Easy Painting Projects for the Home

Handpainted crafts

         Hi friends, this month I am donning my Designer cap for  Crafters Corner once again and reviewing a product I have fallen thoroughly in love with and going gaga all over!! 

            I am sure all of you at one point or the other have wielded a brush , dipped it into some yummy paint and let the inborn artist in you have fun!
            Painting  must have given you the most enjoyment in childhood as at that point we didn't have to worry about which paint, what surface , will it work and what not!!
            Now there are so many different paints for different surfaces that for an average person it gets soooo confusing and the down side is that if you get it wrong all your hard work just literally flakes off !

             I was so excited about FolkArt Multi-Surface Acrylic Paints ,from PLAID [the manufacturers of Modpodge] because as the name suggests it is just that....a wonderful one stop solution...you can use it to paint on multiple surfaces such as:-

• Glass
• Ceramic
• Terracotta
• Plaster
• Thermocol[styrofoam]
• Clay
• Tiles
• WallS
• Wood
• Silk
• Fabric
• Canvas
• Plastic
• Concrete 

Yes that is a huuuge list!

And have a look at the amazing comparison chart from the PLAID website. All those little black dots above a paint's name show what the paint can be used for .

Comparison of Paints

And yes as you can see ,Folk Art Multi Surface Paint  is clearly the big boss of paints!

Key Features of Folk Art Multi Surface Paints 

I love to observe the way a product is designed and when I find the manufacturer has put in effort I just can't help but marvel at the genius involved!

1. We all love to use paints that come in ready to use colors thus avoiding the trouble of mixing colors to get shades! These paints  are available in an amazing 40 colors ...in different variations such as bright ,soothing pastel and even chalky colors

   

   Folk Art Multi Surface Paint  

2. They are absolutely non toxic hence ideal for use by crafters
3. They come in lightweight plastic bottles ---yes no cases of broken bottles if you knock over your paint!
4. The lid design of the bottle is a clever flip open type and yes that means easy replacing the lid and no hunting for lids ...makes it so much easier if you are a "in rush" and messy crafter like me! And as you know acrylic paints dry out fast and this type of lid design is a distinct advantage! 
5. The lid has a nozzle which is just the right size to allow you to squeeze out drops  of paint onto your palette. I found this a distinct advantage over the wide mouth usual paint bottles .
6. Since these paints can be used for multiple surfaces if you want to make matching items for your home eg if you want to paint a matching ceramic vase, wooden tray , paper mache box....you don't have to shop for different types of paints but just pick up the versatile Folk Art Multi Surface Paint   !

How to Prepare your surface for painting

Though we all like to jump right into painting here are a few tips to prepare your surface to get the best results [ From Plaid Website]

• Wood: Sand smooth with fine grit sandpaper, wipe away sawdust.
• Tin: Wash with soap and water; wipe with white vinegar dampened cloth, then rinse with water and let dry completely.
• Glass/Ceramic: Wash with soap and water; wipe with rubbing alcohol dampened cloth.
• Terra Cotta: Wipe clean; seal pot interior with paint or two coats of FolkArt Waterbase Sealer. If terra cotta will not be used as a planter, simply paint.
• Canvas: Wipe primed canvas clean; if unprimed, apply a couple coats of FolkArt Gesso Primer.
• Rigid Plastic: Wipe clean with damp cloth.
• Paper Mache: Wipe clean with damp cloth.
• Plaster: Wipe clean with damp cloth.
• Concrete: Coat with white vinegar, let dry, rinse, and dry thoroughly.
• Fabric: pre-wash in soap and water, dry thoroughly without fabric softener or dryer sheet.

Painting on Wood 

Wooden Hanger

            I had recently picked up this wooden cloth hanger for my bedroom thinking I would decoupage it but felt lazy on thinking of decoupaging all those curved parts! When Shalini discussed  Folk Art Multi Surface Paints with me...I jumped at the chance to use it on my wooden cloth hanger!

Painting Wooden knobs

Beginner's Painting Tip : If like me you plan to use white and other colors on a project ...finish off the other colors first as unless you are an especially clean and meticulous painter you will splatter colors on your white!

Painting and Sanding

Once I painted to wood and metal parts in white and the most gorgeous chalky pink I used a sanding tool to gently sand and smoothen the blotchy less than perfect areas 

Buying Tip : There is a really cute and handy Mod-podge Tool Kit available at Crafter's Corner with a useful Distressing and Sanding tool[awesome for card making and scrapbooking too], Squeegee[ super useful in decoupage], 3/4 inch flat brush [ perfect for painting large surfaces]apart from 2 handy scissors and a scale all neatly packed in a plastic see through pouch!

Wooden Hanger Painting 

Now let me confess I am not an artist in any sense of the word but I am sharing a few steps of how a total novice like myself  could achieve a lovely painted article!

 Painting Flowers

  Love how we can squeeze out just a few drops from the cleverly designed bottle. the Folk Art Multi Surface Paints have a creamy consistency and are not running or too thick....just perfect for a beginner!

Double loading a Brush

        Many of you may be familiar with the famous One stroke Painting technique by Donna Dewberry if not do google and you will find amazing works and tutorials!She even has some videos using Folk Art Multi Surface Paint  

Double loading a Brush

I will not say my flowers and leaves are exactly the one stroke technique as mine are too amateur and simple. Double loaded an angular brush with 2 shades of paint and blended them by brushing on paper. You can use a flat brush you have.

Double loading a Brush

Since I was quite new to this type of thing I practised a few flowers on paper first and you can see how funny some of my trials look!

Painting trials

Well in the end I managed to paint passable flowers!

Painted Wooden Hanger

Added a few leaves and it even started to look beautiful !

Painted Wooden Hanger

My husband usually is rather meagre with appreciative words on my creations but this simple handpainted project elicited a "wow" from him and yeah that made by day!

Painted Wooden Hanger

I painted a few "buds" on the edges of the hanger and added simple leaves.

Painted Wooden Hanger

The whole project was so simple and gratifying to do!!

Painted Wooden Hanger

I was so happy at the success of  hand painting the wooden hanger I ventured to make a matching wooden basket!

Wooden Basket

Decided to alter the wooden basket shown above in the same way

Painted Basket

Gessoed the basket and painted it white and added simple 5 petal flowers.

Handpainted basket

 Shalini knows my obsession with adhesives so she sent me this wonderful glue from Modpodge called "wonder glue" in my DT kit ! 

Wonder Glue

   It was perfect to add some heavy bling to my wooden basket!

Wooden Basket

Lined the sides of my basket with a pearl mat and also wound a string of pearls around the  top arch!

Handpainting Crafts

It was tricky to paint large 5 petal flowers on the arch so I just swirled my brush and made "buds"

Handpainted Wooden Basket

Also added some "swirled" buds to the edges of the basket

Handpainted Wooden Basket

Painting on Plastic

Folk Art Multi Surface Paint  

I am sure everyone will have some or the other plastic item at home just begging to be altered! Well I went to work with some plain takeaway containers

Painting on Plastic

Again painted simple 5 petal flowers.

Decorative Painting on Plastic

  When trying Folk Art Multi Surface Paint  on plastic I found that it took on the colors well but if you really wanted an opaque covering you needed to use more paint if you are using the pastel shades.

Easy Painted Flowers

Painting on Metal

Metal Tin

Since I wanted to see how it would work on metal I used it to alter this heart shaped metal tin !

Using a Stencil

Since Folk Art Multi Surface Paint  work beautifully with stencils I tried using it with a Memory Box stencil I had

Stencil Brush and Paint

I used a stencil brush and Folk Art Multi Surface Paints to create a lacy design on the metal tin

Stencil and Painting

Though there was something charming about the lacy design I got I didnt quite like it !

Lacy Painted design

       Now here is what I really loved about the Folk Art Multi Surface Paint  .....they are easily washable! If you are not happy with what you painted...you can easily wipe it away or wash it off while it is still wet!

2 tone painting

So after I washed the whole thing off I thought I would go the floral way again!

Double loaded my paint brush with vintage white and baby pink to paint simple daisies on the lid of the tin.

Simple daisy

  I didn't use brush strokes but rather just dabbed on the paint using the edge of the brush and I love the slightly textured look that left on the metal surface!
Added a few leaves and swirly vines and filled in the gaps with little dots of paint!

Hand painted Tin Box

For an amateur handpainted project I feel rather happy about it! What do you think my friends?

Painted Tin Box

Here are the links to the list of supplies used :
Supplies Used:Mod Podge Tool Kit,Folk Art Multi Surface Paint,Mod Podge Wonder Glue,Pollen

Linking to
All Sorts Challenge
Dreamtime CraftSupplies
Simon Says Wednesday