ALTERED ART

What is Altered Art?

Altered Art has swept the nation and has increased in popularity over the past couple of years.  This form of crafting results in the revitalization of old items and breathes new life into them.  There is no right or wrong when altering items to be made into something new.  Many techniques have been discovered as a result of someone making a mistake - and wallah - a fresh new technique is born!  The beauty of altered art is that an item which was made for a specific purpose can be used for something totally different.  One good example of this is a puzzle piece.  People paint and
embellish these and make them into decorative pins and magnets.  In the altered art world,  one is only limited by his/her imagination.

Altered Art Techniques

In altered art, any type of technique can be used to change the appearance of the item being  altered.  This includes, but is not limited to:  painting, decoupage, embellishing, gluing,  beading, rusting, stamping, drawing, sewing, quilting, cutting, sponging, and many others.

Altered Art Items and Project Ideas

The list below consists of just a few of the many items that can be altered and projects that can be made from them:

Record albums/45's - Make these into decorative purses; melt albums and turn them into chip and dip bowls.

Puzzle pieces - Paint, rubberstamp and embellishment them and make them into deocrative pins or magnets.  Personalize these even further by gluing a photocopied photograph to the piece.

Buttons - These can be used to decorate picture frames, adorn jewelry and art quilts.

Playing cards - One of the favorites in the altered art world, ATC's and ACEO's can be made from these.  Paint, decoupage and embellish these with trinkets and words.  These are fun and economical to make.

Optical lenses - Use these to frame small photographs and wear them as necklaces.

Slide mounts - Not just for labs anymore, these little pieces of glass can be painted and stamped with designs.  Make a slide sandwich by enclosing a photograph between two slides and securing the edges around the glass with copper foil.  If desired, solder the copper foil  with lead-free solder and turn these into lovely pins and necklaces.

CD's - These can be decorated whole with pretty paper and embellishments; made into picture  frames, clocks and windchimes.  CD's which are warmed with a heat gun may be cut into small
 pieces with old scissors and painted, stamped and embellished.  These pieces may be used  as magnets, pins and even gift tags.

Poker chips, Triominos, Dominos and Backgammon pieces - These are fun to rubber stamp and embellish and can be made into pins or magnets; they can also be used to embellish bigger pieces of altered art, such as purses or photo frames.

Mint tins - These are fun to cover with polymer clay.  They can also be fired with a torch to remove the  paint and wording, wiped off and repainted with other colors.  Decorate the inside of the box
 to make a little shrine.  Glue photos to the inside to make a neat little picture frame.   These may also be turned into mini portable photo albums and purses.

Matchboxes - There is no limit with what can be done to decorate these little gems.  They can  be decorated with chalks, paints, clay or decoupage.  The inside can be decorated to match  the theme on the outside of the box or to enclose a message to the receiver if it used as part of a gift.  Matchboxes make adorable pendants and pins.

Luggage - Paint and decoupage luggage for an interesting showpiece.

Paint cans - Decorate the outside of a paint can with decorative papers and images fitting a theme and fill the can with related goodies.  For example, if this is for a baby shower, decorate the outside of the can with little teddy bears or baby images on soft pastel paper  and fill it with little items such as nail clippers, a pacifier, rattle, socks and all sorts of other little goodies.

Checkbook covers - There are a myriad of clear checkbook covers being sold these days.  Slide decorative paper, images or artwork into the inside of the cover for a unique checkbook.

Clipboards - Not just for the office anymore, clipboards can be decorated and embellished; these are frequently used as mini bulletin boards and picture frames.

Lunch boxes - These are easy to find at scrapbooking stores and once embellished with papers  and paint, can be made into purses or recipe holders.

Slide Mailers - Coat these with gesso and let dry.  Use colorful paint, rubber stamps and buttons or trinkets to decorate these.  Glue photos of choice in the space designated for  the slides, then glue slide mounts into place over the photos.

Formica tags - These are readily available in any hardware store.  Paint and rubber stamp these  and turn them into pendants, magnets and keychains.

Kitchen items - Spoons can be cut and made into little angel pins.  I have also seen a unique purse which someone made out of a metal colander.

These are only a few of the many items used to make altered art projects.  Try something mentioned above, or try something totally different!  You never know when you might come up with the next rage in the altered art world!

Please feel free to check out my store for some examples of altered art jewelry.  Hopefully, these will give you some inspiration to try your own creations.

(All artwork by Wanda Eash, Two Crafty Mules)