Unicorn Crafts!

Aloha, Friends!

Today, I have a special post. that's a few months late!😂  

I work at our local craft store and we had a lot of unicorn items coming in.

IT WAS SUCH A BIG THING IN THE SPRING.

I couldn't believe it!  We barely even had enough room to merchandise all of these

magical creatures!  So, what did I do?  Make even more Unicorn stuff!

This one is my favorite.   Dari is the name of our youngest coworker who happened

to be called "Dari the Unicorn" in school.   They are pretty much her spirit animal. Hehe.

So, naturally I borrowed her name for this craft project.  I took 4 inch paper mache letters and painted them using various colors of acrylic craft paint.  I say "craft paint" because there are a surprising number of customers who come in for simple projects like this one and immediately reach for the Fine Art acrylics!😭 I do not want you to waste your money!  The paints I used were the Delta Americana Ceramcoat brand.  (They are about $1.60 - $3.00 at our store for a 2 oz. bottle. )

The glitter gold areas are glitter cardstock, and the ears and eyelashes were cut out of solid black cardstock.  It came out so cute and I'm proud of it!

I'm surprised with how well this sign came out.  I tend to get really anxious when I have to hand-letter on wooden pieces because I of spacing and composition reasons.  I'm glad I was able to make the "Rainbow" in actual pastel rainbow colors!  For the black and white words, I used a Uni POSCA paint pen and a Marvy Uchida Deco-Color paint pen.  The Deco pen was oil-based, so it will have a  glossy finish.  Keep this in mind when choosing your pens.   (This picture doesn't capture the shine though.) . As for the POSCA, it is water-based acrylic ink, so it will turn out matte.  These are great for a chalk-like look and therefore are a great alternative to standard chalk markers if you want your writing to be more permanent on smooth, non-porous surfaces.

The rainbow letters at the bottom were all painted with the same pastel colors that I used for Dari's name in the first project!  I used a size 4 synthetic round brush to paint them on.  

The wooden board itself was painted with acrylic craft paint.   To achieve the distressed look, I waited for the pink base layer to dry and used a dry flat brush with just a little white acrylic paint on the bristle tips to swipe over the edges.  Quick strokes will help it look more natural.  Also, you really want to focus on the edges. 

I hope you enjoyed this short post.  

See you next time and stay MAGICAL!