Plaid's Let's Paint Live - Handmade Holiday Ornaments (Cindy's Version)

I had a blast with this month's "Let's Paint Live" with Plaid! This time, the project was Handmade Holiday Ornaments. Check out what I made:

Instructor Jessie Pniewski's ornaments look like this:

Astute readers may notice that my projects look a bit different than Jessie's. Perhaps the biggest difference is that I used cork coasters as my substrate rather than wood rounds. (Affiliate links here and throughout the post). I've never painted on cork and was curious to see how it would work. Once I decided to go off-script and use Jessie's instruction as guidance and not gospel, I made a few other modifications.

    

The trees are more sparsely decorated and I painted the blue background all the way to the edge. (I also put a base coat of white gesso on that coaster, but it turns out that I didn't need to. I didn't use gesso for the other two coasters and there's no obvious difference in coverage.) The buffalo plaid didn't work all that well on the cork, and I changed the deer into a mouse with a sprig of holly on one ear. The wreath got a lot bushier and gained a bow. 

But the most interesting experiment was with the rub-on. I was really curious to see how it would adhere to cork. There were a few tiny cracks, but they're barely noticeable:

I'm trying to decide how best to seal these so I can use them as coasters. My gut is saying Mod Podge Ultra, but I'm not sure what it will do to the rub-on. Only one way to find out, right?!

Anyway, thanks to Plaid for another super fun Let's Paint Live! The next one is coming up on Thursday, January 11 and I can't wait.

Build Your Own Catapult

My next Little Passports writing assignment was about homemade catapults. Right up Trevor's alley!

Materials: 

plastic spoon, tongue depressor, cork, 2 rubber bands and pom poms

Use the rubber bands to connect the spoon to the tongue depressor. Slide the cork under the neck of the spoon. Put a pom pom in the bowl of the spoon and you're ready to go!

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention some important safety considerations. Never point a catapult at people or animals. Launch soft items, such as pom poms, cotton balls, or marshmallows. Choose a clear area, such as the backyard, where nothing will be broken or damaged. 

Trevor experimented with several different methods of launching pom poms, starting with the catapult on the ground. 

He discovered he improved his accuracy by holding the catapult upright. 

There are so many ways to use this catapult for family fun! Set up hoops or buckets with points for each pom pom that lands inside. Use the catapult and pom poms in place of bocce balls. Draw chalk targets on the garage door and try to storm the castle. What other games can you dream up?