Tea for Two... Designer Crafts Connection Little Birdie Bloghop

Greetings everyone! Today the Designer Crafts Connection is creating using Little Birdie Crafts sharing a variety of projects including scrapbooking, mixed-media and découpage. CLICK HERE to hop on over to learn more about Little Birdie and see all the wonderful creations.

Little Birdie Crafts manufactures Hobby and Craft products for craft enthusiasts from around the world with a mission to spread the joys of crafting. I received this beautifully packaged assortment of Little Birdie Crafts découpage supplies to create with.

To create with are two beautiful designs of Decopage Papers, Deco Magic Decoupage Glues in matte and glossy finish, two MDF 4" Coasters, and Decor Gloss Varnish. Since coaster blanks are included, I will art those up. The designs are colorful and just happen to include imagery that I can make a coaster for in memory of my grandmother and my uncle.

My family being from Chicago... this project would not be complete with a mini découpaged Chicago Cow. On one of my recent trips home I found this plaster cow at the craft store in a clearance bin for 75 cents (it has a horn and part of a hoof broken off). This project will give her a proper artsy makeover! 

One of the decoupage paper packs is  "Post Perfect" which contains two sheets each of two designs. My Grandmother loved to paint flowers so I will découpage one coaster with these beautiful hydrangeas.

The other decoupage paper pack is "Antique Essence" which contains a collage mix of words, florals, butterflies, travel and vintage vehicles. I cut out the VW beetle with scissors and layered to be the focal image on the coaster for my Uncle. He loved his cars and one of his car restoration projects was a VW Beetle. I loved it and when I was young I dreamed it would be mine one day.

Découpage with paper is a simple process, but takes a bit of time and patience. To apply paper to item, you cut or tear papers depending on design, then paint thin, even coats of Decopage Glue to the item and also the back of the paper. Then place glued paper to glued item and use brush to smooth out air bubbles and seal with a layer of more decoupage glue. It's messy fun. For the round coaster, I used scissors to cut segments all the way around so I could fold over and adhere paper to backside making a nice smooth edge. 

I repeated process for the square coaster, but I trimmed the corners away at a 45º angle so the flaps foldover with make a nice finished edge and corners.

  

I finished folding over the other two edges, added more Deco Magic Decoupage Glue and pressed the backside of the coaster onto a piece of grey felt. I set a bottle of water on top to weigh it down while the decoupage glue dries, then back trim to the edges with scissors. 

For the circle coaster, I found a lid to something in the kitchen that was slightly smaller to cut felt shape and glued on. This finishes off the back nicely!

I tore up pieces of the papers into smaller bits and began décopaging the plaster cow. I selected some florals and images to use on the outer layers and I need to tear these out with precision. I dip a fine tip paintbrush in water and paint close to the edge of desired image, let water set for a few seconds, then press gently to tear where desired. I then adhere these selected images to complete the outer layer of this artsy cow. 

I also used this butterfly that I tore out

using same painted water line technique.

I used some Caran D'Ache pastels to add spots of color to unite the collaged pieces and give an impressionist painterly feel to this colorful cow. Now it is truly a work of ART and will be the perfect companion to my Grandmother's coaster and her blue mug.

  

I seal both coasters with three thin layers of Decor Gloss Varnish, letting each coat fully dry between application. The varnish may look a little cloudy when applied, but it dries completely clear. I set aside for a day or two to let everything cure completely and my new coasters are ready to use!

Découpage is a wonderful way to transform and personalize pretty much anything -- trays, vases, frames, coasters, furniture... you name it! With these DIY coasters, I also have preserved some special family memories.

Tea for Two!

What would you create

with Little Birdie Crafts?

CLICK HERE to jump over to the beginning of the Little Birdie Crafts Bloghop at the Designer Crafts Connection blog to view more inspiration and projects using products and kits from Little Birdie Crafts.

You can find more info on

Little Birdie Crafts

at their website HERE

Find lots of creative inspiration on the Little Birdie Crafts BLOG.

Thanks so much for visiting!  Sb :)

** This is a sponsored post. Little Birdie Crafts has provided products for use in this project in exchange for my creative ideas, views and opinions. My ideas and opinions are my own.