Decopatch Ideas: Intriguing Crafts For All Occasions

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Creating eye-catching crafts is something anyone can do, given the proper technique and supplies. This is also true with Decopatch. Just about any material can be covered in Decopatch, making it a very versatile crafting technique. The following Decopatch ideas can be used for a variety of holidays and occasions.

Picture Frames

A Decopatch frame can be used for a beloved family portrait and given as a gift any time of the year. These are also fun to help a child make for framing their favourite piece of artwork from school. Picture frames can be vibrant colors for accenting what it surrounds or made with muted colors so as to not detract from it. Either way, the pieces of paper can be added right onto any type of frame; wooden, metal, or even plastic.

Greeting Cards

It's always fun to create greeting cards that are more personal than the ones sold in stores. The store-bought cards that are hand crafted can be quite expensive. Homemade greeting cards can add a nice touch to the holiday salutations enclosed within them and help the card creator save a bit of money as well.

Easter Eggs

A basket filled with Decopatch Easter eggs catches a lot of attention. It's better if these eggs are emptied out first, by poking a hole in the top and bottom of the egg. After this is achieved, the contents can then be blown out. When the egg has been emptied and allowed to dry for a short while, the Decopatch can begin. This will make the eggs very sturdy and able to withstand lots of handling without becoming damaged.

Furniture

This is a great project for a child's room, sewing room, or anywhere there's a need for some flair. Tables and chairs are the most common forms of furniture that are covered in Decopatch, but any type of furnishing can be covered.

The process is fairly simple:

Step 1 - Tear paper into small pieces

Step 2 - Apply glue where the paper is going to be positioned.

Step 3 - Place paper onto the glued surface, one piece at a time.

Step 4 - Apply a coat of glue over the piece of paper that was just placed on the item.

Step 5 - Once all the paper is in place, make sure all pieces are coated with the clear glue.

Step 6 - Two or three coats of varnish can be added over the entire project for additional protection. Be sure to wait an hour between each application.

Do you like the ideas that are mentioned above? It's best to use clear glue that is designed specifically for Decopatch. We know that you are going to have a lot of fun doing this.

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Cake Decorating Ideas For All Occasions

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You really don't need a special occasion to decorate a cake, but some events that can be made unforgettable and extra special with a decorated treat are holidays, birthdays, graduations, religious occasions, showers, weddings, and other personal special events.

Here are some cake decorating ideas that will help you make any occasion special:

New Year's Champagne Toast

Bake one 9-in. round and one 9x12-in. rectangle cake.

Cut the round in half. Use one half for the top of the champagne glass.

Cut a 2 or 3-inch long strip for the stem of the glass and a 2 x 4-inch section for the base of the glass. Piece them together to form the champagne glass. To be sure all the pieces stay together, lightly frost each piece separately before you piece them together.

Place the pieces on a cake board. Ice the top part (straight edge) of the half-round cake and the stem and base sections in white icing. Ice the bottom part (rounded edge) of the half-round cake in light yellow or light pink icing to resemble champagne.

Easter Egg Hunt (So easy kids can do it!)

Bake 6 large muffins. Cool and frost them with green icing. Generously sprinkle green shredded coconut* on top of the frosting to resemble grass. Place colored jelly beans within the coconut so they are half-hidden. Place small bunny toppers on the top of the muffins so they look as if they are finding the jelly beans.

*To tint shredded coconut, place coconut in a plastic bag. Add a few drops of food color. Knead color into coconut. Dry on waxed paper.

Spooky Halloween Brownies (Let the kids help!)

Bake your favorite brownies. When cooled, cut into 3-inch circles, using a cookie cutter or a pattern and sharp knife. Place a Halloween stencil (available in most stores) in the center of each brownie. Sprinkle the stencil with confectioner's (powdered) sugar. Remove the stencil. Edge the top and the bottom of brownie with tip 14 white icing stars.

Shiny Christmas Ornament

Bake a one or two-layer round cake. Ice the cake smooth with white icing. Pipe tip 5 white icing lines across the top at 1-inch intervals. Vary the shapes of the lines, making one straight, one zigzag, one curvy, etc. to resemble decorations on an ornament. Randomly pipe tip 5 icing balls and tip 16 stars between the lines also to resemble decorations.

ADULT BIRTHDAY / SPECIAL OCCASION

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Bake a heart-shaped cake and a heart-shaped mini-cake. Ice the larger cake smooth with pink icing. Place the mini-cake in the center of the larger cake. Cover the mini cake in tip 16 red icing stars. Add a tip 14 red icing shell border at the bottom of the mini cake and a tip 16 red icing shell border at the top and the bottom of the large cake. Write your message in pink with tip 3 on the mini-cake.

KIDS BIRTHDAY

Rainbow Train

Bake four mini-loaf cakes. (about 3-1/2 x 4-1/2 inches each.)

Ice each one smooth - one with red icing, one with blue icing, one with green icing, and one with yellow icing. Use the cake iced in red as the engine: Make a smokestack for the engine with 2 large marshmallows. Frost them together with green icing. Attach the marshmallows to the top of engine with a toothpick. Using green icing, attach a piece of white curly ribbon or candy on the top of the smokestack for smoke and attach two white or yellow gum drops to the front of the engine for headlights. With a spatula, place a small mound of yellow icing on top of the yellow car; add small chocolate chips to resemble coal. Place two or three small plastic cars on top of the blue car. Stick small stick candies, such as licorice pieces on top of the green car to resemble metal parts. Decorate the sides of the cars with various small hard candies for decorations. For wheels: With icing the same color as the car, attach 4 large candy discs, such as peppermint swirls, to the bottom of each car. Connect the cars with one-inch licorice whips or pretzel sticks.

Up! Up! And Away

Bake two each: tulip, flower, butterfly and dragonfly cookies (eight total) and a 9x12-in. rectangle cake. Ice the cookies smooth in various pastel colors with thinned royal icing.** Decorate the iced butterfly cookie with tip 3 colored icing dots.

Ice the bottom half of the 9x12-in. cake smooth with green icing and the top half smooth with light blue icing to resemble grass and the sky. Place two small mounds of white icing on the blue half for clouds. Pat down "the clouds" with your fingers dipped in cornstarch. Place the tulip and flower cookies in the "grass" and pipe tip 3 green stems and leaves, if necessary. Place the one butterfly cookie near the flower cookie and the other butterfly cookie and the dragonfly cookies in the "sky." Write your message on the cake with tip 3 white icing.

**Royal Icing Recipe

2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

2 scant tablespoons meringue powder

3 tablespoons water

Beat all the ingredients a low speed until the icing forms peaks.

(Makes about 1-1/2 cups)

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