License to Love

Actually, I should have called this “tough love”.

 Have you ever tried to cut a pattern out of a license plate?  Sure, cutting a straight line is easy, but a heart...  Now that’s another story.  This will be my one and only heart made from metal that is this thick.  What made it that much harder, is the fact that the plates have the convolutions from the numbers and letters in them.

~Anyway~

This is what I started with.

I cut a heart shape from paper for my pattern.

I laid the pattern on top of the backside of my license plate

and traced it with a permanent marker.

Okay, that was the easy part.  

Then comes trying to cut the blasted thing!

When I was not in a curve, it was not so bad.  But it was a bear in the bend.  I would cut for a minute then clip into that area and “chunk” out a section.

And so it went until I had my heart completed cut out.

I was using my daddy’s old tin snips (at least I think that’s what they are called).  He would have been proud.  Actually, he probably would have said something like, “Monkey, you don’t need to try and such a crazy thing!"

I must admit, I beamed with pride a little bit after seeing the “fruits of my labor”.

Next, I took a metal file (another one of my dad’s old tools) and went around the edges to smooth out any sharp areas.

In order for my paint to stick to the metal plate, I hit it with a coat of clear primer/sealer.

Next, I brushed on a coat of gray paint as a base.

Brushing didn’t work so well, 

so I pulled out my sea sponge and just dabbed on the paint.

I used and hammer and awl (you guessed it, more of my daddy’s treasured tools)

and pierced a hole at the top and bottom of my heart. 

These holes allow for my hanger and embellishment.

I mixed some Gesso and white metal paint together to use for my accent color.

I used a "sequin waste” as a stencil and “pounched” (with my sea sponge) some of my 

white paint mixture on various parts of

the heart.

Using a Q-tip, I wiped some black acrylic paint around the edges to help 

define my shape and give it some depth.

I hung an old crystal from a chandelier in the bottom hole.

I used white organdy ribbon for a hanger and accented it with a snippet of pearls.

A labor of love!

Glory Reclaimed~

Many curb-side “treasures” have made their way into our garage over the past 20 years.  I just can’t seem to help myself.  When I see items that I know I can use, someone else can use or that I feel I can recycle into something useful for our home, I “snag” them.  While most of my finds have been put to good use, some have been tossed back to the curb when I have not done anything with them after a certain period of time.  I had a little regret after pitching some nicely weathered blue louvered shutters recently. I vowed that next time shutters came my way, I would make sure I held onto them.  Not long after getting rid of my blue shutters, I scored with four brown paneled ones.  With a nice flat surface, I knew they would be great for painting.

With the idea of painting a flag, I choose two shutters for my project.

Before getting started, I gave the shutters a good cleaning. 

I used some recycled hardware to connect my two shutters together.

The fun begins:

I first began by drawing off lines for the stripes.  I have started too many projects where I thought I could just “eye-ball” it and came up with some lines that were much wider than others.  I didn’t want to chance it, knowing that I needed to have exactly thirteen stripes. 

13 stripes for our 13 original colonies.

The red represents valor and bloodshed while white represents courage and purity.

The block of blue symbolizes our freedom. 

 Praise be to God for all the men and women who have fought, and continue to fight, for 

what we often times take for granted in our country!

With only the stars to go, I decided to sand the surface a bit to give my flag an aged patina.  I thought that using my Makita electric sander would  be a good idea.  I would just hit it quickly and lightly and be done. 

-BUT-

The bits of old paint that gave my shutters the character that I so admired, proved to be too much for my sand paper.

I traded the electric sander for my sanding sponge.  If you have never used one of these, you are missing out on a very valuable tool.  I discovered these little jewels when I first began refinishing furniture.  

They are pliable so they will conform to whatever contour you are sanding (perfect for tables and chairs that have spindled legs).

I sanded the entire surface.

With a damp rag, I removed the sanding residue.

I had to go over it several times, rinsing my rag out in between.

Next I added 50 stars in recognition of our 50 beautiful states.

I sprayed a light coat of clear matte acrylic to seal the surface.

I hung my flag on the patio last night.  

Just in time for the Fourth of July!

The brave men and women who fight for our freedom know that “the more they give, the more they are"

                                                   -Frederick Buechner

 Paper Towel Art Dolls~


 We are finding so many ways to create art in the Community Art Room with stuff that most folks would throw away.  The latest craze has been our paper towel art dolls.  Actually, most of the people are enjoying using toilet paper rolls. By using both paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls together, you could create a whole family!

I made this art doll for my husband for Valentine’s Day. Not to worry,I got him something else as well. Dolls are "not his thing”, but he is so used to my altered art, that he accepted it with a smile.  

*The hollow base of the dolls would be a great place to conceal a gift certificate.

Prior to learning about these art dolls, my cardboard rolls always went into my compost bin, but very few are making it there these days!

Materials:
-Paper towel or toilet paper roll
-wire or embroidery floss and needle
-acrylic paints
-graphics for face (magazine pictures work well)
-any accent pieces to embellish your doll
-glue (school or craft)




The first step in making an art doll is to pinch together one end of the roll and cut out a circle to form a “head”.
  
Second step-Using a piece of cardboard for you working surface, pierce holes through the front and back along the “shoulders” and “head” area.  

Third step-“Sew” front to back along shoulder and head area using either wire or embroidery floss.

Fourth Step-Paint your doll with acrylic paint. 

Fifth Step-Add a face to your doll and any accent pieces.

WARNING:  These little dolls can be habit forming!

God Bless you!

“God bless you”.  You may say this when someone sneezes.  I am  going to show you how you can recycle your empty Kleenex box so that your blessings can continue.  

These boxes come in such a wonderful array of colors and patterns:

After breaking down my tissue boxes for recycling one day, I thought that there must be some way that I could reuse them instead of just sending them straight to the recycling center.  

Gift tags were the first thing that came to my mind, so I got out one of my tag punches,  

then I began cutting away any flaps and such that I would not be able to use.  Have no fear, these pieces went into the recycling bin.

The card board used for these boxes are typically of a heavier weight. You will want to do your punching on a solid surface so that you can put some “power behind your punch”.  You should get a nice clean cut.

With proper placement of your punch, you should be able to get roughy 6-8 tags out of one box.

I punched a hole in the tag so that I could attach a ribbon to it. The hole punch I used was a rectangle one.

Now, with a color coordinated ribbon, my tags are ready to be placed on a package.

These colors are perfect for spring. They would be great for an Easter or Mother’s Day gift!