Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Crafts and decoration

Help make our school garden beautiful!

luciddream928 — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:23:46 -0800

What is the best varnish/sealer to use on a mural painting with kids? I'm using a series of plywood panels that are 22"x 40". These will be primed with Gesso or elastomeric paint (haven't decoded on paint yet). The panels will be painted by the students and sealed by the adults after the paint is dry. I'm not sure which sealer to use. We are located in a temperate climate that gets hot (90's, no humidity) and never cold (25* at the absolute lowest). These panels are for an outdoor garden. Also, any suggestions for paint other than Gesso or acrylic-based elastomeric outdoor house paint are welcome.

Looking for advice on my DIY framing project

Afroblanco — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:32:57 -0800

I have a number of unframed art prints and posters, and would like to do the framing myself. What advice do you have for me? I'm not looking to do anything fancy -- just simple black frames and plexiglass. In the past, I've gone to frame shops for this, but they're always really expensive, and this seems like a DIY-able task. I've never done any framing before, so I would appreciate any advice you have to offer. This could include :

1) Basic knowledge and instructions (and good places to find such)
2) Tricks, hints, protips, "wish-I-would-have-knowns"
3) Recommendations on materials and tools
4) Good places to buy materials and tools. I'm open to buying online or in-person. I live in San Fransisco, if that makes a difference.
5) ... anything else you might think of!

Thanks!

Crewel Cartoons

Ambrosia Voyeur — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:13:01 -0800

Please suggest images I could convert into crewel which are cartoon modern in style, but not depictions of characters. I have The New Crewel and plenty of can-do spirit, and I want to do a crewel project for my home. A pillow, perhaps.

I love the look of "Cartoon Modern," and have some Eyvind Earle art at home, so while I thought of imitating his style, I don't think that would serve my crafting goals best.

I'd like to get ideas for cityscapes, landscapes, space scenes, machinery, or other background-level depictions that I can "trace and color" myself with crewel yarn and creative stitching. I'm not much good at starting from a blank slate. They should be colorful and not incredibly complex. The image linked above is a good level of complexity, but I don't really want an office with some dudes as decor.

It seems like the web is full of hip artists whose work would be suitable for a little tribute like this.

Any ideas, guys?

Help me brand a pizza box

edmz — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:36:42 -0800

I need ideas on how to decorate a Pizza box. I'm trying to help a friend find ideas for how to decorate pizza boxes. He has a small restaurant that sells a handful of to-go pizzas a day.

Since he sells very few pizzas to-go he can't afford to buy custom designed boxes. He is currently using generic (ugly!) boxes but would like something that conveys his brand in a better way.

We were thinking on using some kind of paint with a stencil to add a more personal touch to the boxes, but worry about the smell of the paint or if the paint might affect the cardboard somehow. We are not very crafty, so we don't really have a lot of ideas on what materials we can use for this.

Do you have any suggestions or ideas regarding decoration of Pizza boxes?