Make a Sun-Catcher with Puff Paint

Remember making these in a Make It and Bake It Oven?  No no, not Easy Bake… I’m talking the Make it and Bake It… with the tiny little plastic crystals that got everywhere.  I cannot find a picture of one online to save my life.  Remember them?  They were blue and red with a light bulb that got hotter than the sun?   I made so many stained glass unicorns and cats my room looked like a chapel.  

*Sigh* I miss 80′s toys. 

Anyhoo…

This is another project I made from AC Bailey’s March Newsletter that I’ve been dying to share with you.  I’m just so happy that it worked! 

All you need:

• Acrylic coasters or pages from an acrylic album like these.  (If you go with coasters that don’t already have holes punched, you’ll need a Cropadile to do so).
• A printed pattern if you wish to use one.
• Puff paint in whatever color you choose.
• Alcohol Ink. (I used Tim Holtz  brand)
• A sealer, like Mod Podge.
• Ric rac or ribbon

To make:

1.  Create the pattern you wish to use in Photoshop or any ole printing program.  (Here’s a fun site  with some free ones too).  Be sure your image is sized to the same width and length of your acrylic pieces before you print it out.  Look for one with nice thick lines and lots of nooks and crannys to color in.  Just like a stained glass pattern.

2.  Print out your image, and place the acrylic piece on top of it (so you can see through to trace it).

3.  Using your puff paint color of choice, trace your design onto the acrylic, keeping the lines fairly thick.  We want them to act as a kind of ”ink dam” when you color it in later.   Go slow and take breaks to test the flow of your paint.  A tired hand and puff paint poots don’t mix well to keep your image clean.  Once you’re done, let your pieces dry for at least 4 hours to be sure the paint is set.

If you are uber talented enough to free form draw these first 3 steps then do so – and I am in awe.

 4.  Once the borders of puff paint are dry, the really fun part!  Using the alcohol ink dropper, drip drops of ink in between the areas you want to color in.  A little goes a long way…. and after a little bit of trial and error, I found the best way to go about it is to use one to two drops and then use the nozzle to spread it around.  Much less blotchy that way.

Remember the more ink you use, the darker it will be… but you don’t want to overflow the space either.

5.  The ink will dry very quickly, but let it set for about an hour to be sure.  Once dry, I coated the ink with a sealer of glossy Mod Podge.  I’m not sure this step was necessary, but it made me feel safer about it lasting.

6.  Now, simply tie your pieces together as desired (punch holes if need be) and hang from a window.  Voila!  No bake sun catcher.

Now if we could only actually get some sun to catch… hello?!  Mother Nature?  Enough of the 30 degrees already.

Hope you have had a great start to your week.  Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!