National Craft Month

March is National Craft Month and this week at House of Paper the DT highlighted different things to do with your craft supplies.

My first project was this cute little owl. It tore a little while I was sewing it, so I crumpled it up to give it a distressed look...I like how it turned out.

I made these tile coasters for one of my projects this month

I learned some things in the process. The first time I made them and poured the resin on them, they looked like this

I figured out that EVERY SINGLE BIT of the paper had to be covered with glue on the backside, or the resin would absorb into it and discolor it. I pieced them again and made sure I put glue everywhere, but I was worried about the outcome again, so I went to my local print store and color copied them (they need to be copied on a laser printer, not ink jet or they may run). They are capable of replicating the image on a page, so you get more than one. I would recommend this way. Put the work into one, then color copy for the tiles...much easier!

In my second try my tiles turned out much better, but still on the owl by the leaves it discolored a little and theres a dot on the flower.
I decided to try a couple of the copies to see if they worked any better and found them a LOT easier. They are less bulky, and there was NO bleeding of the resin and discoloration.
I took modge podge and painted it on the backside of one of the copies with a foam brush and then adhered it to the tile. I let it dry, then covered the top with modge podge. As it becomes tacky you will find that if you touch it with your fingers, the paper will rip...use the foam brush to smooth out air bubbles. Let it dry completely.

The resin isnt as hard as it may seem. You could stop with the modge podge, but I liked the image to be in the resin. I mixed 2 oz from each of the bottles in the kit (this will do 5-6 tiles). I got paper cups to get them off the counter (protect underneath, the resin will drip and is permanent...use cardboard or a board). I use the popsicle stick to wipe the drips off the bottoms of the tile before it dries too much.

I poured it on and smoothed it around with a popsicle stick (same one I mixed with). The directions tell you to use a torch to get air bubbles out...these are small and you can exhale/huff on them...like you are trying to warm up your hands on a cold day. This will take the air bubbles out. I check on them for up to an hour to make sure that all the bubbles are out. After 8 hours they are dry to the touch. Because I have kids that think they should touch...I did this in the evening and then let them dry overnight.
This is the color copy version

Put sticky back felt dots (used for furniture) on the backside and they wont scratch up wherever you use them. My kids think they are fun. You can do photographs too...they could be personalized. Im going to make more for Christmas and make color copies of my image. I use coupons to buy the resin to make it cheaper. The white 4 x 4 tiles are 16 cents a piece. Cute and cheap!

To see what the rest of the DT did, check out the gallery at HOP!

Thanks for stopping by!