Crown makes birthday a royal treat

Kathy Cano-Murillo
Special for the Republic
Aug. 25, 2007 12:00 AM
I recently visited a cute boutique that several friends had told me about. The first thing that caught my eye was a gorgeous birthday crown. It was bright, shiny, glittery, and I wanted it.

The problem? None of the three salesclerks took the time to acknowledge me, even though the store was empty, and I stood at the counter waiting for help for several minutes. As the seconds ticked away, I began to second-guess my purchase decision.

Yes, it was a cute crown, but all my friends' and family members' birthdays already had passed. And did I really want to spend money in a store where I wasn't feeling the love?

I took a deep breath and held up the crown in front of my face. "Hmmm . . . papier-mâché," I thought. At that moment, I knew I wouldn't buy it.

I would go home and make my own version! I know mine is not as beautiful or elegant as the store version, but it certainly has more personality. This is a great idea for people of any age because you can choose your colors and embellishments to match their style. Use small wood letters to spell out phrases or names. Plastic crowns can be found at party stores, and Rigid Wrap at craft stores.

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE DIRECTIONS

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* All content/photos copyright, Kathy Cano Murillo, 2006. Photos property and courtesy of Arizona Republic and AzCentral.com. For more artsy goodness, check out CraftyChica.com *

Labels: wearable art

A couple months ago, I featured an easy way to brighten up a rolling suitcase with rubber stamps and fabric paint. Every week I receive letters and e-mails from crafty people who tried the idea and loved it.

I love those moments. Because there's still time for summer travel, I thought I'd add to the spirit of the personalized suitcase with a luggage tag to match.

This trick involves watercolor paper, acrylic paint and varnish. The varnish gives the painted watercolor paper a laminated texture that wards off moisture and tears.

If you don't want to use your fabulous handmade tags on your luggage, use them on gifts or for organizing in your home, or make several and create a fun book.

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE DIRECTIONS
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STORE * BOOK * T-SHIRTS * MY SPACE * FLICKR

* All content/photos copyright, Kathy Cano Murillo, 2006. Photos property and courtesy of Arizona Republic and AzCentral.com. For more artsy goodness, check out CraftyChica.com *

Labels: collage/paper

This week Maya, my youngest, started high school, and my oldest, DeAngelo, is a senior. gulp. Two kids in high school! I miss the days of sippy cups!

I came across this project I made for my first book, Making Shadow Boxes and Shrines (which is now reprinted as The Crafty Chica Collection, $24.99, Quarry Books).

It's a cupcake tiun filled with pictures, mini-mementos and any thing else I could fit in there. The idea was inspired by my friend and the best boss I ever had, Jenny Ignaszewski (wow, I can't believe I can still spell her last name from memory!). She was going to do a project something like this for the book, but was so busy she did not have time. Jenny is an extremely talented artist who left a plumb job at the newspaper to pursue a career as a full-time painter. I cried so hard when she left, that I couldn't even go to her goodbye party because my eyes were so swollen. She was that kind of boss, and to this day, she STILL inspires me! Check out her web site: IggyArt!

Anyway - the cupcake collage!

All you do is go to a thrift store and pick up a cupcake tin. Cut scrapbook paper to fit inside each circle, and then make color copies of photos. Gather up your kid's toys that they think they lost (hee hee) and glue them to the tin. For glueing directly to the tin, you'll need a metal glue but for everything else you can use hot glue or a heavy white craft glue, like Tacky Glue. I even glued little Pez candies all around the edge.

You can also add little letter beads to spell out names, or years, or phrases.

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STORE * BOOK * T-SHIRTS * MY SPACE * FLICKR

* All content/photos copyright, Kathy Cano Murillo, 2006. Photos property and courtesy of Arizona Republic and AzCentral.com. For more artsy goodness, check out CraftyChica.com *

Labels: collage/paper, shrines