Art On Reclaimed Plaster Lion
This lion cub is a plaster piece that had been painted in a dark color that made the lion cub dull and bland. We had acquired some statuary from a plaster business that was closing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin about 13 years ago. I had painted an abstract painting at the time that I named Confetti and my husband suggested that I should paint the same colors and designs on the lion cub as an abstract piece. At first I thought it would be better if I painted the cub in realist coloring and features, but later decided my husband was right and I should give it a try.
It was very interesting to paint the cub in the same abstract colors and designs I had used in my painting. I had so much fun and was very impressed with the results that I decided to name him Calico Cat. Here I have featured the original painting and Calico Cat. I’m glad I listened to my husband’s advice — sometimes it’s fun to use your imagination on an old piece and give it a new look and feel.
Confetti Painting by Diana Romaxx
Making A Beaded Crochet Ring
Crocheting has always been a very therapeutic craft for me, so it doesn’t matter how big or small, I always look forward to any new crochet project. I’ve wanted to try making a crochet ring for the longest time, so I decided to try it. I used a size E/4 crochet needle and started the ring by crocheting 17 single chains. I measured the length of crocheted single chains around my ring finger every so often until both ends touched and the band felt snug. I then double-crocheted two rows to make the ring, and stitched together both ends. I’ve had this beige and gold metallic crochet thread for a very long time, however, I threw away the wrapper so I’m guessing that it’s very close to a size 3 crochet thread.
I decided to use a 34 gauge gold jewelry wire to thread the gold beads through the ring. The wire is very flexible and soft yet thin enough to thread the tiny gold beads. I used gold seed beads, but slightly bigger ones in the center of both rows. This really turned out to be a very fun project. I’m definitely looking forward to making another one in a brighter color.
Starting to Crochet Ring's 1st Row
Crocheting the Ring's 2nd Row
Crocheting Both Ends Together
Ready to Begin Beading the Ring
Crochet Beaded Ring
Repurposed Halloween Tote Bag
This gallery contains 15 photos.
Halloween is a great time of the year to reuse a lot of fabric remnants and other leftover craft materials to create fun ghoulish pieces. This project is made from an old tote bag I had laying around, an old white tee shirt, some leftover pieces of fabrics, cardboard, and a hot glue gun (or fabric glue).
I drew out an idea on paper and decided on embellishing the tote bag with some trim, a little ghost and two bats. I used an old white tee shirt to make the ghost, a round plastic lid to partially trace onto cardboard for the shape of a ghost head, an orange piece of trim, a small piece of black fabric (round sequins or buttons) for ghost eyes, a small piece of cardboard to make a bat template, and a small piece of green felt (or any green fabric) for the bats.
I decided what size the ghost head would be by holding a round lid against the tote bag. Once I found the size lid that served as a shape for the top of the ghost head, I used that lid to trace a half circle onto cardboard and cut out the cardboard shape. I only needed the half circle cutout for this project (or if you’d prefer, you can cut out a full circle and then cut it in half). This cardboard half circle will later be placed under the white tee shirt fabric to create the top of the ghost’s head.
For the ghost, I used an old white tee-shirt and pinned down the half circle cardboard near the top center of the tee shirt and (freehand) cut the tee shirt (by eye) about a few inches from the cardboard following the shape of the head all the way around loosely shaping the ghost body freely down the left and right sides. You can leave the fabric bottom edge longer than the bottom edge of the tote bag, or trim it in any shape or design you’d prefer.
To create the ghost head shape, I tucked the half circle cardboard cutout under and near the top part of the fabric and tucked the fabric under the cardboard. I then used two big black sequins for the ghost eyes. I wanted to add more color to the bag so I found an old piece of bright orange fabric, cut a narrow strip to make a trim for the top edge of the tote bag.
Next to make a bat template, I drew a bat shape onto cardboard, cut out the shape and placed it on the bag above the ghost to check the scale/size. I then pinned the cardboard bat onto the green felt and cut out the bat and repeated for the second bat. I snipped tiny pieces from scrap pieces of white tee shirt for the bat eyes (or you can use little beads, or fabric paint). Lastly, I placed all the cutout pieces where I wanted them, and used a hot glue gun to adhere all the pieces to the bag. I really enjoyed making this Halloween project.
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- Used Black Tote Bag
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- Items Used to Create Ghost Template
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- Tracing Lid to Create Ghost Head Template
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- Cutting Out Template for Ghost Head
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- Finished Template Cutout
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- Cutting Out Ghost Body
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- Shaping Bottom of Ghost
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- Covering the Ghost Head Template
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- Forming Body of Ghost
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- Positioning Sequin Eyes on Ghost
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- Finished Ghost on the Tote Bag
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- Cutting Out Bat Embellishment
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- Cutting Out Eyes for Bats
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- Bats on Tote Bag (Ready to Be Glued on Bag)
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- Finished Halloween Tote Bag
Whimsical Wood Stools
These three wood stools were a great find at a clearance sale and a perfect fit for my kitchen counter. Although the stools were a little beat up, they were still very solid and I knew I could work with them. I knew I had some leftover upholstery fabric and foam pieces I had saved from a previous project that were just enough to cover the tops of all three stools. The stool tops were plain wood with white legs. Because my kitchen has a fruit theme and the fabric has a very colorful fruit theme, I wanted to give the stool legs a very colorful and lively look. So instead of painting the same designs on all three stools, I decided to just paint different whimsical designs on each of them. The designs I painted on the stools were red cherries against a light green background, purple grapes against a golden background, and a lively black-and-white checkered pattern. And although the stools are beginning to show some wear and tear, they look even more whimsical and rustic with age.
So if you have some old chairs around the house that just don’t match the decor of your home, with a little craft paint and a little time, you could recreate them into your very own work of art.
Three Painted Wood Stools
Scrap Wood Abstract Fish
This fish was made from leftover scraps of wood that we had saved from a book-shelf we had built a few years ago. The fish was drawn out on the wood freehand and then cut with a scroll-saw. The fish was sanded around the edges just enough to smooth it out. We then drilled a hole big enough to insert a small dowel-rod into the fish body and two holes were also drilled for the glass eyes at this time. The bottom fins were hand cut from fine cuts of the 2×4. To create the base, we used a piece of 2×4 and mitered the edge to give it a rounded cut around the top of it. We then aligned the fish with the base to find the balance point to drill a hole into the base to insert the bottom part of the dowel-rod from the fish body. Wood glue was used to glue the pieces together. The whole thing was then primed with gesso to assure even paint absorption. Then the fun part for me was painting and embellishing the fish.
Abstract Wood Fish Cutout
Abstract Wood Fish Primed
Abstract Wood Fish Left Side
Abstract Wood Fish Right Side