Friday, March 11, 2016

Making Inexpensive Easter Crafts in no time!

Here we are getting closer to Easter, and you want to have fun and easy things around the house to add to the festivities, but what to do??? Have you thought of ceramics? Not as popular today as they once were, but still available (even online) and in many situations they are a fast, and easy way to decorate your home. First off, you will need the ceramic pieces, these (in fired form) are called bisque. Unless you have a kiln for baking it, you need bisque. The bisque is unpainted, and ready for you to decorate with acrylic paints, which are available in most hobby stores.
I like to put on a dark base coat, if there is a lot of raised detail to the piece. If you are just picking out plain Easter Eggs to paint it is easier, you just paint them however you wish.
As you can see, on the left, I have already started on the ceramic pieces that I wish to do. They have their base coat of black, and on one of them I have started dry brushing on the white paint for the bunny.
Dry brushing is done by dipping your paint brush into the paint (not very far), and using a paper towel, or something similar to take off most of the paint, and you then brush that on to your ceramic piece being careful not to get it into the crevasses. You will have to repeat this a few times until the paint covers the base coat on the high areas, but it is worth it for the detail that it brings.
On the left you can now see that the pieces now have their top coat, and you may also notice that detail that I mentioned. You would not get this if you just paint it the top coat color. It takes a little longer, but the end product is definitely worth it. Also, if you notice, I have 2 chicks in eggs in the photo. I have done these in the same manner, except for the eggs that they sit in, because they are smooth.
On the right we have moved on the the detailing, adding the eyes, pink to the feet, and inside of the ears. I also put blush on the cheeks just for the fun of it. On the chicks I have done the same, and I now move on to painting their eggs, and ribbons. After doing this step I also lightly dry brushed again with white paing to add highlights, and a littler more detail, and helps to cover up any mistakes you may have made.
Above you can see the finished bunnies. In all these, the other rabbit, and the chicks took about 4 hours. I don't think that's too long considering the money that I saved by doing them myself, and they are better than I could get in a store for a cheap price.
Easter Chicks finished.





Easter Rabbit finished.
Easter Egg finished. Are you ready to try it on your own. It really is easy.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Decorating for Easter, it's fun and easy!

It's spring time, and after the long dreary winter you want to get out and celebrate. You may find that you also wish to bring that celebration into the home to breath life back into your abode. Easter is the perfect time to show off those lively decorations with their bright happy colors.
It's not as hard as you might think. First you pick out a few baskets. They can be old, or new (I prefer old), then get some colorful Easter grass, and eggs, of course. Add to that your favorite bunnies, chicks, or various religious items, silk flowers, and you are well on your was to a lively Easter display!
On the left you can see my fireplace. On top are 2 square baskets with blue grass, and 2 tall silk flowers. Sitting atop the grass are silver and gold eggs. In the center of the fireplace is an Easter Egg wreath, and at the bottom of the fireplace sits another Easter basket decorated with silk flowers, colorful ribbon, and Easter eggs, and this took no time at all.
On the right you can a antique Chifferobe decorated with expensive store bought bunnies. I added to the display, a birch basket filled with green Easter grass, a primitive cloth bunny, and a few Easter eggs. I can tell you that it really adds life to that corner of the library.
Now, don't you feel like bringing a little bit of happiness, and fun to your own home? To see what else was done on the inside of the house just follow the link to the photos. Click Here