I'm in the middle of doing some spring cleaning in the garden. A few things are growing already — some lettuce and arugula I planted back in March, plenty of daffodils are in bloom — but mostly the work involves clearing out the dead matter that dried out over the winter. I like to incorporate natural materials in my projects, and since the bird action around here has been heating up lately (so many conversations, so much drama!), I put two and two together. A grown-up or skilled child should do the cardboard cutting and the gluing, but everything else is super kid-friendly. To make this simple project even easier, I've provided a template of the three pieces you need to cut from corrugated cardboard, along with directions for aligning the grooves/corrugations of the cardboard with each shape. Download that template here:
This is what the three pieces will look like. I painted mine, though you can barely tell in this photo (at right). Glue the short edges of the two small shapes — the winglets — to the body of the bird. Try to get them both in the same spot on either side, or your bird might be unbalanced later. While that glue dries, go outside and take a walk. Collect dry pieces of ornamental grass, twigs, wildflowers, fern stalks, weeds — as long as the stem-ish part of whatever it is can fit inside of a corrugation tube in your cardboard, you're good. Use utility scissors (i.e. not the nice ones you save for paper or fabric) to trim the pieces and slip them into the corrugations of the winglets and the little tail. If they look right, slip them out, dip the ends in tacky glue, and replace. This part was really fun. The natural items I found were pretty curvy, and it was engrossing work to arrange the pieces in fanciful wing and tail shapes . To hang the bird, clip the back with a small clothespin. At first, I tried threading string through a hole in the back, but I couldn't get the balance just right (see the little holes?) and the bird kept dive-bombing the ground or zooming upwards when I wanted a gentle floating. With a clip, you can readjust as needed. If this earth-mama project isn't quite your kids' bag, I have some ideas in mind for making a colorful version of this au naturale bird... Stay tuned!
xo and happy spring. I know I talk about my dog, Franklin, a lot on here, but I also have two middle-aged lady cats. The dog and the cats do not like each other, so they mostly keep to their own spaces. Franklin is a dog, so I can go on hikes with him all the time; the cats have literally never been outside in their lives. So, I provide what better zoos call "enrichment," i.e. toys. Enter this felt donut I whipped up. Now, I sewed this on my machine, but you (or a child) could definitely hand-sew this. There aren't any tricky inside-out seams. And it's a cat toy; the cat won't care if the stitches aren't perfectly tiny and even. I'd recommend just gluing the frosting on, instead of sewing it on, to save even more time. Either hand-sewing or machine, here's how you make one. Or, skip down to the bottom to see the toy in action with my cat Hambone. First draw and cut out a donut (more properly a "doughnut," but that seems archaic, so I'm sticking with donut; I apologize, copy editors) from a sheet of scrap paper. Place this template on top of two layers of brown felt, and cut around the outer circle. Because these won't be exact, symmetrical shapes, mark a point on the same spot on each circle, so you can match them up again later. I used a pin, but later I switched to a white chalk pencil. Here's the chalk line match-up idea: Use a chalk pencil and the template to trace the inner circle onto the felt. Keeping both felt circles together (pin them, if you'd like), fold them in half and cut out the circle. Now, draw a squiggly frosting circle on the paper template and cut that out. Use the shape to cut out the pink felt frosting overlay. Attach the frosting to just one of the brown felt circles, either by sewing it on, or using hot glue. Now, match up your two halves again, and pin them together. Sew the inside seam of the donut first, then sew about 2/3 around the outside. It's time to stuff the donut! I sprinkled catnip on the tufts of fluff as I pushed it inside. Press it into place around the unsewn quadrant, too. Pin the remaining open area closed, and sew it shut. Done! Do cats like it? Oh yes they do! (thanks to Hambone for her modeling help.)
xo! Looky there, a new header image has arrived! I really liked how the watercolor flower turned out, so I wanted to share with you how I made it. I actually tried using two very different types of paper. The one above is made with tracing paper: I just roughly brushed on varying shades of purple and let the paper dry. Then, I cut petal shapes from the paper, brushed Mod Podge onto the backs (one at a time), and smoothed them to a scrap of sturdy card stock. I added a second round of overlapping petals to the first level, ending up with five over five. This photo shows a second flower made using this method, sitting on top of the cut-up paper. I did something similar using actual watercolor paper; brushed varying shades of purple (mixed using blue and red in my simple watercolor set) onto the paper, let it dry, and cut out petals. This time I cut them in three different sizes, then stacked them from largest to smallest. You get more dimension with the thick watercolor paper, but you lose the nice translucency of the tracing paper. More photos of the two effects: Because the watercolor petals were so thin, and so evenly glued down, I was able to use a craft knife to cut out the letters in "ink" without much difficulty.
Happy Spring! xo (I couldn't resist including the bunny shaker from last week in this photo!) A few strips of paper, glue, and a single staple is all you need to make a miniature spring basket you can fill with treats (or a single, treasured egg). Here's how to make one. First, cut half-inch wide, 8 1/2-inch long strips of paper from a few different colors of paper. I used a floral pattern to mix in with the solid construction paper strips. All told, I used 6 strips to make this basket, not including the flower addition.
Center the ring on the asterisk, and use it as a guide to fold up the six spokes of the basket. (You can use a jar lid or something else with a round base, of course. I chose a TP tube because you can see through it, which makes it easier to center it.) Now, weave a strip into the vertical spokes. Trim the strip so you leave a half inch or so of overlap where the ends of the strip meet. I glued the ends of the strips to themselves, and not to the spokes, so I could move them up and down (or even slide them off and reorder them) if I wanted to. To make the basket more sturdy as you build it, consider gluing the strips to the spokes. It doesn't look like much until you put on the second strip: To finish the basket, you're going to fold down the spokes and slip their ends into the weaving. To make everything fit I ended up trimming about a half inch from each spoke. Fold each spoke over the top strip. This means every other spoke will be folded in the opposite direction. The one below left is folded towards the outside of the basket, then the end is tucked into the bottom strip. The one on the right shows a neighboring spoke that's been folded towards the inside of the basket, with the end tucked into the bottom strip. Unfold the spoke, add glue stick or a thin layer of tacky glue to the inside, and refold. Do this with all six spokes, and you've got a tidy little basket! You can add a handle, or glue all sorts of embellishments to it. I added a paper flower. To make mine, cut out two similarly-shaped flowers, one slightly smaller than the other. Cut a circle from another color of paper. Glue the smaller flower to the larger one, and then glue the circle to the center. Fold up the inner petals a little to add some dimension. Glue the flower to the side of your basket. Done! I placed a standard-sized plastic egg in mine to give a better sense of its scale. You could easily make a number of these baskets so that each person at your Easter brunch or dinner could have their own. Fill them with candy, if you'd like; I'm partial to Robin's Eggs. Happy Easter!
xo For a product that's so tied to a single holiday, plastic eggs are incredibly versatile. I've seen them made into tiny tea cups, covered in wool roving, used as Jello molds, and transformed into fireflies. I mixed two ideas together and turned a couple of eggs into hand percussion instruments that happen to look like cute spring animals. These sound just like the plastic egg shakers you can buy at music stores, but these are both cheaper and cuter. Win-win! Now the fun, messy part: Papier mache! You can use the traditional water and flour mix, but I used my favorite stuff, powdered wallpaper adhesive. (Note: That link goes to Amazon, and I get a few cents if you buy the product after clicking. This is the exact product I use.) It's super strong and, as a result, you don't have to have as many layers of paper. After you've covered the egg with a few overlapping layers of gooped-up newspaper, add any three-dimensional features. I cut ears, wings, and a beak from cereal box cardboard, and attached them using small strips of papier mache. The ears were a pain in the butt to keep in place, to be honest. Next time, I'd let the egg dry, then hot-glue on the cardboard ears, and then cover them with papier mache. Let the paper dry completely. For me, during clammy, wet weather, this took almost 24 hours. Now, paint! I covered both bunny and chick with white acrylic craft paint first, and after that dried, added a coat of color. Once that paint is dry, add some facial features with a marker. Done! Once dry, these guys are sturdy. Shake them to the rhythm of your favorite song. Their sound adds a kind of jazzy, Latin flavor. It's fun!
xo I'm working on a craft project idea for a client, and the work has led me to play around with oil-based Sharpie markers. I've only bought a black fine point, so far; if you buy a whole set, you're halfway to having a great party craft for middle-school-aged kids (and up!). The other half you'll need is a package of "crystal" Chinet plates. (I got a package of 8 plates at my local supermarket for under $4; link is for reference.) The trick to keeping this project food-safe is to only use the marker on the bottom of the plate. You could freehand a drawing, but I think it's smarter to work out your design on paper first. Create a paper template by using your fingers to rub and crease a sheet of plain copy paper onto the interior circle of the plate. Trace this interior depression with a pencil, then cut out the circle.
Here's what the plate looks like with the paper still taped onto the plate's front. After the ink dries completely (I waited a few hours, to be extra cautious), you can hand-wash the plate with dish soap, and the ink will stay on! I wouldn't put this in the dishwasher, however; treat it gently, and it should last a long while.
Have fun! xo Remember the lenticular birthday card I posted a week or so ago? This art project is something of a take on that idea. Looking at it straight on, you can see each circle is half one pattern, half another. Turn to see it at an angle, however, and the second pattern is erased from view. This artwork is easy to create and make it your own way. I started by using a 1-inch hole punch to cut nine dots from two sheets of complimentary patterned papers. Don't have a punch? You can trace a quarter and cut out the circles with scissors instead, but I'd recommend stacking the two pieces of paper and cutting through both sheets at once to get an exact fit; just be sure to keep each pair together as you proceed. I also cut a square from a scrap piece of mat board I got from my local art supply store; any sturdy board will do, such as poster board or regular ol' cardboard. Fold each circle in half, with the printed/colored side on the inside of the fold. Once you have nine of these conjoined pairs, glue them in a grid to your board. I just eyeballed it, but if precision is important to you, use a pencil to lightly draw three straight, vertical lines spaced evenly on the board, and line up the dots' center folds with the lines. Erase the pencil marks. Done! I redid this project using scraps of drawing paper on which I'd painted some watercolor washes and splatters. I really like using handmade decorated paper for projects. Without meaning to, I ended up with a pastel Easter vibe. Here's how it turned out. Even though the dots' paper is lighter weight than the scrapbooking paper I used above, there's no warping or floppiness. Cool. Have fun!
xo Spring is in the air, but it's not exactly in the garden yet. So, I took matters into my own hands and made my own colorful bouquet of flowers from an egg carton. At first, I was going to glue the blossoms to something -- a piece of cardboard? A tin can? -- and have it be either a thing to hang on the wall, or a pseudo Easter basket. But in the end I went with a straight-forward, and more versatile, bouquet of stemmed flowers. Start with a cardboard egg carton. I used a combo of a craft knife and scissors to do all of my cutting. Cut leaves from the bent edges of the lid, as shown below. The flowers are obviously the cups of the carton; cut them out roughly from the carton, then shape the petals. Cut a few of the sticky-uppy posts for flower centers, too. Play around with different shapes and configurations of petals. Here's what I ended up with. And now, you get to paint! Fun. I used acrylic, and for most colors I only needed one coat.
Now it's time to put everything together. I decided to try hot glue again, after a long absence. I have Problems with hot glue, problems that often end up with burned fingers and rubbery spiderweb strands all over the place. Not this time, I told myself. I am a pro, I affirmed. Smash-cut to me with two burn-blisters on my left hand, and stringy hot glue bits everywhere. Sigh. Yes, hot glue dries fast, but it just isn't as easy and safe as tacky glue. Anyway, here's how I made the flowers with hot glue. Substitute tacky for hot glue as you prefer; you'll just need to hold things longer (or lay them in place as the glue sets). First glue any inner blossom (made with an upright post from the carton) to its outer counterpart. Turn the flower over, dab a blob of glue on the middle of the flat part, and press the circle end of the wire into the glue, like you're an old-timey cowboy branding a horse. Hold as the glue sets. Slide a leaf onto the stem wire, and dab glue around and in the hole to secure it in place. All of this will be hidden so it's ok if it looks a bit messy. Once all of your flowers are stemmed, and the glue is dry, gather them up into one hand to make a bouquet. Arrange them as you like, then wrap the stems together with tape. Put them in a vase of your choosing. I like using an old glass bottle for small bouquets. Turn this into a St. Patrick's Day project by adding a four-leafed clover. You could make all of the stems shamrocks instead of flowers, if you want to go all-in. Happy almost-spring!
xo This watercolor art activity is a belated entry for the Tinkersketch prompt of 'polka dots.' I started by making watercolor circles on a piece of watercolor paper. The largest dot is about an inch and a half wide. I wanted to add overlapping, transparent dots to this base. I tried some experiments with tissue paper, but it just wasn't transparent enough. So, I painted some dots onto tracing paper. The watery paint warped the paper, making the pigment gather in the valleys of the dots. Kind of interesting, but not what I was looking for. So I added some larger swaths of paint, using a fairly dry brush. After the paper was dry, I cut out the dots. You can see how ridged they are, below; I ended up not using them at all. Then I cut circles from the flat fields of paint. Much better! I arranged the dots on top of my dotted watercolor-paper background, and once they looked "right" to me, I picked up each one, brushed the back with matte Mod Podge, and smoothed it in place. Do not try to brush Mod Podge on top; since this is watercolor paint, you'll just smear color all over the place. I like the results. I could have kept adding more layers, even. I had been trying to limit my color palette, but it seems to be hard for me to keep from straying to other sections of the color wheel!
xo "Lenticular" might not be the right word for it, but just like those ribbed pictures, the message in this card changes as you angle it this way and that. Neat, no? Here's how you do it. Start with a small card (I cut a rectangle from a piece of card stock and folded it in half). Decorate the outside of the card (I didn't do that for this demo, to keep it simple). Cut a skinny rectangle (about 8.5 by 2.5 inches) from a lighter-weight piece of paper; I used construction paper. Accordian-fold the skinny rectangle, with each fold about a quarter- or third-inch wide. You'll want your last fold to result in a panel that's on the same "side" as the first one, like an M or a W with way too many peaks and valleys. If you end up with an N instead, trim off the final panel to get an M/W. My final flap was a bit too wide, so I trimmed it. No biggie. Note that you should make sure you end up with enough panels to spell out your chosen words. (In my case, I could have used another panel or two; as you'll see later, the "b" in birthday is too close to the glued-down edge, making it too visible when the "happy" is in view.) Now, add letters! I used my fun alphabet stamps, but of course you can hand-write 'em. Starting with the third or fourth panel, stamp/write the letters of your first word on every other panel. Let the ink dry, then stamp/write the letters of your second word on the alternate panels. Head-on, your accordion will look something like this: Now fold the accordion back up into a tight rectangle. Spread glue on one flap (the one near the beginning of the words) and press it against the inside left of the card, with the right side of the accordion very close to (but not in) the center fold. Add glue to the flap that's now on top, and carefully close the card. Press for several seconds to adhere. That's all there is to it!
xo |
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March 2017
AuthorI'm Debbie Way, an artist and writer who enjoys making things. |
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