How To Make A Life Size Cutout From Wood

 I work at a library as the Youth Service Coordinator. Basically I create and run programs for the youth. One of the programs I created was a Mad Hatter Tea Party. I wanted to create a photo opportunity for the parents and their kids. I wanted to make large cutouts of some of the characters. But how? Well, after searching the internet and pulling from my Theatre Design degree I created what I think are awesome looking cutouts.








For this project you will need:

• Some sort of Sheet Good
• Sticks of wood
• A cutting device ( I had a Compound Miter Saw and hand held jig saw)
• Wood Glue
• A Drill
• A Screw Driver (if using screws. If using nails you will need a hammer)
• Screws
• Safty Glasses
• Tape Measure
• Pencil
• Primer 
• Various colors of Acrylic or Latex paint
• Paint Brushes
• And Anything else you think you may need

Step One: Find/ buy some sort of sheet good. An old piece of paneling was donated to this project.






















Step Two: Draw out the picture/ character you desire. I tried to work around the holes and per-existing cut marks.













Step Three: Cutout characters using a jig saw.

















Step Four: Place Cutout upside down on saw horses to create a back support for it. (I placed the cutout to use as a template to create the back support. Nothing is being attached to the cut out at this time.) This part is time consuming. Since each Cutout is different I measured and cut each piece of wood one by one. This way you can custom how you can support the Cutout.

Step Five: Glue your back support together. (Again nothing is being attached to the actual cutout) I glued the edges that touched together. I also used scrapped paneling and glued and screwed them on each area where pieces of wood touched. This help strengthens that area. Make sure the screw are on both pieces of wood.

 

Step Six: After gluing together the back support and letting it dry, flip it over so the front side is
facing up. Cover the front of the back support with wood glue. Place the cut out on top of the back support. Screw the cutout onto the back support. I also at this point sanded the edges and front surface












Step Seven: After letting your cut out to dry and adhere to the back support, flip it back over. You will create a 'L' shape kickstand with a support between the two wood pieces. I used a cheap set of hinges to attach the 'L' kickstand to the back of the cutout.





Step Eight: Prime your surface for paint. It's at this point i realized it would probably would have been better if i primed the sheet of wood  before i drew and cut out the Cutout.















Step Nine: Paint!!

Step Ten: Take a step back, admire your work and give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.

Mini Foam Weave Basket

I was in need of a mini weave basket for a project I was doing but only had small foam sheets. So I created a basket using the foam. Below you will find the tutorial. Please enjoy!










Materials Needed:

•  Foam Sheets ( I had small sheets but any will do)
• Glue ( I had only had Elmer's because I have yet got new hot glue sticks for a glue gun. Using hot glue will take it shorter time to dry.)
• Paint 
• X-acto knife
• Paintbrushes

Step 1: Create a square. Mine was a 4"x4" square

Step 2: Create 6 square on the foam. My center squares are larger than my 4 corner squares but 
 you can create any size you want. My center squares were 1.5" x 1.5".

Step 3: Cut the 4 corner squares away from the rest of the foam.

 Step 4: Create a 1/4" slice on the outside of the center square. Kind of like fringe.

 Step 5: Glue the corners together like so

 Step 6: Cut up another sheet of foam 1/4" wide. An begin weaving it into the fringed cross looking thing.

Step 7: Finish your edges with extra strips of foam.

Step 8: Paint!

Steampunk Goggles

             







This tutorial is a simple Steampunk-esque goggle project. This is for those who are just getting into Steampunk and are limited in budget or for those who need a quick and inexpensive prop for a Halloween costume. I tried to use materials i already had to make these goggles.

 Material List:

1. Water base Black Paint
2. Metallic Copper Acrylic Paint
3. Paint Brushes
4. X-acto knife
5. Super Glue or Hot Glue
6. Ribbon
7. Masking Tape
8. Cheap Swimming Goggles







Step One: Buy some cheap swimming goggles and any other materials you might need. I bought my goggles from Dollar Tree for $1. Everything else I had from previous projects. You will need to disassemble the goggle so you have four pieces: two eye pieces, a strap and nose piece ( note: Not all goggles have nose pieces. If this is so you will only have two pieces.)

Step two: Mask off the lenses of the eye pieces. Use the X-acto knife to trim off the extra tape so you are left with only the lenses covered in tape.

Step Three: Paint the sides of the lenses black. You may need two to three coats of paint. This will be your base coat and help the metallic paint adhere to the sides of the eye pieces.

Step Four: Paint the Metallic Copper ( or whatever metallic paint you choose) over the black paint.

You may need a couple coats to get desired look.
After the paint dries remove the masking tape.











Step Five: Decorating your goggles. Most people will probably use gears. I used odds and ends to decorate my goggles.











I used the nuts on the side of the goggles kinda like a rivet. I used the long metal piece across the top for the nose piece. I wanted the goggles to be slightly at an angle so I used a wadded piece of paper to prop the goggles up. This way as the glue dries it will be in the shape I wanted. I used super glue which worked but took forever to dry. I recommend using hot glue instead. It's faster with less smell.

Step Six: I used the ribbon as my new strap. You could also used leather for this.





This is a simple way of making Steampunk goggles.

Please let me know how this tutorial works for you and suggest any changes you may have.



Keep on crafting!!!!

Toliet Paper Roll Faces

Art By French Artist Junior Fritz Jacquet

Jaquet uses toilet paper rolls to create these wonderful expressive faces. He folds and shapes them until a face is revealed. This technique is heavily inspired by the technique used in origami. This is such a unique and creative idea i had to try it out for myself.

What i used to create:

• toilet paper rolls
• water
• paint
• clear coat of some kind

Art by Cassandra Hora

Step one: Use up toilet paper until you are left with a empty roll

Step two: Dampen toilet paper roll with water

Step three: Fold and bend roll until you get a face

Step four: Let dry

Step five: Paint and clear coat 

Here is a video of me attempting to make Toilet Paper Faces:

I was so disappointed in how mine turned out I did not do the last two step but please don't let that stop you.

Happy Crafting!

T-shirt Rug

To make a T-shirt rug first you need T-shirt yarn. You can get this one of two ways: First you can go to the local craft store and buy some or Second if you are more adventurous you can make your own. If you want to make your own you can click here to learn how.

Things you will need:

• T-shirt yarn (I used 5 L- XL t-shirts to make a small rug)
• A Large Crochet Hook ( I used a 10mm hook)
• A stitch marker

The pattern for the rug is very simple and a beginner crocheter can easily do this project. The project is done in a spiral.

To begin the rug create a magic ring and crochet 6 hdc into the ring.

Row one: In the top of the first hdc start the next round. 2 HDC in each stitch.  (I use the stitch marker to help me keep track of when to start new row)

Row two:  *1 HDC in next stitch, 2 HDC in next stitch, repeat from *

Row three:  *1 HDC in next 2 stitches, 2 HDC in next stitch, repeat from *
 

Row four: * 1 HDC in next 3 stitch, 2 HDC in next stitch, repeat from *

Row five: * 1 HDC in next 4 stitches, 2 HDC in next stitch, repeat from *

To continue this pattern all you need to do is increase the 1 HDC. So for the next row you would do 5 HDC before doing the 2HDC in the next stitch.


Because t-shirt yarn is stretchy and different  t-shirts have its own differrent level of stretchy-ness you may find that the rug will either curl or ruffle. If you find the rug curling up, you need more stitches in the round.  If the rug is beginning to ruffle, you can either take it apart and not increase as many stitches, or do a round with no increases, sort of to bound the problem.

Also tried to alternate the increases begin to keep a circle shape.  I’ve noticed that if I increased in the same spot each round, the rug ended up with a odd, uneven shape instead of a circle.

When you run out of a particular shirt, tie it to the next shirt with a small knot and keep going.

When you’ve come to your desired size, or to the end of your t-shirt stockpile, pull the end through the last loop and pull tight.  Then weave in your ends.


Hopefully this quick t-shirt rug tutorial was helpful.

Happy Crafting!