Looking for ways to make Mom feel special at a Mother’s Day get-together this weekend? Skip the party store and head to the craft aisle. With some paint and a set of stencils, you can create everything you need. Pick out a few shades of Martha Stewart Craft Paint (it can be used on just about any surface, including cloth, glass, wood and paper) and go to town! Martha Stewart Butterfly stencils were used for the projects below.
Project: Cloth Napkins
Supplies: Martha Stewart Craft Paint, stencils, small bristle craft brushes, and an inexpensive set of cloth napkins.
Directions: Simply set the stencil where you want it, apply the paint... and gently remove the stencil while the paint is wet.
Voila! An expensive-looking set of napkins.
Project: Spring Votives
Supplies: Martha Stewart Craft Paint, adhesive stencils, a foam pounce and glass votives holders. Martha Stewart Crafts makes these adhesive stencils, and they have a good strong "stick." That and foam pounces are the key.
Directions: Place the stencil on the votive and paint. Carefully removed the stencils…
And there you go! Pretty votives. Note: the paint needs to cure on the glass for 21 days. Pop in some fancy candles and they make a great decor item or party favor.
Project: Butterfly Chandelier
Supplies: Martha Stewart Craft Paint, stencils, white cardstock, scissors, glue dots, thin florist’s wire and white craft branches.
Directions: Stencil a bunch of butterflies on some white cardstock. Let them dry, cut them out and gently fold them in half. Use florist wire to fasten the branches to a light fixture. Stick the butterflies on the branches. Now you have a one-of-a-kind festive butterfly chandelier. On use the branches right side up and tuck them in a bright floral bouquet for Mom.
Butterfly Pretzel Treats
Keeping with the butterfly theme… why buy Mom a box of pricey sweets when you can make your own charming chocolate treats at home?
Ingredients: 3 bowls of 1 1/2 cups of Wilton Candy Melts. I used blue and yellow-- there are lots of colors), MNM's, Newman's Own Salted Pretzel Sticks and Rold Gold Tiny Twists. Each butterfly needs 2 twists and a stick. Things to grab: parchment paper on a cookie sheet, salad tongs, a rubber spatula spayed with PAM, and a couple Ziploc sandwich bags.
Step 1: Melt the candy you want to use for the wings in a bowl in the microwave, stirring at 30-second intervals until melted. DO NOT over microwave, as candy gets hard and impossible to use.
Step 2: Using salad tongs, lower tiny twists into the colored chocolate until covered, then gently place on parchment paper. This part is a little tricky, “grab” a little extra chocolate on the tongs and drips it into the top part of the pretzels. Finish with a MNM on top.
Step 3: After the "wings" have set (do NOT put these guys in the fridge) place a stick between them.
Step 4: Melt 1 1/2 additional cups of chocolate in the microwave (if you have a glass measuring cup, that would be best cause it can go in the micro) stirring every 30 seconds till melted. Then, pour melted chocolate in a sandwich bag and snip the tip off... the tiniest snip ever.
Step 5: Keeping the tension on the chocolate that it's the bag, go back and forth over the "rod pretzel"... making sure you add extra around the wings.
Step 6: To extra safe, after the butterflies harden, flip them over and fill in any spaces with more melted chocolate (your final 1 1/2 cup o' chocolate-- you may need less).
