Smoothfoam(TM) Valentine's Day Hedgehog

Here's a quick and easy

Valentine's Day project ... this

would make a great centerpiece for the

classroom or the teacher's lounge!

Supplies: 8" Smoothfoam(TM) Half Ball

Acrylic Paints: Red, White, Black, Brown

Sharpie Marker, Ruler, Stylus

Tracing paper & Transfer paper

(to transfer face to body)

 Base coat the Smoothfoam(TM) Half Ball

with two coats of Red paint.

Once the paint has dried, transfer the

hedgehog's face to the body

using transfer paper and a stylus

(or the handle of a paintbrush).

 Mix the red and white paint together 1:1

and paint the hedgehog's face pink.

Use brown paint for the inside of

the ears, the nose, and the patch of hair.

 The eyes are dip dots of black paint.

Use the ruler and measure out

1.5" from the head in the center of the

half ball ... use the stylus to poke a hole

every 1.5" along the hedgehog's back.

Repeat this until you have enough holes

 for the number of suckers you need.

(I only needed twelve, but there's plenty of

room for more if necessary!)

Paint a small heart onto each hole.

Once paint has dried, use Sharpie marker

to outline all the details.  Insert

a sucker into each hole.

~ Peace and Happy Valentine's Day! ~

Painted Baby Jesus Ornament

Okay, so most of you already know

that I LOVE Baby Jesus

Christmas ornaments ... after all,

He IS the Reason

for the Christmas Season!!

This ornament is very simple to paint.

Basic painting skills -

base coating, shading, and a

little detail work with your liner brush.

(Actually, you don't even have to

add the detail work,

you could add another wood shape

like a star or a heart)

Start with these wood shapes:

A 2 1/2" Egg/Oval Cutout,

a 3/4" Roundhead Plug,

(both available at craftparts.com)

and a 1" circle cutout.

(I buy circles in bulk -

I especially like Forster(R) Woodsies(TM)

In addition to these shapes, you will

need a 1/4" screw eye, ribbon

for hanging, a permanent marker,

a sanding block, and acrylic paints:

White, Black, Antique Gold, Green, Red,

Flesh, and a Sealer.
I added Extreme Glitter to the
Gold and the Red pieces -
everything's better with sparkle!!

Base coat the shapes as follows:

Egg/Oval (Body) - White

3/4" Plug (Face) - Flesh

1" Circle (Halo) - Antique Gold

Allow the paint to dry thoroughly,

then lightly sand the edges

of each wood shape.
Brush Extreme Glitter Gold
onto each halo.

Blush Baby Jesus' cheeks with

pink powder blush and a cotton swab.

 Hey, as long as you have all the supplies out

to make one Baby Jesus ornament,

why not make ten??

 

Brush clear sealer over the painted,

blushed plugs.  This will keep your blushed

cheeks from losing their rosiness.

Also seal the halos at this point.
 

I use a Fiskars hand drill to make a starter

hole in my painted egg.  This helps

when you have ginormous hands like I do,

and you have to hold a tiny screw eye

 between two extra-large fingers,

while simultaneously

holding an egg cutout in the other

hand and twisting.

Just sayin'. 

This is as far as I get that tiny screw eye

in before I pick up my pliers

to finish the job.

I don't even twist the pliers,

I hold them still and twist the egg.

If only I had a helper to hold the camera

while I do this.  I think it would

be comical to watch.  I noticed today that

I had to pick up the screw eye with one hand,

and literally put it between the

two extra-large fingers of my other hand.

Weird, huh??
And someone had the ingenious idea
of slightly magnetizing the
tips of the pliers.  Knuckle Touch!!

Use a 1/4" flat brush to shade

around the "folds" in Baby Jesus'

swaddling clothes.

First, make a small puddle of Antique Gold

paint.  Dip just the corner of a damp

(and blotted) brush into the paint puddle.

Stroke the brush back and forth about

six times to distribute the paint

along the bristles.  The paint will be more

concentrated on one end, and

gradually fade across the bristles.

Imagine Baby Jesus' head at the top of

your egg shape, and start your

shading below and to the left of His head.

Pull your brush down (as shown).

Repeat for the second fold.

You may have to reload your brush.

NOTE: I completely rinse and then blot my

brush bristles before reloading.

This keeps your shading clean.

Repeat ten times.  (ha!)

Next, I made a pattern of holly leaves
and berries ...

  ... and applied the
design to some of my ornaments
using transfer paper and a stylus.

Paint the leaves Green and
the berries are dip dots of Red.

Once the holly berries are completely
dry, seal the egg shapes.
I chose two sizes each of a heart
and a star cutout:

So you can see what Baby Jesus would
look like if you chose to use
one of these instead of painting
holly leaves and berries.

Base coat the star(s) Antique Gold,
and the heart(s) Red.

Sand the edges to remove
some of the paint.

Apply Extreme Glitter in Gold
to the stars, and Extreme Glitter in Red
to the hearts.

Seal each piece with Sealer and
allow to dry thoroughly before assembly.

Thread a ribbon through the screw eye,
then use hot glue to attach
the halo to the back of the egg shape,
and the face to the front of
the egg shape.
The eyes are dip dots of black.

Once completely dry, use the
permanent marker to outline the details.

I like the painted holly myself,
but if I were making nine dozen of these?
I'd be using either the heart or
the star cutout.  Fer sher.

~Peace and He's the Reason!!!!~

Painted Denim

My daughter wanted a denim jacket.

When I saw one on sale, I bought it.

And then I wanted to paint it.

 Sometimes that happens.

First, I washed and dried the jacket.

I wanted to give the buttons

a little bling:

 

 I used E6000 to attach

my stones to the center of each button.

Then I made a sketch of my idea.

Then I made a second sketch.

And a third.

 My daughter loves hearts,

but really dislikes peace symbols,

so I knew I wanted a heart.

Then I wanted some swirls ...

 

but I wasn't crazy about any

of my sketches.

I decided I would just paint without

using an actual pattern.

Sometimes that happens.

Not often.

Just sometimes.

 

My canvas.

 

I mixed my base color with

DecoArt Fabric Painting Medium.

 

I started with my favorite brush,

and right in the center of the back shoulder

panel, I started my heart.

I painted over and over the heart

until it was the size I wanted

and I had good opaque coverage.

Then I used a paper towel to blot

the excess paint and give the heart some

texture.  This also made the paint

dry a little faster.

I mixed Shimmery Silver paint

with the fabric painting medium, and

used a liner brush to add my swirls.

I mixed some Starlite glitter

with the fabric painting medium, and

went over the largest parts of

the heart to give it some shimmer.

Then I went over the design with my

permanent black marking pen.

And added some more bling:

The most important thing is,

she LOVES it!!! 

Peace and Painted Denim