Birds for Tea

 

 "Even when a bird walks

one feels it has wings."

Antoine-Marin Lemierre

 

 

This Japanese teacup had lost its saucer

by the time I happened to purchase it.

 

I thought perhaps I'd share it

with some of my feathered friends.

 

 

 

This cardinal couple loved stopping by

 to check on their "tea."

 

 

 

Enjoy June!  It's slipping away.

 

Amy

Treetop Quartet Crepe Paper Tutorial: Part Two

Ready for Part Two?  I know you can do it!  Part One can be found on my February 1 post.




You will need some Tacky Glue.  I used Aleene's in the gold tone bottle that you can get at craft stores and Walmart.  You also need a small bag of green Spanish moss, also available in the floral section of a craft store.  When you pull off a pinch of Spanish moss, the grouping "sticks" together naturally.  Place some tacky glue on some of the Spanish moss that will be tucked between the layers of the crepe paper.  Keep pinching off small groupings of the moss and adding some dabs of Tacky Glue. Tuck these groupings between the layers until you have as much Spanish moss as YOU like.  I used a very small amount of the moss around the outside edges just because that's the way I liked it.




Take three light pink 1 1/2" circles and 3 dark red 1 1/2" circles.  Stamp your desired image on them.  (I used a music stamp to go with the music theme, but you could use any vintage image.)  Use metallic ink on the dark circle so that the image stands out.  Use brown chalk to "antique" your light pink circles.  Back each circle with either decorative vintage style scrapbooking paper or actual vintage sheet music.  Use decorative edge scissors to cut around the circle.  Adhere light pink circles to red crepe paper and red circles to white crepe paper with the Tacky Glue.


 

Take four small sticks about 5-7 inches long.  Thoroughly coat one end in Tacky Glue and place between the layers of one of the crepe paper circles.  This will provide the branch for each bird to rest on while they sing.  Each branch should face the opposite direction.  If the bottom branch points left, the next branch up should point to the right.  (As pictured)  While the sticks are drying, coat each cardstock bird image with Triple Thick Gloss Glaze from Deco Art.  It will give the bird images a high gloss resin-look that will help them stand out from your wall hanging.  (I found my Triple Thick Gloss Glaze in the glue department of my craft store.  My 3 inch bird images are Susan Winget Layered Accents from the K&Company, but you could use royalty free images found online printed on cardstock or stamped images.)  Add 1 1/2" leaves to some of the sticks.  (My leaves are made from wool felt cut with pinking shears, but you could also use stickers, ordinary felt, specialty papers, fabric, etc.)  Adhere the birds and leaves to the sticks using Tacky Glue.

 

Stamp "Let Me Call You, Sweetheart" using small alphabet stamps and black or dark brown ink onto 1/2" wide creme or tea-dyed white grosgrain ribbon.  (I stamped mine in three separate sections -- "Let Me"  "Call You"  "Sweetheart."  I cut the ribbon around the letters.)
Place the ribbon on your wall hanging as desired with small dabs of Tacky Glue on the ends and center of the back of the ribbon.  Add vintage buttons to the center of each crepe paper circle with Tacky Glue.  (Some of my buttons are backed with wool felt.  Each has thread running through the button holes either tied to the back or front.)  Finish off your wall hanging with 7 inch lengths of velvet and gold shear ribbon wrapped around the wire hanger at the top.

Beautiful!  You're done.

Amy

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."  I Peter 5:7

Treetop Quartet Crepe Paper Tutorial: Part I

February is finally here!  I've been waiting for it.

 
 

Would you like to make something special this February for Valentine's Day?  I've been working on this crepe paper wall hanging for a little while.  It features a sweet feathered friends quartet with a "Let Me Call You Sweetheart"  singing telegram.

This project can take some time, but can be made quite inexpensively.  Let's get started with Part One.  It will take you more than one day to make this project.





To make a crepe paper circle you will need to cut a 5 ft. length of crepe paper streamer.  Bring the two short ends together.  With a long needle and a long piece of strong thread (double knotted at the end), sew a running or basting stitch about 3/4" inch in from the edge of the long side of the crepe paper.  (You will be sewing through two thicknesses of the crepe paper.) As you pull the needle through the crepe paper, it will begin to form a ruffle.  When you reach the folded end of the crepe paper, knot the end of the ruffled edge, but do not cut your thread.





Now you are ready to form your circle.  The crepe paper will be somewhat flimsy.  I try to form the circle by curving the ruffled part onto itself.  If I didn't pull the ruffle too tight while sewing, the back end and the front end will meet with one layer between.  (If you need some extra fingers to help hold your crepe circle together, try using clothes pins.)  Once your circle is "shaped,"  begin tacking it with your remaining thread.  I tack through all the layers all the way around the ruffled circle.  One of the photographs shows my tacking stitches in red.  These stitches go all the way to the back.  When you have gone all the way around the ruffled circle, finish off with a knot and clip your thread.  You will need three white crepe circles and three red crepe circles.




Using a tacky glue (NOT Elmers -- too runny), add extra fine glitter to your red circles as desired.
I used Cherry Ice Smooch Spritz to spray my white crepe circles, but you could also raid your child's watercolor paint set and with a barely wet brush add some red paint as desired.  (Practice on your extra crepe paper.)  I found the Smooch Spritz in the scrapbooking ink isle at my craft store.
Allow drying time.



 

Now we're ready for the wire framing.  First, find the "valley" between the two layers of your crepe paper circle.  Your wire is going to hide between these layers.  You may have to cut through some of the crepe to make a continuous layer, just don't cut through your gathered ruffle.  Using 24 gage floral wire (I found it in the floral section of my craft store), begin wrapping around the center of a red circle.  Wrap 4 times before carrying the wire over to the white circle.  Wrap the white circle in the opposite direction you wrapped the red circle.  Wrap around the center between the crepe paper layers about 4 times.  Bring the wire to the top of the white circle and form a hanger between the white and red circle.  Bring the wire back down around the red circle wrapping around once.  Good job!



Add a white circle underneath the red.  Wrap the wire 4 times around the center ruffle between the crepe paper layers.  Your wire frame will seem very flimsy.  Don't despair!  Make a figure eight with your wire by going back up to the red circle and wrapping around it 1 more time in the opposite direction.  Come back down to the new white circle and wrap 2 times around it.  Now add your second red circle.  Wrap around the center 4 times. To secure it to the frame, wrap the wire around the white circle that the new red circle doesn't seem to be attached too.  Come back to the new red circle.  Wrap 2 times.

 

Are you ready for the bottom row?  Wrap 4 times around the new white circle.  Then, bring the wire back up to the red.  In the opposite direction, (like a figure 8) wrap 1 time.  Come back down to the new white circle.  Wrap 2 times.  Add the last red circle, wrapping 4 times.  Take the wire up to the white circle above the new red and wrap around 2 times. Secure the wire after cutting with wire cutters by slipping the end underneath another loop of wire.  Ta-da!  The hardest part is ALL DONE!


 

Wow!  I think that's plenty for today.  It's already pretty . . . Don't you think?

Amy
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us."  Ephesians 2:4