Iron Foam

So I've taken a long blogger break, which was very much needed. But I'm back now to bring you a post that I'm excited to share.

I had an inspiration the other day while wondering through Kirkland's. This picture with a simple iron design in the center. So I whipped out my phone and took a quick photo.

The iron in the photo probably wasn't real but what we're going for here is the "look" of iron.

I've had the idea for a while to cut fun foam into an iron look and this design fueled my fire.

Now, usually this fun foam comes in thin sheets but I found this thicker sheet at Michael's. It' about 1/4" thick. But I imagine if all you had was thinner sheets, you could cut two or more sheets and glue them together.

I needed a template before slicing into the foam so I made one using cardboard.

So I sketched out a freehand template on cardboard, not bad huh?

But as soon as I started to cut the cardboard with an exacto knife, it was so tough and it was taking forever. Plus, knowing that I had to cut through this cardboard and then cut the foam too, I just took my chances with cutting the foam freehand without the cardboard template.

Using pencil, I drew the design on the foam and then used an exacto blade to make the cuts.

The pencil shows up well on the foam even though the foam is black.

I was so happy it was turning out great.

Now for those jagged edges.

The scissors I used did not help much with trimming.

So, bing!, I had an idea to use sand paper to smooth the edges. It did the job well.

This was turning out to be sort of a sculpting project but my background in clay and pottery really enjoyed this step.

This next step wasn't necessary but it gave it a finished look.

I spray painted it using Rust-Oleum black metallic spray paint.

Lastly I placed scrapbook paper behind it. I'm still not sure if I will hang as it is or place it in a frame like my inspiration photo.

Also, I can't wait to try other designs. It would look great carved with an initial too.

Linking to...

Decorative Spheres

We've all seen decorative balls in stores and online. However, very few of us want to spend the money on them. Besides, it's so much more fulfilling to create your own especially with a spin on them, like I've done here.

Flipping through a magazine I came across mosaic tiled spheres and was really drawn to them.

Knowing that all you need is some small tiles and grout, I wanted to create them but with a twist.

So I immediately thought of crushed shells for this project. They have the shiny resemblance of the tiles but I really hadn't seen a sphere like this before.

Oddly with me being a crafter, one thing I don't like purchasing is Styrofoam balls. I mean, they are just unreasonably expensive. I guess it's because they are so useful, you can do so many things with them. But, I gave in with this project and picked up a package of 6 Styrofoam balls.

Now, I didn't just want to create one ball, I wanted a collaboration, if you will.

So, I needed another natural material that would compliment the shells. I already had a bag of green pebbles in my craft stash, and so I thought of another natural object that would complement both and I went with black sand.

These materials can be picked up in the floral section at Michael's, ironically right across from those pricey Styrofoam balls.

First, the balls needed to be painted so that in between the rocks, sand and shells, you would not see the plain white Styrofoam.

For the pebbles, I chose a metallic because the pebbles were a little dark and needed some reflection to lighten it up.

The shells naturally have a pinkish hue so I painted the ball pink.

As for the black sand, I had on hand a dark grey metallic spray paint so that worked perfectly.

Now for the adhesion.

The sand is not heavy so I simply applied spray adhesive to the Styrofoam and dipped into the sand. I gave it about 2 to 3 coats of glue and sand. I pierced a tool into the Styrofoam while painting for an easy hold.

Out of all three of them, the sand was the easiest and quickest.

As for the pebbles and shells, since they were heavy, I needed a thicker glue. I first tried a hot glue gun but the drawbacks are that the hot glue drys to quickly to apply the shells and pebbles, plus it melts the Styrofoam.

I used a glue that is fairly similar to E-600. It's thick enough to hold the material and dries fast but not too fast.

After applying the pebbles and shells, I went back to fill in tiny spaces that were peeking through.

I like their turnout, all I need now is a nice decorative bowl to place them into.

Linking to...

http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/