin is thin and very transparent and the colour of the paint with show through.

Thanks for dropping by and don't forget you can ask any questions by commenting below or by sending me an email through the contact form on the right hand side of this page, I'm always happy to help.

Bye for now

Cardboard Box to Jewellery Box Transformation

Hi Folks, it's Gwen here from Funky-Junk, I hope you're all feeling good now that Summer is finally here and that you're ready for some more découpage.  Back in October, some of you will remember I posted about how to make a pretty jewellery box from old bracelet and watch boxes. You can see the post here .  Today, I am going to show you how to make another beautiful travel sized jewellery box from a plain cardboard one using some chalk paint and a napkin. These little boxes work great as travel jewellery boxes for when you're going on holidays.  Below is the most recent addition to my collection and if you scroll down you will also see the original box before decoration:

To do this you will need the following items:

A box
Découpage paper/napkin
Découpage glue
Découpage varnish
Chalk Paint
Wax Paper
An iron

First, paint the box in a colour of your choice using chalk paint (2 coats).  When dry, paint on a layer of découpage glue and let dry.

Place your découpage paper in the position that you want it on the box and cover with wax paper.  Iron over the wax paper with no steam setting on low heat.  Remove the wax paper.

Give the box two coats of découpage glue letting each coat dry before the next is applied.  When fully dry, give it a coat of varnish (or two).  That's it!  Now you have a cute little travel jewellery box.  As you can see from my photos, I choose to paint the interior of my box in a different colour to give contrast, you can paint yours in a colour of your choice or you can découpage the base in a paper that matches the exterior of the box.

Pretty and easy!  Thanks for stopping by, don't forget, as usual, if you have any questions you can contact me using the email form on this page or by leaving a comment below, it's always great to get your feedback.

Bye for now

Découpaged Tray

Découpage never fails to please and this time the subject matter was an inexpensive wooden tray which I had been looking out for for some time.  I hit pay dirt in a city centre Euro store for the bargain sum of €6,99 which just made  this project all the sweeter.

I used napkins for this découpage job - 4 to be exact.  First, painted the tray with a couple of coats of cream coloured chalk paint.  I then stuck on the napkins using some découpage glue and matching up the design where necessary.  Care is needed when matching the design up, it's a bit like wall papering on a smaller scale.  I also stuck some cut out flowers from the napkin to the outside edges of the tray to complete the look. Once dry, I added a coat of découpage glue and when the glue was dry, I sanded it lightly with a fine sandpaper to smooth out any wrinkles before applying a second coat of glue. When the this coat was dry, I finished up with two coats of gloss varnish to protect the surface, as this tray will be used regularly. You may prefer to use a matt finish but for this particular project I thought the gloss would look better.

As this tray is so pretty, I've decided to hang it in my kitchen rather than hiding it in a cabinet - it will also be more accessible for regular use and doubles up as wall decor! See photos below.  Click on photos to make bigger.

Découpaged Tray 1

Découpaged Tray 2

Tray Hanging on Wall

Tray (Before)

I hope you enjoyed reading about my little découpage project, if you would like to ask any questions you can do so by emailing me at funkyjunkinfo@gmail.com or through the contact form on this page and I will be happy to answer you.  You can also let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

By for now

DIY Vintage Style Jewellery Box

If you're anything like me, you have a wardrobe or cupboard somewhere in the house that's full of empty jewellery boxes - you know - the ones that came with your birthday and Christmas presents over the years?  The little watch and bracelet boxes with the manufacturers name on top?  Yes, those ones! I have never been able to throw them away as I always felt it would be a 'shame', well, some of them anyway.....namely the hinged ones.  I knew that one day I would get around to transforming them into something pretty and I was right, that day finally came.

I started by painting the box with a few coats of chalk paint leaving it to dry thoroughly between coats.  I used a duck egg colour but you can use any colour you like.  Next, I découpaged it with a pretty floral napkin and then added several coats of matt varnish letting each coat dry before the next was applied.  For the final finish I applied some dark wax to age the box a little and the result is below.........a pretty vintage style box - ideal for carryng your jewellery in when going on holidays!  I just love this box, what do you think?  Let me know by commenting below or emailing me by filling in the contact form on the right hand side of this page.

DIY Vintage Style Jewellery Box

Thanks for looking.

Bye for now