Arts & Crafts: How to Make Magic at Home
May 23, 2020
HILLARY WALL
We’ve found a new use for acrylic paint in our house. In fact, we feel confident to claim that acrylic paint is a perfectly suitable material to help craft your very own magic wand. Magic, you say? Surely, it couldn’t be true! Well, people, it is true. It’s true that we’ve found the recipe for crafting magic wands and you know what? We’re going to share it with you.
Please follow these instructions carefully. N.B.: Cork & Chroma is not liable for any magic-related incidents following this crafty activity.
1. Find a magic stick.
Finding a magic stick will definitely take a discerning eye. Our advice is when you spot a potential stick, pick it up and hold it in your hand. Close your eyes. If you feel a little sparkle in your imagination when you hold it, it’s the one. (If it’s not the one, drop that stick on the ground and keep on looking). Adults may need child supervision and/or consultation during stick selection.
2. Paint the stick.
Use brushes and some blobs of paint to coat your stick with some colour. Let it dry before adding another layer or decorations. Make your wand as neat, messy, multicoloured or monochromatic as you’d like. Oh, but please don’t forget that for this part, you and you alone must make all of the decisions concerning your wand. Or the magic won’t work.
3. Stick sparkly things onto your stick.
Look, we cannot prove that sparkly bits and fluffy bobs from your craft kit contain magic but we cannot disprove it, either. Use some craft glue (or even better, glitter glue) to stick some sparkles onto your wand.
4. Believe in the magic you are making.
I’ve been thinking about it, and I reckon we’re all on our own a little bit for this part. I’ll tell you the rest of our family’s wand-making story.
It took us a couple of days to complete our wand-crafting mission. From time spent searching for sticks on long walks, to the time it took for layers of paint to dry, it was a journey. Sunny and I had a lot of fun, it was neat to watch her hold tiny sequins and squeeze the glue bottle. We made three beautiful wands, admired our work, and put them on a little shelf. At that point I thought it was over; we had done the thing we set out to do. But a few days of wand silence later—or was it a week? What is time anymore?—the wands caught Sunny’s eye and before we knew it, she was racing around the house, casting spells on me and B.J., “Bibbiti, bobbity, boo!”ing, pointing her wand and turning us into animals.
Apparently the magic we made while we painted and glued and spent time together needed time to settle in and warm up inside the wands. But of course they were magical! They were made and infused with the magical qualities of connection, playfulness, imagination and creativity.
This little craft taught me that no matter how humble the art may seem, we cannot underestimate our ability to make magic. And that the magic we make manifests in all kinds of unexpected, beautiful ways. Like memories with my family that are some of the sweetest yet.
Happy painting.
