Birch Tree Painting

I found a tutorial on how to make a beautiful painting with perfect birch trees.  I've been feeling really inspired to paint recently, and this looked like a pretty easy project, so I decided to give it a try.  The original used an 18" x 24" canvas.  I used a much smaller one, because I already had it on hand.

Materials needed:

Canvas (any size works)

Black acrylic paint (for the trees)

Blue acrylic paint (or another color for the background)

Red acrylic paint (or another color for the accent)

Painter's tape/masking tape

Paint brushes of various sizes

Step 1: Decide where your trees are

With the painter's tape, mark off the space that will be the trees.  They need to be completely covered with tape.

I liked the idea of one larger tree, and the rest smaller.  I also tried to mimic the way they were slanted slightly, instead of being completely parallel.

I also decided to paint the sides of the canvas, so I set my painting on a box to access all of the sides.

Step 2: Paint the background

I used a blue called "cobalt blue."  I think a lighter color might have been nicer, but this was the lightest I had.  Using a regular brush, I painted in all the white of the canvas.

My paint must be cheap, because it turned out very streaked. I bought a sample pack at Michael's that included a lot of different colors.  Now that I'm exploring this medium more, I might buy better paints.

Step 3: Paint the trees

The original method calls for using a credit card to line the edges of the tree and drag the color towards the center.  Since mine was much smaller, I used one of the reward cards designed for your keychain.

This was actually very easy.  I practiced a few times on a piece of wax paper.

Once I was confident enough, I removed the left-most piece of tape and scraped the black paint along the edge, dragging it slightly inward.

The more I used the reward card, the more comfortable I became with the action.  It was very simple to accomplish, if a bit nerve-wracking.  

Continue to remove the tape one at a time and repeat.

With overlapping trees, pay attention to which one is in the back and which one is in the front.

Step 4: Adding the embellishment

On the large tree, I added a painted heart.  The original instructions used gold leaf, which would give it a lovely finish.  But I didn't have any of that on hand, so I stuck with plain red paint.  Then I added my husband's and my initials.

I loved this project!  It was so easy and really fun.  I would have liked the trees to be a bit thicker, but now I know for next time.


~Buttons

Harry Potter Wands and Robe

This is actually from last year's Halloween, when Pockets wanted to make her Hufflepuff outfit.  But since we are using them for our Comicon outfits this week, I felt it a good idea to post this as well!

The wands:

Pockets found this tutorial on Pinterest, and we followed it.

Materials:

Paintbrushes

Clay

More paintbrushes

Paint

First, decide on a paintbrush to fit your needs.  Pockets used a medium sized one, but since my wand is "slightly springy" I used a smaller, more dainty paintbrush.

Start by covering the bristle in clay; this will be the wand's handle.

(this is the clay we used)

Next, use the clay as you desire to shape your wand.  I wanted mine (made of hawthorne) to be woody and knotty.  Pockets went with a smooth, but decorative style.

Next bake it.  The directions we used said 10 minutes for every 1/4 inch thickness.  Ours were about 1/2 an inch, so we cooked them for 20 minutes.

Then we painted them.  We had three shades of brown, and a white to mix them with.  Pockets did hers lighter than mine.  I decided to paint my handle a darker color too.

Pockets added a darker wood grain onto her wand, and then painted the swirl that went up from the handle.

Since her's looked so awesome, I added wood grain onto mine as well.

The robes:

For the robes, we used Simplicity pattern 5840.  For fabric, Pockets chose a beautiful black poplin.  It was so easy to work with, and super heavy, for that robe-like look and feel.  She used a light yellow poplin for a faux lining.

The first attempt, just doing as the pattern said, turned out HUGE.

It fit her boyfriend better.

So he got those robes (he's a Gryffindor), and Pockets made a new set for herself, shrinking the pattern an inch in every dimension.

She paired it with a gray skirt, white button up blouse, gray cardigan, a Hufflepuff tie, and a House badge.  It turned out SO CUTE!!

(A Hufflepuff wearing an Aes Sedai ring???)

And for the whole effect (but through a mirror):

Now we're all set for Comicon!

~Buttons