Trunk or Treat? Let's Buzz!

Next up for the Trunk or Treat project: GIANT BEES! 
Two Bees
2 yellow plastic table cloths from the dollar store
1 Black plastic table cloth from the dollar store
2 pair of large googly eyes 1/2 price at Walmart
Masking tape and Packing tape
Black and yellow pipe cleaners
Newspaper
Glue gun

First lay out a sheet of paper and then scrunch more newspaper over it. When you have enough for a body wrap the bottom newspaper around the scrunched up stuff and use masking tape to secure. Squish and shape into the body of a bee.
(From the first bee I discovered it's better to wrap the outside of the newspaper body in something with a solid color or the print shows through) Put a layer of paper towel over it to hide the print. Fold the table cloth in half and roll your newspaper bee body up in it. Secure with clear packing tape. For the tail, use the extra table cloth at the end of the body and twist it tight, trim to a point, then wrap in packing tape. cut 2 small strips of duct tape to make the stripe.

To make the black strips on the bee body I used black duct tape.
Construct your head the same way but cut a square of the black table cloth to fit over your bee head. Before taping figure out where the antenna will stick out. Cut small slits. Wrap the head and secure it with tape at the back. Flip over and insert antenna's. A dab of hot glue will hold them in place.
I used Turbo Tacky Glue to glue the eyes in place. A quick slash of yellow paint for a cute little mouth.
I originally tried gluing the head to the body but it wouldn't stick. I don't know why, maybe not enough air to dry the glue? So I used packing tape. :)

The honeycomb is just poster board and little bees as explained in the previous post. Of course I had to add some cute saying found on that Internet. SAVE THE HONEY BEES! BE HAPPY! BEE KIND!

You got  a bee-utiful Bee-mobile!

Buzzing About Trunk or Treat!

 Confession; I drive a bright yellow car. :)
So, when my job invited each department to participate in a community Trunk or Treat I figured I'd go with the theme of my car.
Bee Happy!
So, here's the start of what's going to be my Trunk or Treat car.
First some pom poms and Turbo Tacky Glue (Love this stuff!) I glued them together and set them aside to let them dry.

 Next I cut up an egg carton and painted them yellow with black stripes to look like bees. (Found this one on Pinterest. Love that site!)
After they dried,  I took two pipe cleaners and twisted them together to make legs. Then came the hot glue gun. My gun is really old and I burnt the heck out of my hand. I think it's time to get a new glue gun!
 I glued on the legs and eyes. Using an exacto knife I made holes in the head part and threaded a half a pipe cleaner through to make antennas.

So, this is where I am so far with my Trunk or Treat car. Next giant bees and a poster of a honey comb.  The giant bees should be should be ready to go by tomorrow. Right now they're lying in pieces on my kitchen table. Although my wing plan for them didn't work, I'll probably make some from poster board. It will be fine as long as it doesn't rain....

Fall Project Check In

Hello Fall! Beautiful season of orange and yellow! My two favorite colors!
Now what can we make for Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving?

I was in Lowes and saw this great topiary of 3 pumpkins stacked up in a plastic vase. It had some fall foliage and I thought that would look great by my front door. Then I looked at the PRICE!
Oh! Big Ouchie!
Sorry, no way was I going to pay that much for something I could do cheaper. Also, in making it myself, I could put my own signature on it.

The pumpkins aren't available in any of the dollar stores around here but Michael's has them for 50% off. Still kind of too much. If I'm going to make these, I want a good deal. If the prices aren't more reasonable by next week, I'm going to have to figure out another pumpkin idea.

Moving onto Halloween...MY FAVORITE!

I have two plans for outside;
      Underground trap;
           This will entail a pallet, some lights, and some plastic bones.

      Spiderweb of Death:
            Make giant spider web either from trashbags or see what the dollar store has in stock.
              Fake spider web (from the dollar store)
             Cheese cloth
             Newspaper
             Tape
October is this weekend...it's time to get your goul on! Check back soon for an update!

St Patrick's Day in August

We were having a St. Patrick's Day party in August at work and you know what? It's almost impossible to find St. Patrick Day decorations in the middle of summer. So I decided we needed something creative.

I bought a piece of wood at Lowes, it was thin, RevolutionPly 5mm. My husband cut it in half and we glued the two pieces together to make it stronger. Then he screwed 1" x 2" boards around the outside edge for extra reinforcement.

For the stand he cut two triangles out of plywood (1/2 in thick) and cut slots in them so the board would slip in to stand up.

Once we had the board all put together, it was time to lay out the design. I wanted the the Leprechaun faces cut out so people could get behind them and take photos. So I sketched the picture with a piece of chalk and my husband cut the faces out.

Now it was time to paint.

Confession; Lowes was selling the Valspar paint samples for a buck...OMG! I had a big background to paint so this was a great economical find. It was hard to restrain myself to just a few. I think artist everywhere were dancing.

Then it was just paint...and touch up...and touch up

 I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut vinyl for the Happy St. Patrick's Day" and e shamrocks and put them on the final picture.

To add a little dimension I used Washi Tape from Michaels for the front of the Leprechaun's vest on the left and some gold ribbon for the front of the vest for the Leprechaun on the right. I glued them on with Tacky Glue and taped the ribbon until the glue dried.

Happy St. Patrick's Day in August!

Prayers for Dallas

Getting Crafty with Rock Fishies!

I've painted animals on rocks before, but never tried fish. Out of the gate, it didn't go that great. I needed a fish anatomy lesson!  The fish refused to conform to the norm and ended up looking a little wild. 

Hey, that's Art! :)

First I got a thin board from Lowes lumber department, sanded and then painted it with blue and green paint. Using a water color technique to give it a washed, watery look, I let it dry while I worked on the fish. 

I gave up on fish-realism and went with the wild, whimsical, dressed up kind. They were a work in progress as I layered on paint, stripes, and polka dots. Hippy fish!

When the board was dry I took some sea shells my daughter collected at the beach and used Turbo Tacky glue to attach them across the bottom. To fill in between the shells and coral, I used sea glass purchased at Michaels. I let that dry over night. 

Then i went back to the fish.  Then the sea shells all over my work bench sparked an idea. I decided to use them as the fins of the fish, giving the whole mixed media piece a little more depth. I put a light tint of paint over the shells, let them dry and then glued them on with Turbo Tacky glue. When the shells were attached, I used the glue to put on the fish on and let dry over night.  

To hang it I screwed in eye-hooks on the top of the board strung some burlap string through the eye hooks and attached sea shells. 

Go fish! What are you working on?

Michaels had CRATES on Sale!

 I went into Michaels for some paint on the fish rocks I'm painting and found CRATES ON SALE!

I'd seen these used on Pinterest for shelving so I thought the sale was the universe was giving me a sign.

I bought 4 crates, but then had to decide on stain or paint...hmmmm.

After taking them home and giving them a good sanding  the wood was still kind of rough so I opted for paint over stain. I thought spray paint might help contain any splinters. These were going in my Art studio so I went with some happy colors.


I spray painted them 4 different colors. Each took almost a can to get good coverage, about two-three coats. The green needed the most.









Then I stacked and re-stacked them until I decided which color should go where. (Hadn't really thought of that when I picked the colors)

My hubby used his electric drill and screwed the crates together.

Done! This little shelf unit was less than $50.
I had most of the paint and the crates were $9.99.  

Time spent? One weekend; painted one day, put together the next. 

Happy crafting!

Pebble Art Flowers

Well, I finally finished!

It really wasn't that hard a craft, but that thing called life got to me and this project got pushed to the back burner.

So, here's my first attempt at pebble art. It was a fun way to use all those pretty rocks I collected that I didn't want to paint.

After staining the wood, I used Tacky glue to put the little stones in place. One on of my trips to Michaels I found a Turbo Tacky glue that's supposed to be stronger, so I used that on half this project.


I picked up wood chips from the back yard. We have a wood stove and my husband is always out there chopping wood. I collect the most interesting looking chips for my art projects.

I used a chip of wood on the bottom to give the flower a base on which to "grow."


The next step was to use Ashland Naturally Coiled Wire I found at Michaels in their floral department. I thought it looked woodsy and would make a great stem. It was a little hard to get the wire to lay flat so next time I might look for something without wire.


Now this Pebble Art hangs on my wall with the hope the little rocks don't fall off.
:)

Tip:
One thing I wish I did first? Put the little saw-tooth picture hanger on the back of the wood base first. Hammering that on while the rocks were already in place was hard. I had to prop it up on rolled towels in hopes that the rocks wouldn't dislodge while I hammered that picture hanger on the back.

Sneak peek on the next Pebble Art project? Scroll down...

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What's on your art/craft table???

Rock Art? Pebble Art?

I've painted rocks, turned them into little animals and actually made some money doing it. I've sold them in stores and at craft shows. It was fun but rocks are heavy! When lugging boxes of painted rocks into a show my husband would often comment, "Why can't you paint feathers?"

And I did. I made some money painting feathers, too. :)

When painting rocks I'd often find rocks I thought were just too pretty to cover in paint. They had interesting lines and colors and I just couldn't put a brush to them. So they were tucked away under my workbench or left on shelves to admire and I always wished I could make them into art while respecting their beauty.

Then I found Bufalini Pebble Art on Pinterest.  He took rocks, painted some and left others au-natural, and made great art!

On Etsy I found art like The Crawford Bunch. and Made by Nature . A little different mixed media, but equally as awesome.

So, I really gotta give this a try.
Off to Michaels i go to find some interesting pebbles i could mix with my existing collection of rocks. I have to figure out what type of glue would be best. Internet sites are giving me a wide range of "what's best" to use on rocks.
I experimented with Tacky glue. Seems to be holding so far and dried clear.

Today I head to Lowes to find some wood. I'm also thinking of seeing if I can grab an old pallet somewhere. Weathered wood would be great for this project.

So far, here's what I did with stuff I had laying around. Finished artwork coming soon!
Rock On my fellow Crafty Artists!