Finally 'Finished'

I started working on my mosaic ukelele a couple of months ago. I laid out the pattern, and changed my  mind several times. The plan was to use up craft material that I had around the house. 

I purchased a ukelele at the flea market, the only item I didn't have already. 

I removed the strings and painted it white. I outlined the shape to plan the design, but after a few tries I threw the plan away and just started gluing. 

I did end up buying more rhinestones, blowing up my plan to use up materials. 

The original also included grout, but I changed my mind about that too. 

It was finished at least a month ago, but I didn't get it hung up until today. Hanging among my collection of Hard Rock Cafe pins. 

Sunset on 2013

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We are not big party people-at least not anymore, so we are home this evening. It was a laid back Tuesday with nothing on the agenda but a movie: The Desolation of Smaug. If I had one critique of this movie, it would be that they turned a single book, The Hobbit, into three [very long] movies. That should be against the rules...one book, one movie. The movie aside, I wish a safe new year holiday and a happy new year. 

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Poppies #3

The weather is gloomy today so I decided to finish some poppy paintings that I started just before Christmas. I sketched them out on left over paper from the cards I made. They are approximately 4"x5". I completed two in watercolor and two using acrylics. In the acrylic studies, I used tissue paper to add texture to the flowers. 

Note: I used a nude color of paper because that was all I had. Next time I need to use white paper so the colors will be cleaner. 

The water colors are on the right, the acrylics are on the right. 

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Marshmallow Wreath - Cube Decorating Contest

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I made a wreath using marshmallows and gum drops. I bought my supplies at the $ store with the exception of. The foam wreath. I used craft glue to secure all the marshmallows. That took a couple of days because it has been so humid here. After it was dry, I drilled holes for the gun drops. (The foam was too hard to pierce with toothpicks.)

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Sorry for the grainy photo. I shot it with the iPad. 

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Lollypop Forest Complete

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I put the Lollypop forest together so I could work out any problems before I drag it to the office. For the base I used the top of a paper box. I drilled some holes in the top and stuck in the lollies. They were wobbly so I hot glued some foam core on the inside. This added about 3/4" to stabilize the larger pieces. Some of the holes were too large so I compensated with toothpicks.

I covered the base with "snow". I think it looks pretty good. Now I I have to take it all apart :-( to transport it. 

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Cube Decorating Contest - Lollypop Forest

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To make my lollipops, I used round cardboards from bake at home pizzas that I saved. I knew I would use them for something! I put so e gesso on them to seal the cardboard and then a coat of white acrylic paint. I then painted the pin wheel decoration.

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From a fourth pizza round, I cut some other shapes: stars, circles, and hearts. I painted these in solid colors to make the work go faster. After the paint was dry, I glued popcycle sticks to the smaller cut outs and dowels to the larger ones. Craft glue worked on the small lollies, but I ad to pull out the hot glue gun for the large ones. Then I wrapped all the lollies in cellophane I picked up at the $ store. 

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Cube Decorating Contest - Magazine Christmas Trees

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Up next are the trees for the Christmas Village. I did not want to buy a bunch of trees, so I am going to make some using old magazines. I am sure you have seen some variation of these trees as they have been around for a long time. 

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For the large tree, I selected three magazines of the same size. Two folds are needed for each page. Fold the top corner down to the seam (top photo). Then turn the bottom corner up to the bottom of the first fold. 

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For the small tree, I used a Reader's Digest. Three folds per page to make a flat bottom. Fold the top corner to the center seam. For the second fold, take the long edge and fold it to the center. A triangle will be left at the bottom of the page, fold that up to make a flat bottom. 

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For both trees, fan the pages and glue or staple the backs together. Now, all that's left is to paint and decorate them to match the Candyland. 

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Cube Decorating Contest - Making the Game Components

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I started with a simple outline of a gingerbread man. He is about 9" tall. I made a cutout using some spongy craft material I had hanging around the house since we went to Hawaii in 2005. I was going to make luggage tags for everyone, but I digress, and that is truly another story. 

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I wanted the playing pieces to stand upright so I also made a cutout from a cracker box and glued the two pieces together. The glue on the back of the spongy craft material was longer sticky. I wonder why?

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After the two gingerbread men halves were glued together I glued some Popsicle sticks to the back. These will be stuck into the 1" think round styrofoam circles I bought at the $ store. I painted them--one blue and one green. I cut the sticks to the proper height, babbed a bit glue to the bottom ans set then into the styrofoam. 

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I have two playing pieces and colored construction paper for the "game board". I created game cards from a stack of old business cards and colored pencils. We are now ready to play! I am hoping I can get my teammates to play a round. I think being interactive will score me some points with the judges. 

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Cube Decorating Contest Prep (1)

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I have decided to participate in our annual cube decorating contest this year. I have some tough competition from previous contenders. One I believe is a three-time winner. My theme is Candyland. The first thing I did was to map out my cube, keeping in mind that I still have to work. I checked out the game info on Wikipedia to decide which destinations can be created without having to spend too much money. I listed the items I would like to have and made a shopping list. Having said that, these decorations can also be used at home when the contest is over. 

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