There are many situations in which you need your own special wand. So, why not have an extra special wand that you make yourself! Also, they make great gifts, costume accessories, party favors, and they’re even awesome for trick-or-treaters.
As the base of your wand there are a few options. The ones that I’ve tried are wooden chopsticks and wooden dowels. My favorite for sure is using the dowels. They are very sturdy and easy to carve and shape.
For chopsticks, it’s pretty straight forward, but I would sand the chopstick a little if it isn’t rounded. Sanding it roughly can also give it a little texture, or you can sand it really smooth if that’s the look you want. You can also cut them down if you want to make your wand shorter.
Some things I thought of that you can use to embellish your wand: clay, feathers, craft wire, flower petals, tissue paper, fur or cotton fluff, beads, bark, thin strips of orange peel, saw dust or sand, string or embroidery floss, and of course glue! Hot glue is a must, not only can you use it to attach embellishments; you can also mold it into cool gooey shapes.
Pretty much all these things you can paint over, most commonly the wands are earthy colors like various shades of browns and grays. Of course, you can use other colors to mix it up. Adding a little gold or silver can give that little sparkle, there are tons of customization options in this project for sure.
To hold embellishments in place hot glue and craft glue is good. You can also use Elmer’s glue or ModPodge to give it a little more security before painting. If you want something really strong you can use something like E6000 glue.
Acrylic or plastic based paint is the best in my opinion. I would suggest at least two layers, letting it fully dry between each layer. Once you’re done and it’s completely dry finish it off with a layer of acrylic finish, matte or gloss. I use a spray finish that works quite well and goes on in even coats to make the finish consistent.
This is a project that you can devote a small or large amount of time to. They can be as simple or as complicated as you want them to be. If you want simple wands, a set for a party for example, you can make a bunch in a short amount of time.
However, you can also spend a lot of time, making really complicated designs with a lot of elements and embellishments. Both simple wands and complicated ones are valid, and both are awesome! Either way I think it’s fun to play with hot glue.
Comments