bird ornament project from adventures in mixed media by jane davies

8/6/2019 Bird Ornament Project From Adventures in Mixed Media by Jane Davies

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PROJECT: BIRD ORNAMENT

Youll need:

Template 10 (see page 137) or your own

A small piece of foam core

The basic tool kit (see Tools, page 18)

Two pieces of rice paper, for wrapping the foam core

Collage and paint material

Paper or Angelina fabric (see Basic Angelina Sheets,page 77) for the wing

Craft wire

Jewelry pliers

Awl or pushpin

Feathers of your choice

Ribbon for hanging

Foam core coated with matte medium

1. Trace the template (or make your own birdas you can see, the

shape is open to interpretation) onto your foam core and cut it

out with a craft knife.

2.Glue the foam core bird to the piece of rice paper, and then cut

the rice paper so that theres about -inch overhang all the way

around the bird.

3.Make cuts in the rice paper from the edge of the bird to the

edge of the paper, all the way around the bird. (See photo A.)

4.Fold and glue the rice paper over to the backside of the bird,

allowing the tabs to overlap or spread out as necessary. They will

overlap on the outside curves and spread out on the inside curves.

Clip where necessary. (See photo B.)

5. Cut out the bird shape from a second piece of rice paper and

glue it to the back of the foam core bird, covering the turned-

under tabs.

6.Paint and collage the bird as you like on either one or both

sides. I used various papers with green in them and then painted

over them with green acrylic paint.

7.Using your jewelry pliers, twist a length of craft wire into two

or more toes, and then cut the ends of the wire, leaving an inch

or more extending from the foot to form a leg. Repeat with

another length of wire for the second foot. (See photo C.)

A

These bird ornaments are fun because you can stick feathers, beaded wires, wire curli-

cues, or other fanciful embellishments in them. Birds are a great canvas for decorating,

and they carry so much symbolic potentialfreedom (flying), domesticity (protecting

their eggs)specific birds even more so. Ravens, doves, and blackbirds, for example,

each have their own symbolic associations. I made my bird ornaments purely from imagi-

nation. Theyre not modeled after any birds Ive ever seen. The technique of wrappingthe bird-shaped foam core in rice paper applies to wrapping any curved shape.

To make these, I first established several basic bird shapes on paper. Youll undoubt-

edly create your own variations.


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ADVENTURES IN MIXED MEDIA

8.Cut out the wing from your chosen

material. I used a small sheet of Angelina

fabric. I also made a small sheet of very

loose Angelina fabric to further embellish

the wing, but this optional and entirely up

to you.

9.To attach the feathers, use your awl or a

pushpin to poke holes in the flat back end

of the bird about 1/8-inch apart. Stagger the

holes rather than place them in a straight

line for a fuller feathery effect. Strip about

inch off the base of each feather. One at

a time, poke a feather into a hole, and add a

tiny drop of glue. Once the feathers are all

in, let the glue dry completely.

10.Attach the feet by poking holes in the

bottom and pushing them in. Add a drop

of glue to each hole. You can add little head

ornaments as well if you like (see above right

and opposite, top).

11.For the hanging mechanism, make a

little loop of craft wire and twist the ends

together. Cut the twisted end to about

inch. Attach this to the top of the bird. (See

photo D.)

12.Glue on the wing(s) and the optional

Angelina embellishment using a small dab of

white glue or PVA.

13. When all the glue is dry, thread a ribbon

through the hanging loop, and your bird isfinished.

h This bird ornament got her very own

handmade gift box (see Message Box,

page 57) and a nest of purple silk fibers.

She even laid a few eggs!

D


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g I made a similar bird using my sweetie

photo for the face. I made this tail out of

Angelina fiber rather than feathers.

h My red bird ornament sports

beaded headgear and a beaded

hanger. The wing is made from two

layers of glitter tulle fused together.


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Adventures in Mixed Media

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bird ornament project from adventures in mixed media by jane davies

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