ART IN 3-D, A TUTORIAL

I’ve been helping my mom move, and in the process have helped her decide where to hang the numerous photos, prints, and paintings. One little set of butterflies reminded me of the hours we’d spent indulging in the craft that produced them. They were worth reproducing, as well as introducing to others, so I went home and made a pair for myself.

You’ll need very little to make your own:


• Two wooden drapery rings
• Paper with a repeating pattern
• Silicone adhesive/sealer
• Clear stiff plastic, or a background paper you like
• A snippet of ribbon in a coordinating color

What you’re going to do is create shaped layers that will simulate a 3-dimensional object, so first choose a picture you have at least three copies of that will fit inside a drapery ring. Wrapping paper is great for that, or you can use three identical note cards.

Cut one image out in its entirety. It’s the bottommost picture you’ll use. Figure out what’s going to stick out farther than the first picture and cut that out. Your last picture, you’ll cut so that only the parts that stick out the most remain.



(I cheated. I wanted to my butterfly to be a little bigger, so I used an extra set of wings. You can ignore that step, or copy it, your choice!)

Trace a circle that’s a little smaller than the outside dimension of your drapery ring on a sheet of clear plastic, and cut out. (The lid from a box of greeting cards works well for this.) I like the clear plastic because when the butterflies are on the wall, their background will automatically match the room, but you can use a pretty paper as your background if you prefer. If you do that, you’ll want to use a fairly heavy paper so it won’t be flimsy.


Now glue your first, largest, layer to the circle. I glued down my extra pair of wings and then glued the full butterfly atop that. This layer is flat.


Take the middle sized layer, and shape it a bit, curving the wings, and making a crease along the body where the wings join.


The silicone adhesive is what you’ll use to hold the shape of the layers. Put a little blob of it where it will support an upward curve. Toothpicks work well for getting good placement. The advantage of the silicone is that it’s both malleable and sticky. If you think the layer looks like it sticks out too much, just squish down on it a little, or you can pull up a bit on the paper if you want more depth. The silicone holds its shape while acting as glue, too.


You won’t be using much silicone, but do work in a well-ventilated area.
Do the same thing for the remaining layers.


Let dry. Flip over and glue to the back of the drapery ring. Carefully twist the metal loop at the top of the drapery ring so that it faces you. Tie a bow at the base of the drapery ring’s hanging loop.

TUESDAY TUTE: SCRAP PADS

There’s paper all around us these days. Junk mail, last year’s date books, old ledgers, snippets of scrapbook paper, school notebook paper, and you don’t want to just throw it away, but what’s it good for?


Scratch pads! I don’t know a single person who doesn’t need something to scribble a quick note on from time to time. Have you ever made your own? It’s remarkably easy.

You’ll need just three things: paper, card stock, and rubber cement.

First decide what paper you’re going to use. I chose to use an assortment, just for the interest of having different patterns and colors to write on, and took sheets from all the sources I mentioned above. The card stock is for the last sheet, to give your scratch pad stiffness, and it’s good to use it for the front, too, to protect the lighter-weight papers. What I used for mine was the back of a Bessie Pease Gutman calendar.

Cut all your sheets to exactly the same size. Or you could go random with them, which was my first thought, but I quickly discovered I liked a smooth, book-like edge better.



Shuffle the pages for maximum variety. If you want, make your cover pieces just a smidge bigger than the writing sheets, and choose them for their decorative effect.


Now stack them so that the top edges are perfectly aligned, put a sheet of paper under the stack to protect your work surface, and one on top to protect your weights, and then weigh the stack of paper down with something good and heavy. I used my cast iron bench press, but a concrete block, several heavy books, or pieces of wood clamped together with C-clamps are also good choices.

Paint the top, exposed, edges of the scratch pad with rubber cement. Let the cement dry, and repeat. Do that until you feel like you’ve got a good heavy coating of rubber cement. This is what holds the pad together.



When the glue is completely dry, take the weights off, and peel off the protective sheets of paper. Trim any excess glue sticking out. If some of your writing sheets have skewed in the process, you can trim their edges, too, if you like.


My front cover looked a little lopsided to me, so I added another image to it. You might want to decorate it with a bit of ribbon, lace, or other pretty item.



You can also make these more production-style, by stacking multiple scratch pad assemblies, and painting as for one. When the glue is dry, just tear them apart.

Another option is to glue one side, rather than the top edges. Your scratch pad would then open like a book.

"TIME FOR DINNER!" Recipe Tins Tutorial

Okay, admit it. You were so sure there’d be a way to use those spiffy metal tins you used to get in the mail from AOL, the ones that held a CD, that you saved every one of them. Do you still have them? Because I finally found a way to use mine, and I’m so excited about it that I’m going to show you what I did!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• CD tin
• Gesso
  
• Fabric
• Cut outs from old magazines
• Alphabet Stickers, or the word “Recipe” cut from a magazine or book
• Small adornments–Lace, Buttons, string, etc.
• Glue
• Every pair of scissors you own (Just kidding, but you’ll be cutting paper and cloth a variety of ways.)
• Sheet of paper or plastic for template

First, protect your work surface, then paint your tin on all sides with the Gesso. You don’t need to paint the inside.

Let that dry. If you have a second tin you haven’t painted, you can go ahead and trace around it to make a template/pattern. (Or you could do this step before doing the painting.) There’s a bit of a bead around the rim of the tin where the top goes over the bottom, so be sure you don’t use that edge to draw around, or your pattern will be too big.

Choose the fabric you’re going to use for the background, if you haven’t already, and lightly trace around you pattern. (Placement is easier if you’ve used something transparent for the pattern–the lid from a take-out box works well, or a sheet protector.) Use pinking shears to cut fabric out.

You could glue the fabric to your tin now, or do what I did, which was to cut an identical piece from an old book and sew all the way around. I find it’s easier to glue the paper down flat than fabric, to tell the truth, but I also liked the look of the stitching.

Now the real fun begins. Go through your old magazines and/or cookbooks, and find images and slogans you like. If you can’t bear to cut the actual book, you can make copies to use.

Arrange the pictures and words you’ve found on the fabric-covered tin lid. Leave room for “Recipes” if you want to include that. Glue everything down securely.

Last, use your paper pattern to cut a piece for the back of the tin from the index of an old cookbook.

Put recipe cards inside to finish. I made my own, but store-bought works just fine.

These are like potato chips for me. I just can’t stop, and I’m thanking my lucky stars these are no-calorie treats!

MONSTERIZED JEANS

I'm told the average woman tries on sixteen pairs of jeans to find a single pair that fit properly. I've lived that, and a whole lot of other women I know have, too. So when my favorite jeans sprang an air leak across the knee, it was nothing short of a disaster.

I sat and looked at the raggedy tear, and sighed. Looks like a great big old mouth, I thought. And then I smiled. I couldn't wait to get busy patching them.

Here's what you'll need to do the same:

Buttons
Beads
Scrap of red fabric
Thread

Do you see faces? I've been playing with my buttons and beads! Buttons with beads in their centers for eyes, a triangular bead for a nose, ring beads and metal spacers as another eye option--raid your sewing and bead boxes, use your imagination, and have fun!

Then you can get down to business. Measure the tear you're going to patch.


Cut a piece of red fabric that's about 1/2" larger all around than the tear in the jeans. If it looks like the fabric will fray, finish the edge with a row of stitching, or use something like Fray-check on the raw edges. Then turn the jeans leg inside-out, and pin the patch in place.


Make sure you haven't pinned through both layers of the jeans leg, and sew all the way around the patch. (Optional: Blow mental kisses and hugs in the general direction of whoever invented free-arm sewing machines!) Again, make sure you're sewing through just the patch and the torn jeans layer.

Now, ordinarily, you'd want to sew as close to the tear as you could, and you'd want to make it as invisible as possible, but don't do that this time. You're creating a mouth, and you want the red to show, and even gape open a bit when the knee bends, so sew near the edge of the patch.


Turn the jeans right side out, and play some more. Lay them flat and arrange your selection of beads and buttons to create a monster face. When you've decided on one you look, lightly mark the placement with a pencil, and sew in place by hand, using sturdy thread.


I haven't actually finished my jeans yet. I can't decide which face to use!




Now, it may or not go without saying, so I'll say it. Not every full grown-up woman would wear these, but I can think of a few thousand little boys who might, if their mamas chose to patch their little jeans like this!

TUTORIAL: SQUIGGLY WIGGLY EARRINGS

It’s December. The kids are still in school, with the holiday break still weeks away. Inside the house is breathing in, outside the chilly winds and bleak skies can make staying in a very attractive option. The silence can practically ring in your ears, can’t it?

Ringing…ears? Oooh. Let’s turn it around and make earrings! And since the squiggly-squirmy folk are elsewhere, why don’t we remind ourselves of them with a style I call “Squiggly-Wiggly?

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 22 or 24 gauge wire
• Two teal beads 7mm-8mm
• Two matte Capri blue beads 10mm-12mm
• Seed beads in matching or coordinating colors
• One pair earring wires
• Your tools

First cut a length of wire about 3” long. On one end, bend a very small spiral of about 1 ½ to 2 rounds. Use protected tips on your round nose pliers to prevent little gouges. I personally let the gouges happen, to add an interesting textured look.

Now is a good time to play with the color sequence a bit. You might like to put the blue seed beads next to the Capri blue bead, and the teal seed beads next to the teal bead, or the other way ‘round might appeal to you more. Just string the beads onto your 3” wire and take a look. When you’ve decided, take the beads off the wire, and you’re ready to start.

I opted to match the seed beads to the beads, so I’ll give the directions that way.

The next thing you’re going to do is string on a blue seed bead, the Capri blue bead, and another blue seed bead. Make a wire-wrapped loop at the top, ending with a sharp bend up and then a gentler bend down.

Now bend the wire straight out, away from your bead:

At about the ½” point, bend the wire back in, then back out again, and then back toward the bead another time, decreasing the length of your “squiggle” as you go.

Cut the wire off to the point at about ¼” beyond the last outer loop. You want to have enough left to make a round loop at the bottom. Play with this; yours do not have to look exactly like mine. Use your fingers to mash things this way and that to get the look you want.

Okay! Time for the next part!

With about 3 ½” of wire, begin a wire-wrapped loop, but before you complete it, thread it through the top loop on the Capri blue bead assembly:

Finish the wrap, then string on the teal seed bead, teal round bead, and teal seed bead. Make a wire-wrapped loop at the top, then “squiggle” the wire down the side of the bead. Your bends are going to be much gentler this time. I’ll let the photo speak for itself:

Now repeat what you just did, all those steps above, unless you want only one earring. (Just kidding—I know you know!)

Open the bottom loop of your earring wires, and hang your bead assemblies on them. Be sure to hang them “facing” opposite directions, to make a left and a right.

Finished set:

To show what a difference another choice of beads might make, here’s another set (I did make a whole pair, but couldn’t get the two of them to play nicely together for their portrait):

You’ll notice I finished off the top bead differently, too, by using a tad more wire and wrapping it completely around the bead, to end in a tiny loop against the glass. Use your imagination, and may the Force be with you!

Are the kids home yet?

ICE CREAM, NO MACHINE!

Meggie and I went to Mom's yesterday. High on our priority list was an activity sure to please: Making ice cream.

It was all Mama and I could do to get Meggie and her cousin Ariel to eat lunch, much less wait until afterwards for the ice cream making. At long last, though, we gathered the implements and ingredients of desire, and headed for the deck.

I found this recipe in a magazine last week, and couldn't wait to try it. Ice cream in ten minutes, without a machine? Really? The DH and I gave it a shot while RV camping in the Hood River Valley. He declared it both fun and delicious. I declared it something wonderful to share.

You will need:

Ready!

• 1 cup milk OR cream OR a mixture of the two
• 1 teas vanilla
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 cups ice
• 1/4 cup rock salt
• 1 quart-size resealable plastic baggie
• 1 gallon-size resealable plastic baggie
  

Good to have, but not on the ingredients list:


1 Great-grandma who will stand in the sun, making shade for you!


Step one: Pour the milk into the quart size bag. Putting the bag into a stiff container saves spills.


In goes the milk


Step two: Add the vanilla.


Ari adds vanilla


Step three: Add the sugar.


In goes the sugar!


Step four: Set the smaller bags aside, and switch to the gallon size. Put four cups ice in the big bag.


Is this why we have our gloves and mittens?


Step five: Add the rock salt to the ice.


It helps to take turns holding the bags open.


Step six: Put the sealed quart size bag inside the gallon bag, and seal.


One inside the other, both sealed.


Step seven: Shake like crazy!


<

Step eight: Assemble your eating crew, and divide the spoils!


And a good time was had by all!


As you may have gathered from the pictures, we made the recipe twice at the same time, with bags and ingredients for both Meg and Ariel. The two bags provided ice cream for four children and two adults, although they were small. When Bob and I did ours, we fixed a bag for each of us, and ate it all. On the other hand, we skipped dinner and went straight for the ice cream!

Now I want to do it again, with flavors. Peanut butter? That would be good. Chocolate goes without saying. Oh! How about peach-almond? Okay. My diet is in serious danger here.