Let's Get Makey: HeARTful Upcycled Art Supply Storage By Jenn White

HELLO EVERYONE! This is Jenn White. I AM BACK! I love beautifying useful things that serve a purpose.

I have another upcycle project for you to try. This time I decided to use of some of the containers that have been accumulating in my plastics recycling bin. I always wonder if the waste & recycling companies really do sort and recycle all of the plastics I drop off to them. I certainly do not want any of them ending up in a landfill, dumped into the ocean, tormenting sea life or making any wild critter or anywhere miserable.

Instead of buying new expensive creative supply storage let's make our own beautiful CUSTOMIZED storage turning our trash into useful treasures! YAY!!!

When I shop for groceries & household supplies I am also considering the containers & packaging the products are in & if it is reusable. The products & containers you use may be completely different from mine so please understand that this is a use whatever you have at home project. I am not promoting the use or purchase of any products that were in these containers nor am I suggesting you go out searching for & buying these exact same containers. Please use what you have.

We have been going through a lot of antibacterial wipes here at the house, at our businesses & in our vehicles. They are packaged in wonderful large lidded reusable plastic cylinder containers. They are perfect for the storage & gifting of so many things. I am using this one to store my long handled paint brushes & longer wood & bamboo picks & sticks. I also use another large sized one as a craft table waste can for all the craftermath. I am a paper crafter too so there are always paper crumbs & adhesive peelings that need to be cleared from my work space.

I make flavored ice smoothies with a certain brand of cocktail mixer & the bottles they are packaged in are plastic with beautifully embossed sides that serve as hand grips when you lift them. I decided to saw the top of the bottle off with an old seldom used serrated knife I had in one of my Kitchen drawers. I then trimmed up & smoothed the edge of the bottle with some scissors. I will save the remaining bottle top to use this coming spring as an egg stand for the eggs I like to paint.

The art supplies I used to make, decorate & embellish these containers were also things I already had here at home. I did not go out & buy or purchase anything new. The newest product I used is the ETERNAL

FLAME HEART ArtFoamie by Artist Sandra Evertson available at artfoamies.com

Most all of us creative artistic humans have an accumulation of art supplies & embellishment products. Why not get them out & play with them!? That is why we purchased them right!? Most all of the products I used I have had in my art supply stash for a long time. Again, please use what you have on hand in your home. Make it work. Get it out all that pretty cool fun stuff & use it!

Roll out the Crayola Model Magic clay with whatever smooth rolling tool you wish to use as a rolling pin & press your chosen ArtFoamie foam art stamp face down into the clay. Apply even pressure all around the back of your ArtFoamie to make a good, even impression in the clay. I lifted mine off of the clay slowly by pulling upward from the bottom point of the heart.

After you lift & remove the ArtFoamie from the rolled out Crayola Model Magic, slowly & gently lift your stamped clay piece from your non stick surface being careful not to distort it or make finger indentations in it. Use your long shank scissors to cut away the excess from around your stamped image. Be careful not to let the sagging weight of the excess clay distort the image. Put any excess trimmings of the Crayola Model Magic back in the bag to keep it soft & fresh. I also store it in a slider storage bag.

After I trimmed my stamped image I layed it over the rolling pin to give it a curve while I opened the ultra thick gel medium jar.

I brushed ultra thick gel medium on the back of the stamped & trimmed clay image to adhere it to the antibacterial wipes container. I also did the same on the plastic cocktail mixer bottle.

Use a light touch to push the edges of the stamped Crayola Model Magic down onto to the plastic.

I then let the model magic cure & dry in a safe place for around 24 hours before I paint it.

I painted a couple of the cut cocktail mixer bottles with black gesso first & let it dry. You can use white or clear gesso too. This will give the plastic some tooth & will help the paint to adhere to it better.

I then used some shimmering pearl metallic acrylic paint on the stamped heart.

I wanted something bright & fun with a pearly iridescent glittery metallic look. Wouldn't it be great to make one for each color family to sort & store your embellishments, paints, inks, pens, pencils markers & art supplies by color? I think so! Or you can paint & decorate them to match the colors & theme of your decor! The choice is yours & is only limited by your beautiful imagination!

I added pearl embellishments using some Viva Decor Pearl Pens in white & cream. I have had them in my art supply stash for many years! They were still as good & fresh as the day I purchased them. RIGHT ON!! YAY! You can use whatever dimensional drops or glitter glues you have in your stash. Sequins, gems, beads, jewels & crystals if you have them would be beautiful too!