Crafts Archives - Lynda Makara

Three unique ways to wear pins

February 12, 2020/0 Comments/in Crafts, Jewelry, Sewing /by [email protected]

I have quite a collection of pins and one thing I generally don’t do with them is wear them on jackets or dresses. You know, the normal way most people wear them. So I’ve come up with other ways to wear these beautiful pins that would otherwise be forgotten in a jewelry box.

Watch my video demonstration

1. Wear pins on a necklace

A lot of pins will hang nicely around your neck. You can use a variety of different materials as a necklace. Here are some examples.

These two are on bias tape.

These two are on rawhide.

These are on silver chains. The one on the left is a large herringbone necklace and the one on the right is an omega chain.

And here’s a pin on a ribbon necklace from the craft store.

Wearing one of my pin necklaces.

Sometimes you need to use a converter to get the pin to hang correctly and to create a bail. I have one each in silver and gold.

2. Wear pins on your jeans

A lot of pins will look nice pinned in the front pocket area of jeans. Here I took three patriotic pins and arranged them together. And I wore the jeans with a sparkly belt to complete the look.

3. Wear pins on a bracelet

This is by far my favorite way to wear pins because I’m a bracelet girl. I’ve made a variety of fabric cuff bracelets just for this purpose. They’re quite simple to make.

If you’d like to make some for yourself, please check out my fabric cuff bracelet tutorial. You can choose three different closures: snaps, buttons or velcro.

Here are some pictures of me wearing my pins as bracelets.

Do you have any creative ways to wear pins? Please share your ideas!

Sun and moon wall art collection

August 8, 2018/0 Comments/in Crafts, Home accents, Painting, Sculpture /by [email protected]

Introducing my new collection of sun and moon wall art. These celestial pieces are great for those who like whimsical decor, inspirational art, spiritual art, new age art, nursery rhymes art, baby nursery decor, beach house art and mixed media assemblage, just to name a few.

All are hand painted with my original designs on 5 inch round wooden plaques with a sawtooth hanger on the back. And, of course, they’re all blinged out because I’m all about the bling. Each one has its own personality, so let’s take a look at them.

Moon wall art (sculptures, wall hangings, plaques)

Dream Moon

Dream Moon wall art by Lynda Makara

A classic full moon painted mostly white with silver metallic accents and the word “dream” written on her face. There are three little stars on one cheek with a crystal inside of each.

The sides are adorned with AB crystals.

Blue Moon

Blue Moon wall art by Lynda Makara

Blue moons are usually rare but you can enjoy this one every day. Painted blue with a glowing white center, she has a sweet expression as she looks up at the heavens. She also has three silver stars on her face with crystals inside.

The sides are painted blue with matching blue glitter and crystals on top.

Sun wall art (sculptures, assemblage, wall hangings, plaques)

Sun Ray

Sun Ray wall art by Lynda Makara

My Sun Ray plaque is painted orange blending into yellow with blue accents. The intricately painted face is adorned with crystals in the eyes and on the triangles.

The sun’s rays are represented by nails going around the outside.

Spiky Sun

Spiky Sun wall art by Lynda Makara

This Spiky Sun is bright yellow with a lighter yellow and white center. The eyes are outlined with crystals.

The sun’s rays are made with metal spikes and screws all around the outside.

The celestial sun and moon wall art collection

These pieces are fantastic individually or in groupings as you can see in the pictures below.

Available in my etsy shop.

Making the Morning Star sun sculpture with paperclay and recycled materials

July 9, 2018/0 Comments/in Crafts, Home accents, Sculpture /by [email protected]

You may have noticed by now my interest in stars, moons and suns. After doing a few moon sculptures, I decided it was time to make a sun wall sculpture.

So I dug through my stash of odds and ends and pulled out a few pieces that inspired me. This silver tray came from a thrift store and I thought it would look good to frame the sun sculpture.

Tray front

Tray back

And I thought these plastic stakes would make interesting sun rays, along with free paint sticks from the hardware store.

Recycled plastic stakes

Recycled paint sticks cut into 4 pieces

Making a sculpture starts with a sketch

Having decided on that, I began to sketch a face. This time I wanted to use my grandfather as inspiration.

He was my paternal grandfather who died when I was a child. He was an Armenian immigrant.

I remember going to visit my grandparents and he was usually sitting in his chair, wearing a vest and smoking his pipe. I loved the smell of his cherry tobacco. He seemed like a very gentle soul to me.

Somehow I only ended up with a couple of his pictures, but I did the best I could with the sketch.

My Armenian grandfather after coming to America

Grandpa as I remember him. My aunt’s photo wall.

And here’s the sketch.

Sketch done on white paper

Then I transferred it onto wax paper. I use this as an overlay for accuracy while I’m sculpting.

Sketch done on wax paper

Building the base of the sculpture

I always use layers of cardboard glued together with hot glue and Aleene’s tacky glue for the base. This saves on paperclay.

Cardboard used as base for sculpture

Cardboard base inside metal tray

After that I carved out sections for the features. I have to admit, this looks a little creepy.

Features carved out on cardboard base

Sculpting the sun face with paperclay

Now it’s time for me to play. I just add bits of paperclay here and there. At times I need to allow the clay to dry somewhat before continuing.

Here are some photos showing the progression.

Painting and embellishing the pieces

I always like to put a dark wash on the clay to emphasize the texture.

Sun sculpture with black wash

Then I dab on layers of white paint. I highlight and define the features with acrylic paint in black, light blue, metallic gold and metallic silver. The face was accented with a variety of glitters and then varnished.

Sun sculpture with paint and glitter

The plastic rays were painted metallic gold and covered with a glitter coating.

The paint sticks, after being cut and shaped, were painted light blue and metallic silver. The blue ones were accented with blue glitter and the silver ones with a strip of silver sequins.

Paint stick sunrays before painting

Here’s a picture of the rays after painting.

Sun rays with paint and glitter

The silver metallic starbursts shown in the photo above were made from vitamin packets. I love to save bits of mylar packaging.

Mylar vitamin packets turned into sunrays

Assembling the sun sculpture

I cut out a piece of cardboard for the backing and painted it black. Then I glued and wired everything together to make it very secure.

Unassembled pieces before painting was finished

The final Morning Star sun wall sculpture from recycled materials

And here he is…my beautiful Morning Star sun sculpture, now in my Etsy shop.

The Morning Star sun sculpture

Morning Star sun sculpture in my bedroom

Radiant sun wall art, assemblage, recycled art

January 22, 2017/0 Comments/in Crafts, Sculpture /by [email protected]

It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to create new fun whimsical art after being sidelined by my broken ankle. But lately I’ve been getting back into the swing of things and was inspired to try something new—my Radiant Sun assemblage wall art.

Gathering recycled items for a sun wall art assemblage

I like to collect odds and ends from thrift stores and this old wall clock caught my attention. Better yet, it was only $1!

Taking apart wall clock for sun sculpture

I decided to combine it with interesting bits of hardware found while rummaging in my father’s workshop. I also dug around in my own collection of craft items for gems, sequins, crystals and glitter. Because even though this is recycled art, I have to put my blingy spin on it.

Combining and arranging the pieces

Playing around with hardware to make sun face

Using an astrological map as the background, I played around until I came up with a face I liked. For the eyes I used a plastic bottle cap, random hardware piece, BBs, gems and crystals. An allen wrench serves as the nose. And the mouth is made from washers, a bell and more BBs.

On top of the glass more weird hardware pieces are glued on to accent one eye, along with sequins and crystals.

I painted the outside of the clock in the colors of the sun (red, orange and yellow).

: Painting sun wall sculpture

: Painting sun sculpture red, orange, yellow

And I used two different types of rusty nails for the sun’s rays.

Rusty nail sun rays, back of sculpture

Adding sparkle to the radiant sun

The best part for me is going to town with the embellishments because when it comes to sparkle, more is definitely better. And you can see I’ve used lots of different types of glitter, crystals, gems and fabulous sequins that sparkle endlessly.

Radiant Sun wall sculpture close up

And the result is a fun, cheerful, smiling sun that shines no matter what the weather is like outside. You can find it for sale in my Etsy shop.

: Radiant Sun wall art assemblage recycled art by Lynda Makara

: Radiant Sun wall art by Lynda Makara

Here’s a look at some of my past sculptures. And remember, I’m also available to create a custom piece of art just for you!

: Sleepy Moon wall sculpture by Lynda Makara

: Lady “Muse in the Moon” hanging sculpture by Lynda Makara

: A tribute to my Samoyed Nookie, my little angel puppy, who loved the sunflower garden

: Augustus Sunflower, from my personal collection

DIY hair appliance holder

September 26, 2016/2 Comments/in Crafts, Health & beauty, Home & garden, Home accents, Misc /by [email protected]

When I was setting up my new makeup vanity, I wanted my hair dryer and flat iron handy. I had ordered a desktop appliance holder but it took up a lot of room and the cords looked really messy so I sent it back.

Then I decided it would be much neater to hang my hair appliances on the wall next to the vanity. The holders I found online were flimsy and poorly rated so I decided to use something else as my holder.

Wrought iron bar rack holder

I just happen to have a small star wrought iron towel holder in one of the bathrooms so I checked it to see if my blow dryer and flat iron would fit on it and, guess what, they did! The holder sticks out 4 inches from the wall which is perfect. But instead of ordering that same design, I got this bar rack holder without the star because I also happened to have a pretty birthday card I wanted to use as a plaque behind it. (The star holder is longer though and would also hold a curling iron.)

These Amish wrought iron holders are very sturdy. (I also own star curtain tiebacks in addition to the towel holder.) They’ll last forever! The only drawback is the shipping but they do combine shipping if you get more than one item. However, even with the shipping the total was about the same as one of those cheap holders.

To install, the first thing I did was mark holes from the holder onto the card.

Birthday card with punched holes

Using the holder as a guide again, I transferred the markings onto the wall and made sure they were straight using a level. Then I put holes in the wall, inserted plastic anchors, laid the card on top and screwed the holder in place.

Holes drilled in the wall with plastic anchors inserted

After that I got four little nails and hammered the corners of the card down.

Small nails to attach greeting card to wall

And that’s all there is to it.

Hair appliance holder with greeting card backing tacked onto wall

Except for one thing…there was a messy situation going on with the cords plugged into a power strip on the floor.

Hair appliances plugged into power strip cluttering up the floor

So I mounted it on the wall just under the vanity tabletop. I coiled up the mirror’s cord and tucked it in between the wall and the vanity. I also coiled up the power strip cord.

Power strip mounted to wall underneath vanity

I’m going to be painting my room pretty soon and I’ll also paint those cords to make them blend in.

Now everything’s looking neat and tidy and I can sit there and fix my hair in front of my Hollywood Starlet mirror!

Makeup vanity with wall-mounted DIY blow dryer/flat iron holder

Do you have a clever solution for organizing your hot hair tools? Please share them in the comments below.

Dress makeover: church dress to cocktail dress

August 23, 2015/2 Comments/in Crafts, Sewing /by [email protected]

This dress needed a makeover. It belonged to my mom and she only got to wear it once or twice before she died. I wanted to keep it for myself—with a few changes.

The basic shape of it was good but I didn’t like the cap sleeves, neckline and that awful corsagey flower thing. And that pale pink color really washed me out.

So my plan was to remove the cap sleeves, lower the neckline, ditch that horrible flower and dye the dress a more flattering color. What made this transformation complicated were the strips sewn all over. I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to deal with them.

Closeup of dress before makeover

In fact, I wasn’t sure any of this was going to work, especially the dyeing since I had never dyed synthetic fabric before. But I really had nothing to lose so I dove right in.

Altering the dress

The first thing I did was to remove the offending flower decoration.

Flower decoration removed from dress

That felt SOOO good!

Then I ripped out the stitching from the strips of fabric at the top of the dress. I left the rest of them attached. They were hanging all over the place and kind of got in the way.

Strips being detached from dress

I cut the cap sleeves off and cut a new neckline. This was a little tricky because the neckline was asymmetrical. I had to try the dress on a couple of times and make pencil marks for the cutting line. Basically I wanted the neckline symmetrical and as low as possible.

I also had to take in the sides a smidgen.

With the alterations done, the next thing was to redrape and reattach those strips. I pinned everything in place, cut off the excess and then hand stitched them back on.

Altered dress before facings sewn back on

When all that was to my liking I reattached the armhole facings. I was able to reuse the existing facings.

The neckline was another story. The back facing was fine but I had to make a new front facing from excess fabric. I used fabric from the flower decoration. It was cut on the bias so it worked perfectly.

And here’s the dress after all the sewing was done.

Dress after alterations with facings attached

Dress makeover: after alterations

Dyeing the dress

With that being done, all that was left was the dyeing. I happened to find some dye meant for polyester and nylon. The color I chose was called violet.

When choosing dye it’s best to stick to the same color family which in this case was a darker pink, red or purple.

: Dye packet front

: Dye packet back

: Dress content label

Note: The directions on the package say not to dye fabrics that are marked dry clean only. I completely ignored that because I know synthetic fabric can be washed. It doesn’t shrink like natural fabric does. Often the ‘dry clean only’ warning is used on washable fabrics because of tailoring, like a structured jacket, or certain types of embellishments, like the flower detail.

The directions called for using a large ceramic or stainless steel pot and boiling the fabric for at least a half hour. Once used for dyeing the pot can’t be used for cooking anymore. I wasn’t about to sacrifice one of my nice pots and I didn’t have a big enough pot anyway so I used the washing machine.

I did use my nice stainless steel pot to boil water though. I had to do it three or four times before there was enough water in the washing machine. It stayed REALLY hot the whole time.

Boiling hot water in washing machine

Finally I was able to add the dye being careful to empty the packet close to the water. Even so, a few little particles managed to float around and get on my white cabinets and wall. I wiped them off before they stained.

I wore rubber gloves and used a paint stick to stir the dye. Then I took the dress, which had been previously soaked in water, and placed it in the washing machine.

The directions called for constant stirring for 30 to 60 minutes. I used the stick but also had to use my hands to move the dress all around. I stirred for 30 minutes.

Dyeing dress in washing machine

This was a really nice steamy project to do on a hot summer day—NOT. Oh well, I didn’t want to wait ’til winter so it had to be done.

Having dyed fabric before, I knew the dress would come out lighter after it dried (if it took the dye at all). To get the same color on the package I would have had to use twice the amount of dye, but I was okay with that. Anything was going to be better than that ghostly pale pink.

This is what the dress looked like after being dyed.

Dress dyed but not washed yet

After 30 minutes, I put the washer on the spin cycle to get rid of the excess water. Then I washed the dress with detergent on warm/warm setting for a medium sized load.

The final result is more of a lavender/medium purple. And I love me some purple so I’m happy.

Dress makeover: after dyeing

I put the dress on a hanger to air dry while I cleaned the washer.

I ran the washer set for an oversized load with detergent and a cup of bleach using the same warm/warm temperature setting. Afterward just a little wiping around the top with paper towels and glass cleaner finished the job.

Before and after photos

Let’s take a look at the dress makeover as it went from a church dress into a cocktail dress.

: Dress makeover: before

: Dress makeover: after alterations

: Dress makeover: after dyeing

I’m glad that’s done. Time to party!

Front door privacy curtain

August 6, 2015/0 Comments/in Crafts, DIY home decorating, Home & garden, Home accents, Home improvement, Sewing /by [email protected]

Privacy is hard to come by when you live in the city. People are always walking up and down the street, cars are driving by, the neighbors are always coming and going.

So when I’m sitting on my couch with the front door open, I feel like I’m on display and I don’t like that.

I already have a security screen to keep bugs and intruders out and now I can keep people’s prying eyes out with this quick solution—a front door curtain!

And if you want to put up a curtain at your front door, it only takes about five minutes. Here’s what you do.

Screw in a couple of cup hooks at the top of the door frame.

Cup hooks as curtain rod holder

Insert a cheap curtain rod.

Curtain rod fits into cup hooks

Find a cute curtain to put on the rod, one that isn’t too sheer (because that would defeat the purpose now wouldn’t it). A regular curtain should work fine. No blackout curtains.

I happened to have the cup hooks and curtain rod lying around but needed a curtain. I found just what I wanted at Walmart. It’s white with sequins and silver threads running through it because in my world you can’t have too many sequins.

The only thing is the curtain is 84″ long and my doorway is 78″ tall. I turned up the hem 5″, zip zip on the sewing machine, and it was perfect.

Well, almost perfect. I took one additional step and created an elastic loop attached to the curtain that fits over the doorknob to keep it from billowing in the breeze and blowing my cover!

Elastic loop sewn to curtain

Slips over doorknob

The curtain lets in lots of light and keeps me incognito.

Front door curtain for privacy

New pillowcase top designs for women

July 23, 2015/0 Comments/in Crafts, Sewing /by [email protected]

Pillowcase tops are fun and easy to make, but your average pillowcase does not fit your average woman. I have some lovely pillowcases embroidered by my mom and for the longest time I’ve been wanting to make blouses from them.

I finally figured out two new ways to make cute pillowcase tops that actually fit an average sized woman. One method requires two matching pillowcases sewn together sideways. The other method uses color blocking and one pillowcase. Both are very simple.

I have fond memories of my mother embroidering pillowcases. The whole process was fascinating to me. She would go through her collection of embroidery transfers and make her selection, usually a floral pattern, but sometimes birds or animals. She would iron the transfer onto the pillowcases and then she would choose colorful flosses from her vast collection. At night she would embroider while we all watched TV.

Her work was beautiful to me then and even moreso now that she’s gone. I’m thrilled to finally bring her fabulous collection of embroidered pillowcases out of the linen closet and onto my body, close to my heart.

My mom’s embroidered pillowcases made into tops

Remove stains from pillowcases before sewing

Chances are your old pillowcases will have a few stains on them. The first thing to do is remove them by following these great instructions at OneGoodThingByJillee. I wasn’t sure how well it would work on my poly/cotton blend pillowcases, but it worked like a charm. It did take three days, however.

Sewing instructions

Note: I used ¼” seam allowance for all sewing

Method A: Two matching pillowcases sewn together sideways

This method has the embroidered design running down the center front to form a mirror image. Lay out the two matching pillowcases with the designs side by side to see if they look good that way.

Pillowcase top Method A: two pillowcases sewn together sideways

Sew front seam. Open all the seams and hems and lay pillowcases flat. For the front center seam, line up the motifs and sew right sides together. Add optional trim over center seam.
Center front seam of two pillowcases sewn together
Sew back seam. For the back seam, fold fabric in half right sides together along the front seam. Measure out the width you want and pin. Sew then cut off the excess.
Pinning back seam of pillowcase top
Cut armholes. For armholes, fold fabric so that front and back seams are lined up in the center. Then fold in half again. Mark the armhole by using a blouse or tank top as a guide. Cut out the armholes.

Top folded in half, center seams lined up

Marking for armholes

Armholes cut out
Add casing. Make a casing for the drawstring from coordinating fabric. Measure the width of the fabric and cut two pieces that are 3½” wide. Sew casing to front and back.

Measure casing to be same length as top

Cutting out the casing

Sew casing to top front and back
Sew armholes. Fold and press under ¼” and repeat. Then sew the armholes.

Press armhole under 1/4″ twice

Sewing armhole
Sew casing. Fold under ¼” seam allowance along the edge of casing then fold it in half and pin. From the top side, stitch in the ditch.
Casing folded under and stitched in the ditch
Add drawstring. Cut the drawstring from the same coordinating fabric as long and wide as you want. Mine was about 2½” wide and only 30″ long because I didn’t want it to tie on the side (I stitched the ends together). Fold and sew rights sides together. Turn right side out and thread the drawstring through the casing. My favorite way of doing this is to put a safety pin on the end of the drawstring and feed it through the casing. This also works for turning straps right side out.
Sew hem. Finish the bottom edge, fold under and sew. I serged mine and then folded it ¼”.
Hem sewn in pillowcase top

Variation of Method A

I made a different version with this beautiful pair of pillowcases. I love this pattern!

Two matching pillowcases make a pretty center design

Instead of making a casing, I gathered the top edge, front and back, and stitched it to a colorful pink band. I sewed long straps to the band which crisscross in the back.

: Front and back bands for pillowcase top variation

: Band sewn to gathered edge

: Band sewn with straps in the seam allowance

Pillowcase top variation of Method A

Straps crisscross in the back

Method B: Color blocking with one pillowcase

This method has the embroidered design near the hem. Side panels are added in coordinating fabric to make the top wide enough.

Pillowcase top Method B: color blocking with one pillowcase

Cut out fabric. Open up the seams and hem of pillowcase. Cut two pieces the length you want which will include a self-casing at the top. Use different fabric for the side panels the same length as the top with the width that you need.
Pieces cut out for color blocked pillowcase top
Sew side panels. Stitch side panels to center panels.
Side panels sewn on color blocked top

Finish by following the instructions from Method A, steps 3, 5, 7 and 8.

: Top folded in half

: Armholes marked using another blouse

: Armholes cut out

Variation of Method B

The embroidered design of this pair of matching pillowcases didn’t create a nice mirrored image down the front, so I decided to use one across the bottom and one across the top. Here are the two pieces sewn together.

Variation with embroidery at the top and bottom

Then I added a piece of lace over the seam which hits just below the bust.

Lace sewn over the seam

The top was finished following the directions for Method B above.

Pillowcase top variation of Method B

Another look at all four tops

My new design pillowcase tops

I love wearing these!

Celebrating the 4th of July

July 4, 2015/0 Comments/in Crafts, Sewing /by [email protected]

Lately I’ve been in a sewing mood so I decided to whip up a cute top to wear on the Fourth of July. It’s basically a fitted version of a pillowcase top. Besides this little sequin number I’ve raided my linen closet to design two brand new ways of making pillowcase blouses from embroidered pillowcases. Look for that tutorial in the next few days.

Today I’m bringing the sparkle with my red sequin blouse, silver sequin cuff bracelet and patriotic jewelry. I’m going downtown later to have dinner and watch the fireworks.

Fourth of July outfit

And speaking of fireworks, my little Koda is terrified of them so the last couple of weeks have been difficult for him. His new refuge is under the bed! I managed to snap a picture of him on one of his rare appearances out in the open. And here’s the photo…just because.

Koda’s smiling

For his sake I’m looking forward to this holiday being over, which in my neighborhood is going to be around mid July.

So now I’m off to celebrate our nation’s independence. God bless America!

July 4, 2015

Sleepy Moon wall art paper clay tutorial

April 28, 2015/0 Comments/in Crafts, Home accents, Sculpture /by [email protected]

I’m obsessed with the full moon and intrigued by the different faces you can see in it.

This time I saw a dreamy woman’s face with a quirky little mouth. She was the inspiration for my website’s header and also my Sleepy Moon wall art, a paperclay sculpture surrounded by shimmering moonbeams.

Follow along with me as I show you step by step how this sculpture was made.

Preparing to sculpt

I used a 10¼” paper maché plate for the foundation of the sculpture. Then I cut out a piece of cardboard slightly smaller than the plate to be used as a backing.

Paper mache plate and cardboard backing

I made a full size drawing of the moon face.

Sleepy Moon by Lynda Makara

Then I traced the drawing onto a piece of wax paper. This was used to overlay my sculpture to check for accuracy in the placement of the features.

drawing on wax paper of sleepy moon wall art

Wax paper drawing of Sleepy Moon by Lynda Makara

Working on the sculpture

The easy part was covering the plate with a layer of clay. I always use Creative Paperclay.

first layer of paperclay for moon wall art sculpture

Paperclay over paper mache plate

I laid the wax paper over the clay. With my X-acto knife I punched little holes through the paper along the black lines.

using wax paper drawing to mark paperclay sculpture

Wax paper over paperclay base to make markings

This shows the markings left behind after removing the wax paper. The clay was divided into four sections with the nose outlined.

Marks made through wax paper drawing

To make the nose I just started with a nice nose-shaped blob of clay.

adding a nose to the paperclay moon sculpture

Adding a nose to the moon

I added a smaller ball for the nostrils.

Adding to the nose

With the nose done, I starting working on the eyes. I cut out a layer of clay in the shape of the eye using the pattern as a guide.

Nose added to moon sculpture, working on right eye

Nose added, working on right eye

The eyes had slits for the eyelashes to be glued into later. The eyebrows were marked at this point.

Both eyes done on moon sculpture, marks for eyebrows

Both eyes added and marks made for eyebrows

One eyebrow done.

Right eyebrow finished

After the eyes and eyebrows were finished, I let the paperclay dry overnight. The next day I pulled off a piece of clay and formed it into the approximate shape of the mouth.

moon sculpture with eyebrows, piece added for mouth

Both eyebrows done, piece added for mouth

I used a small dampened paintbrush to smooth out areas too small for my fingers. My X-acto knife helped with carving and shaping.

Working on the mouth

Here it is after the facial features were done and left to dry for a few hours.

Facial features done

Then I came back in with thin layers of clay to make craters. I also filled in all the cracks that appear after drying and the remaining guide marks.

Some tools I used to make the craters: the end of my knife, wooden dowels, my knuckle.

Adding craters to moon

After the sculpture dried overnight, I shaped and refined the features using the knife. I also added a bit more clay to the nose.

This is what it looked like when I was done sculpting. Very close to the original drawing.

Comparing the finished moon sculpture to the drawing

Comparing the finished sculpture to the drawing

Another view of the sculpture ready to be painted.

Paperclay moon before painting

Painting the moon sculpture

I always like to define the features first by using a black wash. The clay is porous and using watery paint helps cover everything.

Adding black wash to moon sculpture

With this sculpture I worked from dark to light. Black wash in the crevices, gray wash over everything else.

Then I went back in dry brushing with white paint. Many layers were added.

I do drybrushing instead of regular painting because it blends in better with the background colors, almost like airbrushing.

: Black and gray wash applied to moon sculpture

: Adding white paint over gray wash using dry brush technique

: Half of moon face with white paint

: Adding another layer of white paint

At the end I drybrushed metallic silver paint as a highlight.

Highlighting moon sculpture with metallic silver paint

Highlighting with metallic silver paint

Working on the embellishments

I cut out a pair of eyelashes from a piece of thin cardboard. They got painted black on both sides.

Cardboard eyelashes for moon

Not being able to find ready made trim, I made my own tinsel from a mylar ham wrapper. This was the outer wrapper not against the ham.

I cut strips of mylar layered over a piece of tulle, sewed them together with a gathering stitch, cut them apart and fringed the edges.

This detail represents a moon ring and also serves to soften the transition between the moon and the backing.

: Mylar ham wrapper used to make tinsel

: Strips of mylar and tulle to make tinsel

: Layers of mylar and tulle stitched together

: Mylar strips cut and fringed

Working on the backing

I took the cardboard backing and divided it into 16 equal parts. This was easily accomplished marking from a paper circle folded into 16 sections.

Each line marks the spot for a dowel to be glued.

Dividing cardboard backing into 16 equal parts

Lines were drawn with a ruler.

Drawing lines on cardboard backing

Dowels were glued in place with hot glue.

Gluing dowels to cardboard

Bamboo skewers were glued in between the dowels. I just eyeballed the placement of these.

Gluing skewers to cardboard

Then I made a wire hanger from 22 gauge wire, folded in half and twisted.

Making wire hanger for sculpture

The twisted wire was inserted near the edge over a dowel. The ends were twisted together and glued in place on both sides.

Wire hanger going through cardboard backing

I painted the sticks with metallic silver.

Painting the sticks metallic silver

The back was painted black.

cardboard backing painted black for moon sculpture

Backside painted black with hanger in center

Mirrors were glued on with hot glue. Afterwards I put more glue on the back of them and covered with silver paper.

Gluing mirrors to sticks

Layers of cardboard were glued in the center of the base to reach the depth of the paper maché plate.

Cardboard added to center of moon backing

Cardboard added to the center

Gluing everything together

Cardboard eyelashes were glued into the slit. This almost looks like gluing regular eyelashes!

Gluing eyelashes to moon sculpture

Tinsel was gathered and glued around the edge of the moon on the underside.

Tinsel glued to moon sculpture

Finally the moon sculpture was glued to the backing using tacky glue. I held it in place with pressure on it for about 20 minutes. I didn’t want to crush the eyelashes by placing something heavy on top!

Gluing the mirrored backing to moon sculpture

Finishing touches

I decided to lighten up the eyebrows then I went over everything with satin varnish. After that dried I applied two different kinds of iridescent glitter in strategic places: inside craters, on the eyes, eyelashes and mouth.

This step I like to think of as painting with glitter.

Sleepy Moon with glitter embellishments

Introducing the Sleepy Moon!

Here she is in all her glittering glory!

Sleepy Moon wall art

For more photos, check her out here.

Related projects

Muse in the Moon sculpture
Starburst mirror

New year, new website!

February 10, 2015/0 Comments/in Crafts, Home & garden /by [email protected]

This is my first official post on LyndaMakara.com and I just wanted to say hi to everyone and let you know what’s going on.

Even though I just launched my site at the end of January 2015, you’ll find articles here dating as far back as 2011.

That’s because for the last four years I’ve been writing for various other sites. I’ve also been selling my art on Etsy for roughly the same amount of time.

Now with my new website I’m bringing everything together. There are still some things that need tweaking, and I haven’t finished setting up my art store. Hopefully I’ll get that done soon, so please bear with me.

And there are lots of new posts coming up about my DIY adventures remodeling my house and creating a modern low-maintenance backyard oasis.

I’ve got some new art projects planned as well, such as a sleepy moon wall sculpture. Sleepy Moon is the name of the artwork used in the header. I think she’s divine, don’t you?

I would also love to hear your suggestions for tutorials. Please let me know what you’re interested in.

Here’s to a great new year!

Love,

Lynda and Koda