Go to any large home store or craft store and pick one up very inexpensively.   Be sure to wash and dry it thoroughly.   Next choose a design.   You may want to lightly sketch it on the pot to be sure you have the right placement before you begin to paint.

You can paint these little characters with just your basic colors:  blue, red, green, yellow, while, beige.   In fact,  you actually can start with the three primary colors   (red, yellow, and blue)  plus white and mix them together for any color you want.

Weird as it may sound,   I loved pouring plaster and making all these things.   Maybe it was the fact that I could take a bag of plaster and in rather short time turn it into something beautiful.   The tough part was handling the heavy molds.

At one time my husband and I had thousands of molds and made statuary for retail businesses.    It seems as if those stores rarely exist any more,  at least in our area.   Yet you can still find an occasional piece,  and most craft stores carry small unpainted plaster items to paint.   It’s really quite fun.

At times I’ve found unpainted plaster items at a yard sale or thrift store.   Keep your eyes open if you visit these places.

If you’ve been painting for any time at all,  you know who Priscilla Hauser is.  Her face is a familiar one to

She has written quite a great number of books.  One book of hers that is really innovative is  “Priscilla Paints With Daubers.”    Who would ever think that just by using various size of paint daubers you could create gorgeous pictures and designs?    This is a book I would recommend for anyone looking for a simple way to get started in painting.

Nearly every summer when I was growing up,  my father would load all of our family  (my mother,  my 2 brothers, and me)  into our car,  and we would travel way up North into Canada for our yearly vacation.   It was a fun time!

My father was an avid fisherman so, of course,  we rented a cabin on a fishing lake.   It was not unusual for him to go out in his boat and sit and fish for hours,  often without getting a bite.   Many times I went along,  fishing at times and trying to keep still so as not to scare the fish away.   It was on these occasions that I would look around at the beautiful scenery and think  ‘if only I could paint.’

Since then I have learned to paint,  and even though I’m not the best painter – I certainly can’t hold a candle to many of you – it’s something I really enjoy, along with the other crafts and hobbies I enjoy.

Acrylic paints have no odor, which is a great benefit to people who may be sensitive to strong odors. They come in a myriad of colors and shades, but if you cannot find exactly the right color, you can mix them as desired.

There are acrylic paints for nearly any and every surface. If you want to paint on fabric, you can get special paints for fabrics. If your surface is metal, there is a special paint for it. Do you paint on glass? Now you can buy an acrylic paint that lasts through several washings in the dishwasher. Whatever your project, more than likely you can find just the right acrylic paint for it.

Quite popular during the last few years, Donna Dewberry has developed her own painting technique, known as One Stroke Painting. Priscilla Hauser, referred to as ‘the first lady of decorative painting,’ and one of my favorite artists, has her own methods, although I don’t recall that they are called by any particular names.

Do you remember William (Bill) Alexander who was quite popular and well-known in the art field a few years back? Even though he was not an acrylic painter (his medium was oils), he fascinated us by painting beautiful landscapes with large (2 inch and 4 inch) brushes and a palette knife. (I still have my brushes, but I’m quite sure I never became proficient with them!) If you do not remember him, I’m sure you recall Bob Ross who followed in Bill’s footsteps.

So although we may not go to that extent or be well-known for how we paint, we all tend to do it a little differently, in our own way.

Painting on glass is currently one of the most popular forms of art for gift-giving and home decorating. The technique of painting on glass is centuries old and seems to have developed soon after the appearance of sheet glass.

Because of its popularity, there are a variety of glass painting products and books available. With the recent development of new specialty paints, the glass painting process has been enhanced, and finished items are more durable. New paints, when dried properly, will withstand a great number of washings in the dishwasher and remain as beautiful as when first painted.

One good thing about being able to paint is that you can take a simple, even used, item and transform it into something totally new and beautiful with a little paint. ( It may have even been something that you would otherwise throw in the trash. ) You can take an article that is exactly like a hundred others and with a few brushstrokes, give it a whole new life and look. And how fun and satisfying that is!

While browsing Wal Mart one day, I happened to pass the wedding department and spotted these cute little goblet candles. They are about 3 to 4 inches tall and have a tiny white ribbon with silver bells attached. Well, I bought several of them ($4.99 for a set of 4), brought them home, removed the ribbon, and painted a small flower design on each of them. I then attached a small colored ribbon to match the paint of the flower. Now this is where the new paint came in handy. Can you imagine what would happen if I tried to bake these in order to set the paint? Melted Wax!

If you are interested in these, it appears as if Wal Mart has discontinued these. (They do have plastic ones – not as nice.) However, I did find similar ones in a craft store in the candle department. In fact, these were even nicer as the wax in the goblets comes in a variety of colors.

These make dainty inexpensive little gifts for a favorite waitress, friend, etc.