Do you know what today is? It’s project reveal day for the first round of the Random Acts of Craftiness Challenge, wherein blogging and non-blogging crafty types make cool stuff out of random stuff without consulting the interwebs for inspiration. (Learn more here.)
This month’s crafting challenge: GAME PIECES.
Within about three minutes of hearing this I mentally designed a letter sorter made of dominoes. It would be awesome–gold paint, touches of neon–really stunning. It would be the letter sorter to end all letter sorters. Your letter sorter would weep in its presence. (And then how would you manage all those letters?) But then I got actual dominoes in my hands and realized immediately that my idea was a total bust. Flop-o-rama.
Not to worry, Plan B started looking promising. I would make the geometric necklace to end all geometric necklaces!
You know those little pie pieces from Trivial Pursuit? Aren’t those just begging to be strung up and worn like this?
Except how would I drill through the little plastic pieces for stringing purposes without crushing them? And was I just going to leave a Trivial Pursuit game out there in the world without its pie pieces? Well that didn’t seem right. I wouldn’t let myself buy a set of pieces on eBay either; you know, as punishment for my foolish domino purchase. (I was so confident in Plan A’s potential to rock the letter sorting world that I invested $5 without prototyping first. Rookie mistake.)
No, I couldn’t leave a game out there all sad and incomplete. So I shifted course again, and I am happy to assure you that no game pieces were harmed in the making of this project.
Friends, may I humbly present…
I planned to make one or two, but I got on a roll and made five. Some better than others. I think this one with the little triangle is my favorite. It might become a pillow. To be decided.
And I did manage to bring in neon. Couldn’t help myself. I rolled my eyes at the neon trend at first, but then I made some branches and now…
…can’t seem to get enough.
And I’ve got to throw in some metallic for good measure. This was the last one I made. By that time my quality control was, um, not so controlled. Let’s call the irregularities handmade charm, mkay?
These towels were so simple to make. I’m sure you can guess the basics — dip, stamp, repeat — so I won’t bore you with a full tutorial. But I will fill in a few details.
MATERIALS:
* Trivial Pursuit game pieces
* Tea towels (I used these and one flour sack because I had them on hand)
* Acrylic craft paint
* Fabric medium for craft paint (like this)
* Muffin tin (or something else in which to mix paint and dip pieces)
* Rags or paper towels to tamp off extra paint
* Small paintbrush (optional, to use if you want to fill in any of the triangles)
The key to this project is using fabric medium with your paint. Doing so ensures that the paint will remain flexible and will be washable. You mix one part medium to two parts paint and stamp away. Then you let your creation air dry for 24 hours before heat setting the paint with an iron. That’s it.
This was my first time using fabric medium, but I think I’m hooked. Now I have a million ideas for pillows and t-shirts and who knows what else that I want to paint. (Am I last to this party?) Our girls already made some hand painted tea towels for their Nana, and me thinks Christmas may be a little painterrific around here.
OK folks, now I’m off to check out all the game piece brilliance that will surely be on display over here. You should, too. Go ahead. And let me say a quick thanks to Erin, Kelly, and Michelle for organizing the Random Acts of Craftiness. Can’t wait to find out next month’s challenge!
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PS — Special thanks to Apartment Therapy for featuring our painted house reveal last week!
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Linking up with Hi Sugarplum’s In About An Hour party because seriously, this project is quick! Also linking up with Serenity Now, Craftberry Bush, and Beneath My Heart.