By Candie Cooper of Candie Cooper's Journal

School plays, summer make-believe, party hats; I LOVE IT ALL!! Here are some dollar store foam crowns I dressed up with Plaid paints and Mod Podge!

I started with neon tags that also came from the dollar store. You can sponge or brush on neon Apple Barrel paints to add more color and texture. For a little sparkle, brush a coat of Sparkle Mod Podge over the painted tags.

Glue the pieces together in layers with Mod Podge. It's fun to cut new shapes or slits in the paper tags with scissors too.

Decorate the foam crowns with gems and attach them with Mod Podge. You can leave the crown like this or....

Sponge paint it with gold FolkArt Paint.

I added the flower pieces, feather and ribbon trim to the crowns with cool temp hot glue. These crowns are ready to rule the back yard and maybe even the world!

I don’t know about you, but decorative trays always make pastries look so much more tempting. Take this sweet sixteen-cupcake stand. This stand is so adorable, and makes the sweets on display look so delicious. Create this stand for your next birthday party, or event. This project was created using FolkArt and Mod Podge. It is a beginner level craft, that should take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour. Display Sweet Sixteen treats with style.

PLAID Supplies

·       FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Azure Blue, 2 oz.

·       Mod Podge ® Matte, 16 oz.

Other Supplies

Cookie/cupcake stand
Primer
Wax paper
Printed cotton fabric
Foam paintbrush
Scissors
Ribbon

Instructions

1.   Disassemble the cookie/cupcake stand. Prime all the parts individually and allow to dry.

2.   Paint the stem with two coats of Azure Blue.

3.   Cut the fabric slightly larger than the plates. Working on wax paper, coat each piece of fabric with Mod Podge (both sides). Place the fabric over the top of the plate and smooth with fingers. Allow to dry. Once dry, trim the edges so they match with the plate. Repeat for the other plate.

4.   Pierce the fabric over the plate holes and reassemble the cookie/cupcake stand. Add a bow to the top.

By: Candie Cooper - To see more projects from Candie check out her blog, Candie Cooper's Journal.

In case you and your kids are still looking for another craft to celebrate the New Year, we you are in luck. Turn up the tunes and get ready for an extra fun project because we are making party flashlights!!  This is also a great project to have your kids make for parties, and sleepovers.

You'll need some Plaid Folk Art Enamels in your favorite colors, a flashlight, painters’ tape, soft bristle brushes, a flashlight and cotton swabs.

Tape off the flashlight with painter's tape to create a striped effect.  Or--you can cut pieces of tape however you like and stick them to the flashlight to create your own design.

Use a soft haired brush to apply the Folk Art Enamels to get a nice and smooth coat of paint.  It's worth mentioning that the Enamels are ok for kids to use, as they are non-toxic.  Yay!  Also, the paint will fully cure after 21 days, but you can still handle it before then.
 

Use a hair dryer to speed up the drying time in between coats of paint.  You can see I peeled away the first round of paint on the big flashlight and filled in the stripes with orange paint.

Doodle some dots using the end of a paintbrush or cotton swab end.  Polka dots are always a good choice in my book!
 

You could leave the flashlight alone or add some bells and whistles with some left over bows or whimsies from the dollar store.  This blue streamer piece came from a table centerpiece I disassembled.  Wrap it around the end of the flashlight and tack with a dot of glue or rubber band even.
 

Add some batteries and you've got a party light!  I love the crazy shadows it makes on the wall.

Don't stop here though!  Add some flat back crystals with Mod Podge and more ribbons if you like!  

Here's to a happy, safe and fun New Year!!!

P.S.  Dear Mom's, While I'm thinking about it, I believe a painted flashlight would be an excellent Valentine's Day gift for dad from the kiddos.  Just pick out Dad's favorite colors and let the kids doodle away.  Make a paper Valentine with a "light" sentiment and you've got a sweet little gift.

It’s amazing that all around us are everyday objects… some beautiful, some utilitarian and some quietly hiding behind their humble functions. It is there that out of nothing, something beautiful becomes. TOILET PAPER ROLLS! Yes, toilet paper rolls can be beautiful, and Plaid Designer, Julie Lewis found one surprisingly beautiful way to utilize something we throw away on a daily basis. The color combinations for this project are endless. So hang on to those rolls and here is all you need to create these clever vases:

Folkart Acrylic Paint – 516 Light Lavender, 524 Calypso Sky, 741 Glazed Carrots, 654 Metallic Amethyst, 651 Metallic Blue Topaz, 663 metallic Bronze

Crackle Medium – 696, 3 toilet paper tubes, 3 small clay pots – 1 ½” x 2”, Glue, Flat brush – ¾”, Artificial flowers

Paint one each of your tubes a metallic color. No prep needed! Awesome!

Liberally apply Crackle Medium to your tubes. Rotate them a bit after applying so you don’t get huge drips. Some drips are fine as they crackle beautifully! Love the crackle!

Let the crackle medium dry and then apply another coat of FolkArt acrylic paint. Liberally apply strokes lengthwise on the tubes being careful not to overlap. If you do, gently smooth ridge with paintbrush. You can see it start to crackle right before your eyes! Yes! It truly is cool and amazing! Apply the corresponding acrylic color over the metallic base.

Run a bead of glue around one opening of each tube.

yet so fun and a cool way to recycle. The color possibilities are endless! Make some for yourself and for super great gifts.

There is nothing more fun or easier than using Stiffy-Plaid's fabric stiffening product. Looking to make ghosts or mummies for Halloween?
This is the product for you! Check out this ghost ornament and modify the instructions to fit your project!

      

Make Halloween season more laughable this with this friendly and affable mummy.

For whatever reason, my boys love collecting rocks. It isn't unusual for me to remove several of them from their pants when I'm about to do laundry, and if I'm not careful they occasionally will make it into the wash. I don't really no why they love rocks so much, but I do think this project is a great activity and a way to transform a picked-up rock into a true 'pet-rock'. This is a great activity for camp crafting, and fun to do with themes as well like animals, aliens and people. Enjoy! 

You are sure to love this cute little pup- and if you look closely, you'll see he is made with a few egg-shaped Styrofoam pieces and other cut outs. This is just one example of the many animals you can create with foam and Apple Barrel Paint.

Summer's here and so is our favorite time for crafting! Up first, fun games with Apple Barrel paint and foam. These are so easy to make. With a few Apple Barrel Colors and foam, you can create all kinds of games like tic tac toe, chess and checkers! Get Started!

Here's a spiffy way to recycle and reuse stuff you may have around the house AND  create a great Valentine. This little card holder is made out of an empty ice cream container and covered with scrapbook paper. Sparkle Mod Podge gives it an extra special touch! What other household items can you use to make a V-Day card holder?

Plane theme makes great birthday for toddlers. Our first airplane-themed birthday party is from Nounces.com. In celebration of her two-year-old’s birthday, she took the plane theme to new heights: equipped with custom goodie bags, tickets and a marvelous cake, I can only imagine the excitement her little boy felt.

The invitations are little plane tickets.

I adore the little luggage goodie bags!

Find more pictures here.

http://nounces.com/tag/airplane/

Cute and quick ornaments for the holidays. We used unfinished wood surfaces from the local craft store and only needed a few paint colors. This is a great project to complete while the kids are home.

December is counting down and it is getting closer to Christmas! As the big day approaches and the kids go on Christmas break, keep them busy with easy crafts that don't take a lot of time, but are fun to do and easy to clean up after. Check out this adorable Santa Claus project from About Kids Crafts, made with Acrylic paint and popsicle sticks! See it here!

Looking for ideas for the great unfinished ornaments and wood you've found at the craft store. make it snow with a bit of texture paint. 
This is a great project for your child's class or even on a snow day home from school.

I love penguins, next to fuzzy white polar bears, they are definitely my favorite holiday critters. That's why this penguin frame is so cute. Kids can make these for gifts for teachers, grandparents and friends.

This is the first of a whole bunch of ornaments we will be featuring for the holidays! Make sure you also check out the ornament party on www.Plaidonline.com!

Kimmy from the 733 blog made this adorable bug catching kit for her nephew.
Her blog is great and this project is adorable.
See the project.

It's turkey time and Mr. Gobble here is ready. He was made with texture paint. He would make a great class craft
or even a fun centerpiece!

Wow! We had a great Halloween and it's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. We're gathering a bunch of new projects for you to enjoy with your favorite little ones. First up, this cute little Thanksgiving turkey. You can use leftover scrapbook paper and glitter to paint to make him extra special!
       

Our craft duo Cathie and Steve made this cute apron for fall. It is great for both children and adults. You use an actual apple to make the stamp
design. What fun!!

      

I found these cute robots posted on That Artist Woman blog on my weekly quest for kids crafts projects. The robot bodies are made out of candy boxes-the theater candy type, then adorned with craft paint and a few household craft supplies. Click here for instructions.

Food and crafts go hand and hand, and Halloween is a great time for both. Having said that,
Here's a photo from Amy Atlas' blog that features her Halloween spread from Celebrate Magazine.
More photos at her blog.

 

      
Fantastically easy and the perfect Halloween table centerpiece. Cathie and Steve made these deligtful Potion Bottles. This version is great for older kids, but could easily be adapted for smaller children-just use plastic juice bottles or other used containers.

I love this cute idea presented by Craftbits.com. This little mummy cup is a great project for kids to make at a Halloween party and fill with goodies.
I would use Mod Podge for the craft glue. For instructions and how-to pictures, visit Craftbits.com.

 

      
These cute little tombsones are easy for kids to make with texture paint.  Hosting a Halloween party? These make great take-a-ways!

Whether your little one has a birthday during the summer, or if you just want an opportunity to gather your child's friends, summer is a great time to host a party.  Don't forget to let your children help with preparations like selecting a theme and preparing food - and consider doing craft projects at the party. Kid-made crafts make great take-a-ways and are a cool way to keep kids entertained while gaining a new skill.

Here are a few summer party ideas:

Ballerina "Dance Under the Stars" Party

Pirate Party

Tropical Party

Baseball Party

Safari Party

Surfer Party

      

What better time than summer to host a pirate party!

Can you believe it's made of a paper bag! This centerpiece is made with paint, crepe paper, play dough and a few other household items.It looks delish! See Jennwa's blog for step-out instructions and details.

Little Elephants

These beautiful snow globes make a great group craft project as well as splendid Christmas gifts. Get details how to make 'em on littleelephants.typepad.com. The author also includes links and lessons she learned from experimenting with different materials.

Our first fall craft roundup includes fun, simple projects for younger kids. These project are great for classroom settings or at-home crafting. Enjoy!

• Fall Leaves Recipe Holder Craft by Apples4teacher.com
• Craft projects for smaller kids by DLTK
• Fall Door Hanger by Mycraftbook.com

The photo above shows easy-to-make recipe holders from Apples4teacher.com.

Planning a party for your little one?
Birthday parties are a great opportunity to express your creativity and to provide
a one-of-a-kind party around your child's favorite theme. Plus, you can save money by
crafting banners, goodie bags, invitations, party activities, gifts and more.
One of our favorite magazines, Family Fun has a great listing of party themes on their website
as well as spectacular cake ideas. Also, check out Plaid's gallery of party craft ideas.
Here are some of our favorite themes:

• Safari Party -Use animal stencils and stamps to create your own jungle, safari or rainforest party.
  Let kids create animal masks from paper plates for a fun party activity.
• Blast Off!- Create a space-themed party using boxes to make life-sized space ships
  and smaller discarded household containers for rocket ship table settings.
• Runway- Great for your favorite girly-girl. Use fun motifs like spotlights, sunglasses, cell phones
  and handbags for invitations; Create your own runway and let the girls play dress up!
• Summer Fun- Cute stamps featuring shells and sea themes make great designs for table decorations.
  Use small pails for treats instead of goody bags.

ROAR!  Bring out that inner Dinosaur with these Dino-Mite Dino-Tees!  Here's an idea:  Throw a Dinosaur-themed birthday party and pass these out as parting gifts-- or, gather the kids around to create their own Dino-Tee to take home with them!

      

Here's a new twist for a party theme for girls.