Materials for Decorative Techniques

Materials for decorative techniques are craft supplies you can use to assemble or decorate your own project: wooden boxes and small chests for painting, decorative tapes, wire and pipe cleaners, feathers, felting wool, decorative stones and natural moss. Most of the range comes from Knorr Prandell, Meyco and Heyda, joined by Docrafts, Kreul, Aladine and Sizzix. The materials suit gifts, seasonal decorations, crafting with children and jewellery. Start your choice by asking whether you need a base to decorate, an embellishment or a material you can shape.

Materials for decorative techniques: do you need a base, an embellishment or something to shape?

Craft supplies can be grouped by the role they play in your project. A base is an object you finish decorating, an embellishment goes on its surface, and a shapeable material becomes a new form. Techniques such as decoupage, embossing and scrapbooking have their own pages in the Decorative Techniques category.

Group	Examples from the range	Uses
Bases	wooden boxes, small chests, papier-mâché masks, snow globes, umbrellas for painting	paint, cover with glued decorations, insert your own design
Embellishments	washi and decorative tapes, glitter, sequins, acrylic gems, pompoms	glue onto paper, wood or fabric
Materials for shaping	wire, pipe cleaners, jewellery elastic, felt	bend, thread, cut
Natural materials	raffia, feathers, Iceland moss, jute mesh, dried flowers	arrangements and seasonal decorations
Fibres and fillings	felting wool, polyester filling	felting, stuffing toys and cushions

How do you choose wire, pipe cleaners or jewellery elastic?

Craft wires differ mainly in diameter. You can thread thin wire with a diameter of 0.25 to 0.4 mm through beads and wrap it around small details, while thicker wire with a diameter of 0.8 to 1 mm holds the shape of a figure or a wreath frame. Knorr Prandell gold wire has a copper core and a surface plated with 24-carat gold, making it suitable for jewellery too. The full range is on the Craft wire page.

Meyco pipe cleaners have a wire core wrapped in soft fibres, are 8 mm thick and 50 cm long, and come in packs of 10 in one colour or a colour mix. You can shape them into animals, figures or gift decorations; all colours are on the Pipe cleaners page. For beaded bracelets and necklaces, transparent Stretch Magic jewellery elastic is more suitable: it stretches by up to 100 % and returns to its original length.

Needle felting or wet felting: which wool and filling should you choose?

Magic Wool felting wool from Knorr Prandell is fine sheep's wool for dry and wet felting. When dry felting, you repeatedly pierce the wool with a felting needle until it compacts into a firm figure, brooch or decoration. For wet felting, you pour warm soapy water over it and rub until the fibres join into flat felt, for example for a mat or a flower. Compare wool shades on the Felting wool page.

Soft, bulky Knorr Prandell polyester filling is used for stuffing toys, cushions and dolls, and you can wash it at 40 °C.

How can you decorate a wooden box, mask or greeting card?

Knorr Prandell wooden boxes and small chests have a smooth, natural surface that holds acrylic paint, varnish and glitter. You can paint Meyco papier-mâché masks with acrylics or felt-tip pens and decorate them with feathers. You can insert your own photo or design into the Heyda acrylic snow globe because its base is removable.

Heyda decorative tapes have a glossy, holographic or iridescent surface and are particularly suited to greeting cards and paper projects. Attach the decorative gems from Kreul sets with glue intended for gemstones. Aladine dried flowers are intended for sealing wax and resin, so the Sealing page is relevant to them.