Red White and Blue a Candle for YOU!

RED WHITE BLUE

A CANDLE FOR YOU!

With the 4th of July soon approaching, I thought it would be nice to share some "Americana" with all of you.

Many of you want to jazz up your tables and yards for the festivities but want to keep the crafts simple and quick. Well this candle is both of those things. And I can't think of a better way to show off some of your craftiness with your family and friends. I have to admit, while taking these photos in my backyard, I was really happy with the results and the colour and whimsy this candle offers will be a fun addition to your table and its useful to!

Gather your supplies - you will need

** one milk can **

http://www.sakuracraft.com/index.htm

- red, white and blue acrylic paint

- paint brushes

- sticky backed stars

- drill and drill bit (I used my dremmal)

- masking tape

- 3D Crystal Lacquer

Step one

Rough down your can a little bit with some sand paper (the paint will adhere better to the can)

Step Two

Use whatever stars you like - I cut my stars out of vinyl, with my Cricut machine. Peel off the backing and stick them on the upper half of your can in a scattered pattern.

Step Three

Put your safety glasses on and get your drill ready. Remember you are drilling metal, its hot, pieces will fly off. Do this step away from paper items and in a safe place.

Drill holes at each point of your star and in the middle point as well. Basically you are making an outline of a star.

Step Four

Leave your stars attached for this step. Mask off your milk can half way down. Paint the top half of your can blue. Let this dry. Repeat this step on the bottom of your can with red paint. Let this dry.

Step Five

Paint your white stripes by masking off the bottom section into three equal parts. Let this dry really well.

Step Six

Paint your stars white or add star shapes like I did.

Step Seven

Finish coat the entire can with 3D Crystal lacquer.

Step Eight

Use whatever design you like, but I kept my lid very simple and did the lid with half red paint and half blue paint in the same manner as above. Use a Citronella candle inside to help keep the pests away.

You can drill a hole into the lid and tie some string to it, just to make sure it stays with the can.

Imagine what these would look like all lined up on the patio tables. Or better yet, why not make some of these up for your next wedding or anniversary. 

I hope this will be the project that kick starts your summer outdoor planning.  

If you have any questions send me and email or comment here. Thanks for dropping by.

If you`d like to order your milk cans today - you will get 20% of your ENTIRE ORDER (for the month of May) so act fast as I`m sure these cans will be flying off the shelves. 

Use code Sakura 05 at checkout. 

Crystal Lacquer Graphic 45 French Country Tin

I love Graphic 45 and I really love their new French Country collection, which was perfect for my Crystal Lacquer French Country Tin.

The lacquer and the paper collection worked very well for my project and I loved the finished look.  Not only did I create an awesome decor for my kitchen but I also got to play with two great quality products Sakura Hobby Craft Crystal Lacquer and Graphic 45.

To create with these two products it's not very difficult in fact I will show just how easy it is to create this beautiful Crystal Lacquer Graphic 45 French Country Tin.

From top to bottom you can see the lacquer glossy finish on my tin, totally an oooh la la touch!

Here you can also see the added embellishment of a wooden fence I picked up at a local craft store.

I loved the way the Liquid Leaf made this look really distressed and he Crystal Lacquer on the lid made it even better.

Now it doesn't take a lot to make this tin, but it does take some patience.

Step One:

Gather  your supplies.

As you can see I used the following:

Sakura Supply:

• Sakura Hobby Craft - 3D Crystal Lacquer
• Sakura Hobby Craft - Milk Tin

Other Supplies:

• Graphic 45 - French Country Stickers 
• Graphic 45 - French Country Paper Collection
• Gesso
• Acrylic Paint - Apple Barrel Glossy Black
• Paint Brush - Bristle & Sponge
• Liquid Leaft
• Fabric Square
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
• Wooden Fence
• Rotary Cutter
• Old coffee
• Heat Gun

Step Two:

Prep the milk tin by priming with Gesso and a sponge paintbrush.  Just like you see below.

Step Three:

Paint the milk tin with Apple Barrel Glossy Black Acrylic Paint and then with another bristle slightly brush some gesso, this gives it the distressed look.  Once dry apply some Liquid Leaf, and I just rubbed it with my fingers but you can brush with a paint brush.  

Step Four:

Once all the paint and liquid leaf is dried you can then take a piece of Graphic 45 French Country collection and measure to fit the tin.  I distressed the paper prior to adhering to the tin.  

The tin looks a little scary but that all changes once you get your paper on their.

I trimmed the top rooster border for my bottom of my tin, which I layered with the fence you see.  

Step Five:

I brushed some of the Crystal Lacquer on to the entire tin.  Make sure you cover every inch.  This step is what gives the tin that extra touch and seals the paint at the same time.

I used a round Rooster stick from the Graphic 45 French Country collection for the top of the lid and it was a perfect fit. I sealed with the 3D Crystal lacquer.

Now the fence. I purchased this fence at a local craft store that typically has quilt supplies, but I was just lucky and I distressed with some of the liquid leaf and Tim Holts Vintage Photo ink. 

The roosters and the fence almost looked just like it would in a farm.  Loved this!

Step Six:

Now glue the fence to the tin.

Step Seven:

I took a piece of fabric square and dipped in recycled coffee that I had left over, see even coffee can be recycled, I LOVE THAT!!!

Measure and cut, which is not hard to to especially with a rotary cutter and quilter's ruler.

Dip in coffee and I had to let this piece soak for about an 1hr to get a distressed look.

I removed from coffee and dried up with heat gun to speed up the process.  You can also throw in the dryer but I was way too lazy to do that :)!

Step Eight:

Now you have a strip of fabric and you can make a bow for the tin.

Pretty huh, I love the way it turned out and see how easy it is to create with Sakura's Crystal Lacquer, the sky is truly the limit.  I hope you enjoyed my project.  

Be sure to take advantage of the 

Coupon Code: Sakura05 for 20% OFF TOTAL PURCHASE!

Crackled Rooster Milk Tin - 3D Crystal Lacquer

I love rustic, crackled, and distressed things and for my project this month I decided to create something that would go well with my kitchen decor - Crackled Rooster Milk Tin using Sakura's 3D Crystal Lacquer.

There is something about a rustic piece of art that gives it character and for me the more distressed, beat up and rustic the more I love the piece.  I really loved how my Crackled Rooster Milk Tin  using Sakura's 3D Crystal Lacquer turned out.  It truly gave the milk tin a unique look that goes very well with the rest of my rustic yet country charm decor of my kitchen.

It was very fun and easy to create this project, but before I give you instructions on how to create this piece I would like for you to see my finished piece.

This is the front view of my Crackled Rooster Milk Tin and you can even see how the 3D Crystal Lacquer gave it a gorgeous lacquer look!

Here is the side view of the tin and the flowers even got a touch of Crystal Lacquer.

If you look really closely below I applied Crystal Lacquer to the flowers and leaves, which worked out awesome, because it stiffen my leaves and harden the flowers.

Here is what the top of the tin looked after applying the 3D Crystal Lacquer.

So, you are probably wondering how do you create this Crackled Rooster Milk Tin using Sakura's 3D Crystal Lacquer well here is what you need to do.

First Step:

Like I always suggest, gather all your supplies.

As you can see from the picture you don't really need a whole lot, but you do need a lot of patience.  I strongly recommend that you start with the basics such as:  

• Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer
• Sakura's Milk Tin
• Folk Art -Crackle Medium
• Gesso
• Acrylic Paint (dark color and lighter color)
• Paint Brush
• Glitter
• Digital Image or Decorative Paper

Step Two:

Apply the gesso directly to the milk tin.  It works great as a primer and it will allow you to apply the acrylic paint without any difficulty.

Step Three:

Paint a coat of the dark color of Acrylic Paint, I used Apple Barrel Fire Red first and let that dry well.  Once that dried I applied the Folk Art Crackle Medium to the entire tin and let that dry as well.  You can use a heat gun to speed up this process, but be careful that you don't put the heat gun too close to the crackle, it may cause it to bubble up.  Once that dried you can now apply the light color acrylic and you will immediately see the crackling.  

Step Four:

If you have a piece of decorative paper apply it to the tin, and I just used Mod Podge and let that dry. I used a 1 3/4" circle punch to punch out the top of my tin.  Once dried I immediately started to apply the 3D Crystal Lacquer to my tin. This step gave my tin a glossy look and it was better than applying Mod Podge because you can't see the brush strokes like you would with Mod Podge.  I let that fully dry before working with my trim and flowers.

Step Five:

Using a glue gun apply the trim to the top and bottom of the tin.  This is optional  you don't have to do this step but I love trim and it gave it a unique charm.

Step Six:

Brush some of the 3D Crystal Lacquer to the petals of the flowers and leaves, and dip into glitter.  I did this step individually,because the lacquer does dry fairly quickly. While I let the flowers and leaves harden,  I took some metal embellishments and painted them really quickly and applied the lacquer.  I carefully placed the flowers and metal embellishment onto the tin. 

Not very hard to create in fact it was pretty easy and I loved how it turned out.

Sakura's 3D Crystal Lacquer has many uses and I'm having a blast using this product.  Not only can I use it to give my projects a 3D effect but I can stiffen my flowers, give a glossy finish to any project, but it can be used as an adhesive.

Be sure to check out Sakura's website at http://www.sakuracraft.com/ and use the COUPON CODE for your purchase to receive 20% off your purchase.  COUPON CODE IS SAKURA05

Also May 17th is our Fantasy Blog Hop so be sure to stop by and see what the Design Team has created for you!!!