A tutorial for making Wishing Wands

I've made a large batch of "Wishing Wands" and thought I'd take a few photos along the way on my second batch so that those of you wanting to make your own would see how I created mine.The first batch of wishing wands I created I wanted them to have a fairy vibe, so I added a vine that wraps around each wand along with moss, rhinestones and glitter. Of course the all important label proclaiming they are "Wishing Wands"The following tutorial for the wands doesn't show how I created the vines, I wanted these wands to look like plain ol' sticks. If your interested, in how I made them... continue reading :-)

The supplies are readily available at any dollar store and craft store. For the actual wand itself, I used a 10 pack of wooden dowels I got from the Dollar Tree. I used a pencil sharpener to create a pointed end to each dowel. I also picked up some florist wire there too. The string of crystals I had purchased from Joann Fabrics. You will also be needing hot glue and paint.  Firstly, your needing to cut a small piece of the craft wire and string it through the hole in the crystal your wanting to use. You will be using this to wrap around the wooden dowel to ensure the crystal won't pop off of the wand in years to come. Next, you wrap the wire around the dowel. Just a quick wrap will do....You can use painters tape or masking tape to help attach the wired crystal to the wooden dowel. I place the tape over the bottom of the crystal to cover up the wire coming through the holes. This helps to stabilize the connection of the crystal to the dowel. It is already looking like a wand. Once you have your wands constructed, your going to need your glue gun to transform the wooden dowel into something that resembles a wooden stick.  I like to start with running a line of hot glue around the crystal on top of the tape. I then start adding glue down the dowel to about mid point and then stick that in a container to let the glue set up. I then repeat that a few times to build up a fatter area around the crystal. Once the top is looking great, I then work from the middle down to the point. If you get high bits in the glue that don't look so good, simply take the hot tip of your glue gun (no need to squeeze out any glue) and let the hot tip remelt the areas your not liking. Easy peasy~Now comes the fun part where you get to paint your wands! I find that regular craft paint doesn't stick easily to hot glue. You can do it, but your going to be putting on a lot of coats of paint. I covered each crystal with some painters tape, and spray painted each one with some brown paint.
You'll find that the spray painted hot glue ends up feeling sticky/tacky, but once you paint over it with acrylic paint that goes away.  I painted a light wash of color on each wand trying to create the look of wood.  I used a mixture of black, nutmeg brown and a lite Mocha. Any color combination that would make the wands look like wood would work. I used a paint brush- but I found just rubbing the wands with paint on my finger tip gave me a more natural look of wood.The flash of the camera distorts the colors, in person, they really look like wood.I'll be attaching a printed label that reads, "Wishing Wands" on these as well. Because, you know... these are for wishes. *wink* Wouldn't a wishing wand be adorable attached to the top of a baby shower gift? a wedding gift???  a graduation gift?... You could even  send one along with a Christmas card that read, "I wish you a Merry Christmas"

I'll be selling these wands at the upcoming Gem and Mineral sale I'll be participating in next month. I'll be selling them for $5.00 each :-)