Snazaroo Face Paint Party!

Face painting is always a big hit at any event or party, for children and adults alike. Transforming you into anyone or anything you want to be, it’s great fun and enables you to let go and be truly imaginative!

Birthday Party Tips!  

 Make your party magical with Snazaroo! Unshackle imaginations and transform your birthday party guests into a pack of terrifying tigers, a group of fairy princesses, a cluster of space-faring astronauts,  a pack of ferocious lions or a family of cheeky monkeys! 

Face Painting Tips for a birthday party   

1. Keep a good supply of water for washing brushes and sponges between faces.  
2. Use hair bands and clips to keep long hair away from the face  
3. Cut sponges into wedges to give you a fine edge as well as a broad surface  
4. Rest one hand on the head of the model, to keep their head steady  
5. Apply lighter colours first and allow the first colour to dry before applying the next  
6. Keep designs simple, remembering that small children don’t like to sit still for long!  
7. Keep strokes even and continuous (avoid the temptation to sketch!)  
8. Use stencils if you’re not confident at painting freehand  
9. Snazaroo paint is mixable! Mix different paints to create your own colours!  
10. Describe what you are doing to help reassure a child who is nervous about face painting  
11. Add glitter to give your designs that finishing touch!  
12. Keep a mirror nearby so your model can admire their finished creation  
13. PRO TIP: Face paint can also be used elsewhere on the body! Use Snazaroo to paint on royal jewels and tiaras, tattoos or hand puppets!  
14. Face painting is not just for kids! Paint yourself and your family and see how much fun it can be!    

Important information

Before you start face painting check that the child/children have no skin allergies or infections. Although Snazaroo professional water based face paint is non-toxic and highly tested, never paint someone's face if any kind of skin problem is suspected. If in doubt, try a little on the inside of his or her wrist and leave it for approximately 60 minutes to see if a reaction develops.

Preparation

Make sure your face paints are presented on a clean towel and that you have a good supply of water for washing brushes and sponges between faces.

There is no need to put any cream or moisturizer on the skin before you begin. Water based face paint is best applied directly onto clean, dry skin.

You may wish to keep the hair away from the face with a hair band or clips.

Always apply the base colour first, using a damp sponge. Make sure that the sponge is not too wet by squeezing out excessive water or the finished result may be streaky.

To achieve a deeper colour, allow the first coat to dry and then apply a second coat.

On designs that have a variety of light and dark colours, apply the lighter colour first, if possible.

When applying colour with a brush, keep strokes even and work in continuous lines. Avoid the temptation to sketch. Confidence will come with practice.

Note: Water based face paint is also great for body painting! Use brushes to paint rings on fingers, wrist watches and bracelets on arms, or a huge tattoo - the effects can be stunning. 

Maintaining your face painting kit

In order to get the best results, we recommend these basic tips.

1. When storing or using the kit, keep it in a cool place out of sunlight. Always make sure your materials and face paint containers are cleaned at the end of every session. Store your materials in a dry clean state with lids on all containers.
2. When finishing a session, wipe any excess moisture from the surface of the paints and store with the lids on.
3. Brushes should be rinsed well in hot water and left to dry before putting away.
4. Sponges should be washed well in hot soapy water and left to dry before putting away.
5. Face paint which has been used for more than eighteen months should be discarded.
6. Discard badly stained or damaged brushes and sponges.

Come see our huge selection of Snazaroo face paint!

CC Lowell

258 Park Ave

Worcester, MA

01609

508-757-7713

Fathers Day Craft Ideas!

Stumped on what to do for Dad this Fathers Day!? 

Here are some great Fathers Day craft ideas to make his day very special! 

1.

Collect & recycle old bottle caps, keys, buttons, etc.....then browse our decorative paper section for fun papers to create mixed media art for Dad! We can help you find the best glue to use for the project!

2.

Use kids paint and markers to make an adorable hand print tree that Dad will cherish forever! This Thursday-Saturday get a free fitting, $5 mat board, and 40% off ready made frames!

3.

Use glass paint to make Dad his very own mug or beer stein!

We have a large selection of Pebeo glass paints & supplies to choose from!

4.

Press your hands into air dry clay to make a one of a kind art piece for Dad!

We sell multiple colors of air dry clay and wall hanging hardware for this project!

5.

Melt crayons onto rocks to make Dad some colorful paper weights for his desk at work!

Need help finding supplies for these crafty gift ideas? Come on down and we will gladly help you find everything you need!

CC Lowell

258 Park Ave

Worcester MA

01609

508-757-7713

Tie Dye Fabric Jewelry

Summer fun with tie dye!

Materials:

• White cotton shirt

• Beads, any color you want!

• Needle and thread

• Craft glue

• Strong ceramic magnets

• Tie Dye kit and supplies

Step 1: Prep your fabric for dye
If you are using a new garment, be sure to prewash your fabric. I cut apart two old tees and used the front and back panels of each shirt for my project. When you are ready to dye, dampen your fabric.  Pleat the fabric lengthwise and wrap rubber bands tightly every 3-5 inches to create stripes. Repeat the process for all of the panels of fabric.

Step 2: Mix & add your dye

Lay your tied fabric on a plastic surface protector. Wearing gloves, pick out your favorite colors and mix each color in the bottles as directed by the instructions. Carefully apply each color to the desired sections with dye. Be sure to flip your fabric over to get the other side and do not oversaturate the sections.

Tightly wrap your fabric in plastic (I just wrapped the surface protector around the fabric) and allow the dye to set for at least 4-6 hours.

Step 3: Rinse & wash.

Now for the exciting part!  You will start to get an idea of what your tie dyed pattern looks like after you carefully unwrap your tied fabric. (Again, wearing gloves!) Rinse out the remaining dye and wash the fabric in your washing machine and dry it. 

Now let’s use this fun fabric to make a pretty necklace and bracelet!

Step 4: Cut fabric strips for your necklace


Using scissors, cut approximately 1” wide strips of fabric from your dyed tees. It does not need to be perfect, since you will be braiding it. I like how the frayed edges added texture to the pieces. Depending on how long you want your jewelry to be, one t-shirt should be plenty to create enough strips to  make a long necklace and one bracelet.

Step 5: Braid your fabric

Take 3 strips of fabric and tie a knot at one end. Secure the knot down (with a clip board or under a box lid like I did) and start to braid your strips. When you get to the end of each strip, just tie another strip onto each piece. Keep braiding and adding fabric until you reach well beyond your desired jewelry lengths. (It is better to have a little extra.)

Step 6: Attach your magnet closures.

Carefully consider where the fabric knots are on your length of braid. We will be adding beads to those sections in the next step and you want the placement to make sense when you cut your braid down to create a necklace.

Measure how long you want your necklace or bracelet to be. (My necklace was ~24 inches and the bracelet was ~7 inches long.) Trim the braid and attach the fabric ends to a magnet with glue. Repeat on the other end.

(I should warn you that these magnet closures are not super-duper secure. They will hold up to wear, but if someone pulls on the necklace or bracelet, the piece will fall off. If you are worried about that happening, just make a necklace long enough to fit over your head and tie a permanent knot in the two ends instead.)

After the glue on the magnets dry, take two small strips of fabric and fold each one over with adhesive for a finished look. Wrap a folded strip around the magnets on each end and attach them with more glue so the fabric edge is flush with the magnet surface.

Step 7: add beads!

If you want, you can add clear bead to sections of the jewelry. Where there are knots and fabric ends, string a clear bead over the loose fabric end. Use needle and thread to tack the fabric strip down to the necklace. To add a few more beads to any “empty” spots, take a small strip of fabric and tied another bead around the braid in the desired area (sewing any loose ends down, too).

You might choose to use a solid color bead instead, but I like how you can still see the color of the fabric and pattern through the clear beads.

Once the beads are added you can just put your braided jewelry on and enjoy your modern tie-dyed creations!

Wear one around the neck …

Various kinds of Tie Dye supplies and craft glue can be purchased at CC Lowell!

CC Lowell
258 Park Ave
Worcester, MA
508-757-7713

The Possibilities are Endless with Pebeo Fantasy Paints

The possibilities are endless.........

Pebeo Fantasy paints are fabulous and can be used on all non porous surfaces.

The Fantasy paints come in two different finishes, Prisme which has a freckled/speckled look and Moon which looks swirly.

Both have a pearlised almost metallic look and are great on metal jewellery and findings. They work very happily on many surfaces including glass, metal, wood, plastic, terracotta, shiny card ,acetate and pre-gessoed canvas.

The paint looks like a cross between nail varnish and enamel and can be painted/dropped/poured onto the surface depending on the desired thickness. The product doesn’t have to be fired or heat treated and hardens over time, touch dry in 24 hours, hardened in 72 hours and completely dry in  2-3 weeks.

The colors mix beautifully without going muddy!

The effect you get can be quite unpredictable, but always looks fantastic.

Pebeo Fantasy paints, and the jewelry seen above can be purchased at CC Lowell.

 We also sell Pebeo glass paints, glazing resin, replacement nozzles, Vitrail crackle effect, Vitrail self adhesives lead strips, relief tubes, and mixing bottles!

Come check out our full stock of Pebeo products and create something beautiful and unique!

CC Lowell

258 Park Ave

Worcester, MA

508-757-7713

Super Simple Screen Printing Tutorial

DIY- Super Simple Screen Printing Tutorial!

What You'll Need:

• A pre-made screen or silkscreen and an embroidery hoop
• Screen Filler or acrylic latex paint
• Inks made for printing on fabric
• Sponge brush and/or screen printing squeegee  
• Blank clothing to print on. The closer to 100% cotton it is, the better prints will turn out/take.

Step 1: Create the screen or Buy a Ready Made Screen

You can buy a ready-made screen at our store, or you can make your own screen.

For this, you can use a basic plastic embroidery hoop in whatever size you need for the design, and stretch some silkscreen material through it until it's taut like a drum. 

You can also buy rolls of actual screen printing fabric. I line the inside edge (where the hoop meets the screen) with blue painters tape, so that my filler paint and fabric inks don't get the hoop itself all messy.

Step 2: Create the design

You can draw the design by hand, or make it on the computer, then print it out. Then trace it onto the screen lightly in pencil with the screen laying flat on the paper.

Step 3: Fill the screen

Fill out the screen - in other words, block out all the negative space that won't be printed, leaving only the design unpainted. 

You can purchase items for this process at our store. This is by far the step that takes the most amount of time, particularly if it's a design with lots of small details. Do two coats, and check the screen by holding it up to the light to make sure there are no tiny holes missed. Let the screen dry overnight before doing any printing with it.

Step 4: Print!

Once you got the screen done, decide which piece of clothing I'm going to print on, mix up the color ink you want with different fabric inks, and print. 


The screen goes face-down on the area of the clothing you want to print,  use a layer of cardboard inside the piece of clothing so that if the ink leaks through it doesn't spread to the back of the shirt or whatnot. 


Also just use a sponge brush to apply the ink, pressing very firmly. If you have a small enough squeegee to fit into your hoop size, that is also a good method. But either way you need to make sure your pressure is mostly downwards, not sideways, so the ink gets pressed through the screen and not just moved around on top. Once ink is applied, lift the screen off the fabric, and immediately wash it and the brush fabric inks are water-soluble... until they dry. If the ink is left to dry in the screen, it becomes unusable again. 


If needed, you can touch up areas of the print with a small paintbrush. If you are going to do multiple colors/layers of prints on the same shirt, do all of one color at once, and let that dry (both the ink on the shirt, and the screen you washed out) before doing the next layer/color. Don't proceed to Step 5 until all printing on your shirt is done.

Step 5: Heat-set the ink

This might be the most important step. Once the design is on the shirt and looking great, and the ink has dried, grab an iron and a spare piece of cotton fabric for an interface, and iron BOTH sides of the design on medium-high heat. 


So, once with the shirt right side out, and once with the shirt inside out. Each side gets this treatment for 3-5 minutes. This binds the ink to the fabric, and makes it so it won't come out when you wash it (remember how they're water-soluble? Not so, after this step). It's important to use a cloth interface when ironing on the ink, because otherwise you will end up with a sticky mess of melted ink on your iron.

Step 6: Sport new duds proudly

The new piece of clothing with a custom design is ready to be worn!

-Thanks to Acute Designs for this great little tutorial!

- - -> Silkscreen, pre-made screens, screen printing inks, squeegees, and all other screen printing supplies can be purchased at CC Lowell.

CC Lowell

258 Park Ave

Worcester, MA

01609

508-757-7713

DIY Plaster Hands Using Alginate

DIY Plaster Hands with Alginate!

SUPPLY LIST:
pitcher
dry measuring cup
liquid measuring cup
wooden spoon
disposable bowl
alginate
plaster of Paris knife
self adjusting (sawtooth) picture hangers with spikes to push in

Step 1: First things first – mixing your alginate and transferring it to your container you will be making the mold in. The manufacturer recommends that you use in a 1:1 ratio with water. For my 8 cup container, I used 7 cups of water and 7 cups of alginate. First pour your water into your pitcher and then follow with your alginate powder and stir vigorously. It will begin to set pretty quickly, so really get it stirred quickly. When you are happy that there are no lumps of powder remaining, pour into your mold container.

Step 2: Place your hand into the goo. I mean alginate. Make sure that your model’s hand is not touching the bottom or sides. Also be sure not to go into the goo up to the wrist or beyond. You’ll need to go only as far as the wider portion of the hand – go to the wrist and you may not get out of it. Make your model move their fingers around to make sure that you have alginate settles into all of the little pockets and crevices a hand will make.

Sit tight, about 10 minutes or so, as still as possible while the mold begins to set around the hand. Feel the top of the alginate from time to time. When it’s firm to the touch, your model can remove their hand. First, wriggle the fingers around to loosen and then carefully pull the hand completely out of the mold.

Step 3: Mix your plaster of Paris per manufacturers suggestion. Slowly pour the liquid into your mold. About halfway through, roll around the bowl to try and help the plaster up into all of the nooks and crannies. *** NEVER put hands directly into the plaster to form a mold. It won’t work and you’ll lose a finger!

Allow the plaster to fully cover the hole – you can break away the extra later – so no worries there. Finish filling up and tap around the sides of the bowl with your wood spoon to help break up any air bubbles in the mixture.

Move the mold someplace warm for about 4 hours. Most plaster says 1 is adequate but I say the longer the better. Besides – the first hand I did fell apart and that was only an hour. Play it safe!

*** When cleaning your pitcher and utensil you used to mix your plaster, DO NOT wash it out in your sink. Take it outside with the hose. You will encounter some nasty plumbing issues if plaster of Paris sets up in your pipes!

Step 4: Loosen and remove your mold and cast from its container. You may want to go around and use a towel and soak up any excess moisture that is left on the surface. Place the wrist portion of the hand down in front of you, so that the fingers are pointing up at you. Take a sharp knife and gently and slowly carve away bits of the alginate. Take care because when you run into plaster, you can easily nick or cut your cast.

When you’ve finally liberated your hand, place someplace warm (like the garage) for several days to dry completely.

Step 5: If you want to hang your hands on the wall, like I did, push your hangers into the backside of the cast. Even after drying for some time, the plaster will still receive the hangers easily and will stick in very well.

Alginate kits and plaster for this project can be purchased at CC Lowell.

We can answer any questions you have about this project! 

CC Lowell

258 Park Ave

Worcester, MA

508-757-7713

Worcester Historical Museum Crafternoons!

Kids Crafternoons at Worcester Historical Museum

- Paper Clip and Tape Necklaces

Worcester Historical Museum held a KIDS Crafternoons session for Spring Break week. Visitors of all ages were invited to explore Worcester's innovators in The Factory of the new Alden Family Gallery. What's more innovative than using something you already have in a new way? Some very creative youngsters made paper clip and colored tape necklaces. These are easy to make with materials you have around the house.

Kids Crafternoons will be back this summer so be sure to follow WHM on Facebook and visit the website at www.worcesterhistory.org.

Try this project at home with your kids!

We have a wide variety of colored tapes to chose from!

CC Lowell

258 Park Ave

Worcester, MA

508-757-7713