Upcycling ideas for your Christmas rubbish

Our first blog post of 2020 and no sooner did we ring in the new decade, we are already almost halfway through January.  This month, with everyone receiving lots of packaging along with their presents and many a box of Ferrero Rochers consumed (hands up, surely we aren't the only guilty party(?!) January is a great time to upcycle.

In the days when there are more and more calls to reduce the number of things we buy, we strive to buy less and less each week BUT what can we do to save items from landfill and reuse?  For us, upcycling is linked to slowing down - slowing down before we automatically throw something away, slowing down to consider whether we really NEED that new item or whether we can make something similar with what we have and also taking the time to upcycle something and devote the time it deserves.  If we do a half-hearted job, chances are we won't be happy with it and we will end up buying new anyway.

So you're at a point where you have a project to upcycle but have no idea where to start? Well first off we should mention that we are always here and always happy to help so if you have a question about a surface or project you're not sure how to paint and you would like advice, drop us an email at toni@folkit.co

However, we have put together a little blog for you to help guide you to find some answers when it comes to saving those boxes and tins from landfill so take a look and see if the answer you're looking for is here:

1) Ferrero Rocher boxes - these help to make wonderful wet palettes.  If we want to save money, we've got to look at our supplies first.  The first rules we teach students is a) take care of your brushes and they will take care of you and b) save your paints.  We often overestimate how much paint we need and don't use all of it in one sitting. Rather than throw it away, pop the lid on and come back to it another day.  Just make sure that you do change your greaseproof paper and refresh your sponge every 4-5 days to prevent mould. 

2) Chocolate boxes and gift boxes

These are the perfect projects because they are often small and contain flat surfaces to paint on as you gain confidence learning to paint 3D objects (which if you are just moving from 2D surfaces can take a bit of getting used to).  These items can be porous or may have a shiny surface.  If this is the case, chalky finish paint is great because you do not need to prep the surface or add primer.  If you do choose to use acrylic paint, we recommend adding Multi-Purpose Sealer to your paint to help it adhere to your project.  You can find out more about how to use this wonderful medium in this tutorial

3) Coffee tins, cans and tubs

We love saving our tins to decorate and use for storage around the office. Nut tins, coffee jars, you name it they're perfect for storage.   Whether it is paintbrushes, pens and rulers or things that are just cluttering up the place but don't have a home, they are our go-to projects.  Similarly, chocolate tubs can help store lots of bulkier items in the home and kitchen.

We ask friends and family to save cans and tubs too so we can create a matching collection of storage in different heights and sizes to create a bit of a centrepiece - we might as well make a feature out of them.  If you have no need for extra storage, why not use them as packaging for next Christmas? They are perfect for housing gift cards or money, sweets or handmade baked goods for a loved one...and it gets rid of the need for unrecyclable wrapping paper. 

Find out more about how to prep items like these tins and tubs here.

Another idea (if you remembered to save the lids!) is to cut a slit into the lid and create your very own money box.  Yes, money boxes are readily available but why not consume less, save that money and make your own? This is a fantastic project for kids too!

4) Glass

Once you have mastered the 3D surface, you can expand your skills and move on to glass. With so many beautiful bottles out there, you can create something really special.  I once went to a wedding where the centrepieces were all painted bottles filled with fairy lights.  They can make beautiful home decor but painting on glass requires a little work as you will read here. 

Old jam jars, glasses, vases are great projects but be aware, unless you use Glass paint, these will be for decorative purposes only and are not food or dishwasher safe.  

...who says you need to wait for an empty bottle to paint? Why not co-ordinate the gift with the card and add a painted design on to the bottle before gifting instead of wrapping it?

We hope we have given you a few ideas to make the most of your Christmas packaging and given you the advice you need to complete up-cycling projects of your own.  At Folk It! we passionately feel that with a little time and effort, painting is a great way to help us to reduce, re-use and up-cycle, it can help us save money, do our bit for the planet all the while giving us a creative escape that we crave.

Happy Folking x

How to paint a wreath - part 2

So, the other day, we had a go at building a floral wreath, combining a few flowers and features to paint a full wreath.  This week, we are going to look at a few other options to consider when you are designing your own unique pattern.

Option 1: The incomplete wreath

This option works with a circle but instead of wrapping your design around the whole circle, it consists of two halves.  Here, we used our Oriental blossom which gave us an irregular shape but you could adapt this to use Rosebuds, daisies or a mix of flowers.

Step 1: Draw your circle lightly using a compass and pencil or by drawing round a circle using the chalk paper to transfer your markings.

Step 2: Imagine you cut your circle in half horizontally. Like last time, we are going to work closely to the circle but won't be afraid to detour slightly.  Starting just above the half way line on the right hand side, draw your branch outline and finish at the opposite side. Add small branches on both sides of your line, again following the route of the circle.  Next, leave a gap and draw a similar line from the left side round to the right.  Now you should have two branches trailing the circle shape.  Paint your branch using a shade of brown of your choice.

Step 3: Using the rule of 3 or 5, add your blossom flowers where you like.  This will mean you will end up with 1 or 2 on the bottom branch and 2 or 3 blossom flowers on the top branch depending on how big your circle is and what you prefer.

Step 4: Finish your wreath by adding individual petals one by one.  This is where you will need to keep taking a step back and seeing where your design looks too empty or where you need to even up your pattern.

Option 2: The Floral wreath

This wreath is quite tight and is perfect for those smaller flowers like rosebuds, lavender heads or dotty flowers.

Step 1: Begin by drawing a short line from your circle towards the inside of the circle, following the line of the circle.  Next, about 1.5cm/2cm along the line, draw a line away from the circle. Continue to draw alternating lines around the whole circle.

Step 2:  Using your liner brush, paint a line around the circle (but don't paint the stalks yet). Add a rosebud to the end of each line you have drawn (as you can see each rosebud follows the direction of the stalk).

Step 3: Fill in the gaps between each rose bud with s stroke leaves.  As you can see, we could fit one leaf in most of the spaces in the inner ring and 1 or two leaves between the roses on the outer circle.  Keep observing your wreath as you paint. The key to creating an eye catching wreath is to space out your elements and not squash too many things in to one space.

Step 4: Using your liner brush, paint stalks from the rosebuds and from each leaf to your original circle.

Step 5: Take a look at your wreath. Are there any areas that feel empty? We found a few and used the small end of our dotting tool to add three dots in places to complete the design and even up the wreath.

Option 3: The curved wreath

This is a great design for when you want to paint a limited number of elements such as lavender or foliage.  If you haven't attended one of our painting workshops and aren't sure how to paint lavender, you can easily use our dotty lavender from the Flat Brush Starter kit 

Step 1: Imagine you have used a curved line to divide your circle in to sections.  Draw the last section of these lines across the circle, keep turning your page as you draw each one to make sure they flow in the same direction.  You should end up with something like this (above). If you do not feel confident drawing out this template, pop over to our patterns board to use ours.

Step 2: Using your round brush or dotting tool, paint each lavender stalk using purple (we used Plum from our Flat Brush Starter kit and white).  If, like we found, this created a nice wreath but left quite a bit of space in between the stalks, add extras in between to fill your wreath out nicely.

Step 3: Step back and take a look at your wreath.  Are there any spaces? Using your liner brush and some green paint (we used Hauser light green) we added a few long comma strokes to fill some areas.  We also used the small end of our dotting tool to again even up the circle.

We do hope you enjoy these patterns and ideas and if you do create a design after reading this post we would love to see it - just tag us or use #funwithfolkit to share.

Happy Folking x

How to paint a wreath - part 1

Wreaths are everywhere at the moment aren't they?! Whether they are being handpainted during an Instagram video, adorning a greetings cards or being featured on some gorgeous stationary, their popularity shows no signs of waning.

We have certainly seen the attraction of wreaths since launching our Folky Christmas kit a few years ago.  There is something so relaxing about layering up the different shades of paint and creating the wreath design to create a beautiful festive greetings card. However, what was once a symbol of the Christmas period has now become much more versatile. Whether they are made of flowers, ribbon, photos or pom poms, there is a wreath for every style and every occasion and this is also becoming the case for those wreaths we paint.

For our #funwithfolkit painting challenge this month, we have been focusing on wreaths and it is clear that this has captured the imagination of so many of you.  If you don't fancy creating your own classic foliage wreath from our Dotty Collection painting kit, we thought we would put together a few steps to help you create your own painted wreaths using the kits you already have.

Step 1: Create a guide for you to work to by drawing round a circle or using a compass.  If you feel like you would like more structure to work with, draw a smaller circle within the larger circle.

Step 2: When creating your wreath, it helps to balance out some of the larger elements (e.g. vintage roses or daisies) with smaller elements (dotty flowers and leaves) The great thing here is that there are no limits - you can include what you want and leave out flowers or brushstrokes that you are less confident with.  A good tip to remember is to stick with odd numbers.  On a smaller wreath, work with three larger elements like we did here. If you are working on a larger wreath, use 5 flowers and so on to suit the size of your finished piece, this will make the finished piece more aesthetically pleasing.

First, mark out where your largest flowers will be.  Here we began with roses arranging them around the circle.

Step 3: Next, because we had enough space, we rotated our design and added three daisies before adding leaves with our round brush (again, adopting the rule of 3 to add leaves to each side of the roses).  Remember: You can work slightly inside and outside of your guide (as we have in the placement of the leaves) but always try to stay close to your original guide to prevent a wonky or uneven wreath!

When creating a wreath, you may be the type of person who likes to plan where you will add each element. To do this, you can draw out a pattern in a sketch book to trace and transfer it to your painting journal.  The important thing is that you find a process that suits you.

Step 4: Once you have added the larger flowers and details, take a look at your wreath to see where there are gaps and fill with smaller details like dot flowers, rosebuds, a sprig of lavender or berries....anything that takes your fancy.

Step 5: Once your wreath is complete, sit back and admire!

If you have created it as you paint and would like to keep the pattern, leave your design to dry before covering with transfer paper and drawing out a rough guide of where everything is.  As you can see, we have traced within the edges of the painting. This means that when you come to paint it, you will cover the lines you have transferred.  This is a great way to build up a collection of patterns and it means that you can try it again using different colours.

We'd love to see your finished wreaths - tag us in your social media posts and use #funwithfolkit

Happy Folking xx

10 painting projects to inspire you

Well another month has flown by and so has another monthly theme for our #funwithfolkit challenge.  When we posted our first Flora and Fauna themed project, we never expected it would be as popular as it was, getting thousands of views within the first week of being posted.  If you haven't seen it yet, why not pop over to the blog post here for a look. 

It seems that there are two camps for these challenges, those that love incorporating the themes in to their Folk It designs and those that run with it to create their own unique ideas.  However you interpret them, we love them all.  Here we have rounded up our favourites for the month of June.  

Jacky from Chloe and Kato recently rediscovered her painting mojo and created this beautiful spray of daisies and roses - inspired by her favourite mug! We have to say though, it is definitely cuter with a few ladybugs. 

Painting on fabric takes practice, painting on silk is a labour of love but Jackie from Jacbnimble Crafts has done brilliantly creating this scarf for her friend.  

Jaxs from Vintage Crafts by Jax has created these gorgeous purple plant pots using our Butterfly and Vintage Rose kits.   By using a limited colour palette she has created a beautiful set of gifts that really stand out.  

The lovely Folker from At the Painting Table has got creative to add the cutest bees to these delightful yellow roses - the perfect painting project for summer

Vanessa has found this lovely dragonfly shape to decorate for the Flora and Fauna theme.  Dot daisies, dot roses and other dot patterns, it's got it all!

Stepping away from shapes and projects, Helen has used the Flora and Fauna theme to inspire her colour choices in her practice pages...what a great idea.  

Sandra felt inspired after creating our Bee tutorial to create a different project.  Featuring a unique Dragonfly design on the lid, she added a few dot daisies and vintage lace to the box to complete it. 

These ducks are so popular at the minute with crafters.  Using a French blue base coat and our Vintage Rose kit, Nazlie from Cositas Bonitas has turned this into a real centrepiece. 

Who would have thought a Folked up owl would look so pretty! Helen from Mindful Crafts used our popular Round Brush Starter kit to decorate this owl beautifully.

Vikki discovered our stand and our kits at the Handmade Fair and she's been hooked ever since - we love the original and unique designs she has been creating with her dotting tool and this Dragonfly design worked perfectly for June's theme! 

So as we head in to July, this month in our #funwithfolkit painting challenge, we are concentrating on wreaths.  Whether they are dotty or festive, floral or not, we can't wait to see them all! 

Happy Folking! 

10 fantastic ways to paint with rainbows

 

Last month, we announced our fun new painting challenge.  Choosing a range of broad themes for our painters to have fun with each month we hoped they would inspire your journal pages and projects.  Our first month, a month filled with beautiful rainbows has not disappointed as we have been fascinated by your projects.  We were so inspired, we couldn't resist getting involved ourselves.  Here are a few gorgeous projects we have created and admired over the last month.  

Helen from Mindful Crafts has recently discovered these fantastic freestanding Lego decorations and given him a rainbow makeover.  

Our Flat Brush Cupcakes and Babushka kits teach you how to 'float' colour to create depth and dimension in your painting. Here, Carol used this technique to create a beautiful rainbow. 

One of our customers (@at_the_painting_table) transformed our Dot rose design using all the colours of the rainbow.

Jackie @jacbnimble_crafts indulged in a little dotting and we love rainbow daisies! 

We got out our liner brush and did a little practice using a muted rainbow, not as bold as the bright palette but still as pretty

Sometimes it's fun to break the rules and experiment and Rose creates beautiful projects when she does just that! You can create the most interesting and eye catching paintings when you play with colour. 

We revisited our childhood with this splatter painting and had great fun making a mess! 

Vikki @take_time_out discovered our kits at the Handmade Fair and there's been no stopping her creativity ever since.  Here she mixed rainbow dots with brush lettering while she took time out to create.

We adapted our Bluebird flowers to create something unique and the rainbow colours certainly helped us do that! 

Using floating (from our Cupcake and Babushka kits) and our Oriental Blossom kit, @at_the_painting_table used the theme literally and created this beautiful flower rainbow.  

One thing is for sure, the first monthly theme of our Painting challenge has inspired some new and exciting ideas.  Painting with rainbow colours is so fun, we doubt we have seen the last of this theme.  As we move forward to our next theme, flora and fauna, we look forward to seeing more gorgeous projects and journal pages from all you Folkers :) 

Happy Folking x  

Awesome DIY Image Transfer projects

There is no better feeling than creating something you love.  We've been getting creative at Folky HQ updating some old props and creating some fantastic projects ready for our shows.  The beauty of image transfer is that you have a wide range of choice over what you would like to add to your project.  Whether you want to add quotes and sentiments, family photos, bold typography or vintage style images, the choice is yours.  

We absolutely love plain decorations like this popular free standing Love decoration because they have so much potential for creating something unique.  Using a variety of vintage inspired images from our Series 2 Design book, we copied the images using a laser jet printer and applied them randomly around this piece to create this fun project. 

Transfers do not have to stay black and white though.  With this up cycled tool caddy, we applied the butterflies and dragonflies before adding splashes of colour.  To add colour to your project, add water to your acrylic to thin it enough to allow the image to show through and add it to the areas you want to.  

One of our favourite Chalky Finish colours is this dreamy Vintage so when someone brought a sad looking wooden mirror in to the office, we just had to give it a make over.  Using the 'Angels' quote from our Design book, we combined it with some hand painted angels (from our Series 1 Folky Christmas kit) and stencils. It's gone from unloved trash to treasure :) 

This adjustable stool started life in Ikea; plain, black and practical, it was begging to be decorated.  Base coating it using white chalky finish, we added our gorgeous Vintage transfer.  To soften the look, we played around with our Oriental Blossom flowers.  Diverging from the original design, we paired them with leaves we teach you how to paint from our Rosebuds kit.  By mixing and matching brushstrokes in this way, we were able to create a unique pattern to compliment the transfer and also work with the shape of the stool.   

We were able to create such beautiful projects using our Series 2 Starter kit. When we were creating the second series of painting kits, we wanted to add something extra.  Image transfer was something we loved because of its versatility. Whether you wish to add vintage style images, bold typography or personal photos to your project, it is possible with this technique.

So, we packed our Starter kit with DecoArt Matte medium, sentiments perfectly designed for each project and a DVD full of instructions to guide you through the process.

Each project you see here used the contents of this kit along with our extra Design book which provides a great collection of images in addition to the sentiments we provide in each of our kits.  To find out more about these resources, check out our Series 2 kits here. 

For more inspiration and ideas for using the image transfer technique, you can also check out our Pinterest board.  Don't forget, we would love to see your creations.  Share them with us on our Social media accounts or tag us #youcanfolkit 

Happy Folking, 

The You Can Folk It team x 

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6 creative DIY planters for your summer garden

Whether you have a home full of plants and flowers or a small outdoor space with only room for a few small planters, adding colour to your home is so worthwhile after a dark and grey winter.  We have put together 6 creative ideas to help inspire you. Whether you wish to fill your planters with flowers, succulents or herbs, create a display that will make you smile. 

For each of our pots, we chose to base coat them with DecoArt Chalky Finish paint.  For some we used the colour straight from the pot, for others, we mixed our own custom colour for our pastel theme. 

Once the pots were dry, we used the paints from our Series 1 and Series 2 Starter kits to add each of the designs from our add on ranges.  At Folk It, we begin by teaching you dotty designs from our Starter kits before we move on to teaching you brushstrokes to create the designs (like our bluebirds above) in our 'add on' lessons.  The beauty of Folk Art is that it is a skill based art, a skill anyone can learn just as anyone can learn to write.  With patience and practice, each and every one of us can paint these brushstrokes whether we believe we are creative or not.

Our Series 1 pots 

Our gorgeous Daisy pot was first base coated using a mix of DecoArt chalky finish in New Life and Everlasting, both from our Colonial colour set.  Once dry, we painted our Daisies on using the templates and techniques from our Daisy Details kit and art supplies from the Starter kit.  Add the stalks and leaves using Hauser Light Green and the liner brush.

To create our next pot, we used the beautiful yellow shade 'Delicate' from DecoArt.  To decorate our sunny Bluebirds planter, we first added a border of dot daisies and hearts from our Series 1 Starter kit using Baby blue and Warm White (full instructions are included in both the instructional booklet and the DVD).  Next, using the comma strokes taught in our add on kits, we painted two bluebirds either side of the pot and added a simple heart between them.

This pot has been getting so much love across our Social media channels! This pretty planter was first painted in 'Serene', a beautiful place blue from the chalky finish range.  Using our liner brush and the techniques we teach in our Delicate Lace kit, we added detail around the top of the pot because sometimes simple is the best.

Our Series 2 planters 

It is no secret that our favourite colour within the chalky finish range is 'Vintage' so of course it became the base coat for our gorgeous Oriental Blossom pot. Using the templates and techniques from this add on kit, we were able to paint these pretty flowers on to both sides of the pot, perfect for Spring or Summer don't you think?

We created this warm, pastel orange by mixing Everlasting with a smidgen of Delicate and dash of Smitten.  One helpful tip when mixing your colours is to make a note of the ratios you use, paint half a lollypop stick with the shade and make a note of the paints you've used.  You may only use it once but just in case you wish to use it again, you will then build up a colour reference tool you can refer to again and again.  We added two fluttering butterflies here using white and the fabulous Plum colour provided in the Series 2 Starter kit.  

Another custom colour, we created this by mixing the dramatic 'Victorian' with 'Everlasting' both from our Heritage colour collection.    To compliment this beautiful shade, we blended our Plum and Titanium white from the Series 2 Starter kit to create the rosebuds around the top of the planter.  For the leaves we mixed a pale green using the Avocado and Titanium white, again from the Starter kit.  

To complete the pots, we finished with two coats of DecoArt Ultra Matte Varnish to protect these beautiful planters.  We chose this varnish specifically, not only because it is water based but because it maintains the matte look of the chalky finish paint we used.  

There you go. Six beautiful ideas to inspire your summer garden.  The beauty of these designs and our kits is that once you have learnt the techniques we teach you in each one, you can mix and match the designs to create a unique project that you love.  Which planter are you itching to recreate? We'd love to hear your comments and thoughts.  As always if you have any questions about these projects we are happy to help.  

Happy Folking x