Lamp Shades: Material/technique chosen depends if the lamp will be lit or not. If not lit, a lot of "found art" items make useful lampshades. In 1/12th size, a toothpaste cap makes an interesting "smaller" fluted shade for bedside night table etc. Other plastic screw caps for household cleaners and such make larger shades and many have appropriate tapers (smaller at top than bottom) I know there are some lampshade "printies" out there also.

For lighted fixtures, translucence in interesting tones becomes important and a bit of framework to give shadow lines is also helpful in achieving realism. For the most simple shades, roll a slightly conical shape using velum, tracing or parchment paper, interesting colored stationary papers, etc. If you try to glue just at one "meeting edge" the glue line will be ugly when the light shows through. Rather, make the cone oversize and trim so the paper is two layers thick but with the two edges precisely aligned. This will assure you only get one "splice line" and evenly modified translucence all the way around. Dope the whole thing with clear model airplane dope and clip to dry using alligator clips above and below the portion you will keep. If you work your roll so it wants to go tighter than finished on the outside and looser on the inside, the edges should draw together tightly. WARNING: If you are like me, you will mess up many attempts before getting the feel for it all. As you practice, you will begin to experiment with techniques to get fancy with the paper and to cover the paper form with gathered fabrics, etc. When you are getting really good at it, contact me for illustrated techniques to make "concave" silk shades and such.

Carefully form a bit of thin brass wire into a pair of circles the interior size of the lampshade top and bottom. If you are skilled at soldering, use steel wool and paint thinner to remove the protective coating from the brass while it is still straight and easy to clean. If you will "glue" your frame, leave the coating on. When the paper form is fully dried, carefully drop your rings into it and position them with a small probe to be perfectly parallel with each other, perpendicular to the center line of the shade.

Cut two straight pieces of wire to precisely fit from small "upper" ring to larger "lower" ring. Position opposite each other with tweezers and a probe. Align one of these directly over the "paper splice" line. Spray additional coats of clear dope to bond these in place and allow to dry. If you can avoid its getting onto the paper, you may choose to add tiny drops of gap filing super glue where the straight and ring pieces come together and where the rings close on themselves.

When dope is FULLY (!!!!!) cured, clip most of the excess paper from top and bottom using iris or cuticle scissors. Finish with very fine sand paper so edges are within 1/32" of the rings. Set the shade bottom side up. Make and install two straight pieces of brass wire across the inside of the top rings so that they are approximately 1/32" apart. These will be the "span" upon which your shade will hang over the bulb. Obviously, you will need to create a "harp" to reach up from the lamp body, around the bulb, and support the shade.

You may choose to "finish" even the simplest shade in any number of ways. A very fine hem of paper, embroidery floss, marking pen color, or some such would be minimal. Fringe or crystal pendants would probably go on more ornate examples. During some periods, it was fashionable to have painted or decal illustrations and designs on some shades. This may be a simple geometric pattern along the hems or a decal such as those intended for fingernails or miniature tiles right smack in the middle of two or three faces.

Useful tools are:
-A wire roller, ring sizer, and flush-cut wire cutters (frame)
-iris or cuticle scissors and a very fine emery board (trimming edges)
-spray booth (cardboard box) to paint and let dry - Use ventilated area
-small size alligator clips (clamp paper and suspend shades while paint dries)
-dental probe and tweezers (positioning frame parts)
-sewing needle with half of eye ground away and handle added at point end (used to precisely apply super glue)
-penlight flashlight with bulb extended beyond the end (home made) used to check shadow lines and papers.


Mel Koplin

Lamp Shades: Material/technique chosen depends if the lamp will be lit or not. If not lit, a lot of "found art" items make useful lampshades. In 1/12th size, a toothpaste cap makes an interesting "smaller" fluted shade for bedside night table etc. Other plastic screw caps for household cleaners and such make larger shades and many have appropriate tapers (smaller at top than bottom) I know there are some lampshade "printies" out there also.

For lighted fixtures, translucence in interesting tones becomes important and a bit of framework to give shadow lines is also helpful in achieving realism. For the most simple shades, roll a slightly conical shape using velum, tracing or parchment paper, interesting colored stationary papers, etc. If you try to glue just at one "meeting edge" the glue line will be ugly when the light shows through. Rather, make the cone oversize and trim so the paper is two layers thick but with the two edges precisely aligned. This will assure you only get one "splice line" and evenly modified translucence all the way around. Dope the whole thing with clear model airplane dope and clip to dry using alligator clips above and below the portion you will keep. If you work your roll so it wants to go tighter than finished on the outside and looser on the inside, the edges should draw together tightly. WARNING: If you are like me, you will mess up many attempts before getting the feel for it all. As you practice, you will begin to experiment with techniques to get fancy with the paper and to cover the paper form with gathered fabrics, etc. When you are getting really good at it, contact me for illustrated techniques to make "concave" silk shades and such.

Carefully form a bit of thin brass wire into a pair of circles the interior size of the lampshade top and bottom. If you are skilled at soldering, use steel wool and paint thinner to remove the protective coating from the brass while it is still straight and easy to clean. If you will "glue" your frame, leave the coating on. When the paper form is fully dried, carefully drop your rings into it and position them with a small probe to be perfectly parallel with each other, perpendicular to the center line of the shade.

Cut two straight pieces of wire to precisely fit from small "upper" ring to larger "lower" ring. Position opposite each other with tweezers and a probe. Align one of these directly over the "paper splice" line. Spray additional coats of clear dope to bond these in place and allow to dry. If you can avoid its getting onto the paper, you may choose to add tiny drops of gap filing super glue where the straight and ring pieces come together and where the rings close on themselves.

When dope is FULLY (!!!!!) cured, clip most of the excess paper from top and bottom using iris or cuticle scissors. Finish with very fine sand paper so edges are within 1/32" of the rings. Set the shade bottom side up. Make and install two straight pieces of brass wire across the inside of the top rings so that they are approximately 1/32" apart. These will be the "span" upon which your shade will hang over the bulb. Obviously, you will need to create a "harp" to reach up from the lamp body, around the bulb, and support the shade.

You may choose to "finish" even the simplest shade in any number of ways. A very fine hem of paper, embroidery floss, marking pen color, or some such would be minimal. Fringe or crystal pendants would probably go on more ornate examples. During some periods, it was fashionable to have painted or decal illustrations and designs on some shades. This may be a simple geometric pattern along the hems or a decal such as those intended for fingernails or miniature tiles right smack in the middle of two or three faces.

Useful tools are:
-A wire roller, ring sizer, and flush-cut wire cutters (frame)
-iris or cuticle scissors and a very fine emery board (trimming edges)
-spray booth (cardboard box) to paint and let dry - Use ventilated area
-small size alligator clips (clamp paper and suspend shades while paint dries)
-dental probe and tweezers (positioning frame parts)
-sewing needle with half of eye ground away and handle added at point end (used to precisely apply super glue)
-penlight flashlight with bulb extended beyond the end (home made) used to check shadow lines and papers.


Mel Koplin

Windsocks. They are really easy, and fun, too. You'll need some colorful, fabric ribbon, about an inch wide for the 'sock' part, and then assorted colors 1/8" ribbon for the streamers and loop to hang the windsock up on a hook.

Cut the wider ribbon into pieces about 1-1/2" long. Cut your narrow, streamer ribbons about 2-1/2" long. Lay the wider ribbon pattern side down (facing away from you), then glue 6 streamer ribbons along one edge of the wide ribbon piece, about 1/8" from the edge. Let set up a bit, then run a thin ribbon of glue along one of the shorter ends of the wider ribbon. Overlap the glued edge to the other end, and press into place so the glue grabs. Then, take a short piece of your streamer ribbon, about 1" long, and glue the ends into the top edges of your 'sock' to make a hanger loop.

I've made hundreds of windsocks this way, for tote bags and such. My favorite ones were made using that 'rainbow' stripe ribbon, and coordinating streamer ribbons. Very bright and cheerful!


Laura in OKC

Books: Here's how I make books, I use real books (from the used book sales at the library or garage sales. I take the cover off and then lay it flat on a cutting board and cut with a utility knife a strip (1/2-5/8 inch) the length of the book. Then I place this strip in my miter box and cut off pieces 3/4-7/8 inches - purposely varying them slightly unless they will be a several volume set. I do the same with several different color covers and end up with a variety of books. By the way, the covered edge of the original book becomes the spine of the mini book. Some are more worn, some more colorful. I especially like Reader's Digest Condensed books for colorful covers. Some of the older books have textures and are fabric. If the cover is going to show- like at the end of a book on a shelf I put a book picture from a catalog on it. I have also used white out to make the edge white but was not particularly happy with that. The gray cardboard edge was okay for me. If you would like a sample or a few books send me your snail mail address and I'll send some. Once I get cutting and find new colors I have a hey-day! Use the left over book insides- if you can't bear to throw them way - as a weight for glued objects or if you are gluing small paper items you use a page in the book to glue on, then when it is sticky turn the page to a clean one. I might add that I have also cut the strips on my scroll saw, but the results were a little more ragged.

Dick T.

Books: If you want the kind of shelves that a real reader ends up with after years of buying a book here and a book there, all of them read and well loved, foam core will work better than balsa. Measure and scale your real books and make the faux books one at a time so that even the ones that are similar in size or color will still come out slightly different. Choose a size, a cover material and a page edge color. Cut the foam core shape with a very sharp Exacto blade. Press the metal edge of a ruler down hard very close to the edge on both sides of the "book" where the binding bends in on a real book. Color the cardboard edges to match the cover paper; this makes the finished book look like it has a thick binding, not a piece of thin paper glued to cardboard. Gild or color the "edges of the pages" -- i.e., the foam -- as desired. I've used gel pens, watercolor pencil (slightly dampen the edges first and the color spreads beautifully), and regular #2 lead, all with good results. Stroking the edges of the foam a few times on all three sides with the tip of a sharp pencil makes it look like real paper. Cut the cover material to fit top to bottom as closely as possible, just a HAIR bigger than the cardboard. Leave the wrap-around length bigger than you need to start with. Spread a thin, even layer of glue on ONE side of the book and, while the glue is wet, press the ruler back into the ridge. When the glue is set, spread a thin, even layer of glue on the other side, NOT on the edge, and wrap the cover around. The spines on real books are not stuck down. Barbara Brear recommends putting something in there, like a toothpick, to hold it while you're gluing, but I'm too much of a klutz apparently. Everything I put in ended up sliding out and bouncing around on to the floor, so I went with just eyeballing the bulge and it seems to work for me. Press the ruler into the ridge on the second side. While the glue is drying, I sometimes lay the ruler flat on the book and press down. This gives me some thinner and some thicker books, even though I'm using the same size foam core for them all. After it's all dry, trim the edges, again just a HAIR bigger than the cardboard.

For a well read book, "age" the finished binding with some creative swipes with an emery board where a real book would be worn. I'm not doing much for titles, because the foam core faux books are only going into dark corners as library filler. I have mostly just done some little dots on the bindings in the right places with a very fine tipped marker. I find these books a wonderful way to pass time while I wait for web sites to load so I can shop mini sites. As I finish them, I glue them on to the shelves, put some across the tops of other books or maybe falling a bit sideways, whatever looks right to me at the time, so the library is growing in a kind of realistic, organic way, as a real onewould and it's turning out SO well!


Chrissy

Picture Frames: Mount picture to be framed, centered, on a piece of mat board, illustration board, cardstock or cardboard of a thickness that will meet your approx. finished depth needs and that is wide enough all the way around to take the width of your frame. For instance, if your frame is going to have sides that are 1/8" wide you would add an extra 1/8" all around. Use either YES glue or a quality glue stick for adhering. If you are using glass and/or a matt to your picture, glue it on top, keeping glue to the edges that will be covered by the frame.

You will be using paper strips to frame your picture. The paper may be plain or decorative, thick or thin, smooth or textured. If plain, pre-paint it as desired...for a wood look paint it a raw sienna color and antique it with a dark brown water based translucent stain. For decorative papers look in full sized wallpaper books or in scrapbook sections of craft stores. Cut paper strips to width that is the same size as depth of edge of the cardboard-glass-picture-matboard (or whatever) combination Cover raw edges neatly in four separate pieces.

Cut strips the width of the face of frame sides and slightly longer. Adhere to top. over exposed frame space next to picture (right over glass if it is being used. Do two connected sides first, overlapping the corners. Using a sharp Xacto knife cut thru the two thickness' of paper at a 45 degree angle, using the inside and outside corners of the paper strips as a guide...very simple. Gently lift up the cut edges and remove the excess paper and you will be left with a perfect mitered corner. Repeat for all four corners.

Thinner paper strips or wood strips can be added in the same manner to the face of the first strips to add dimension and interest if desired. Jewelry findings or what have you may be adhered to corners for interest. Touch up paper edges as needed with matching paint. After you have done a few as described above you may want to try using just one strip of paper to cover a side and it's edge. A bit more difficult but makes for a neater finish.


Joann Swanson

Dried Apple Wreath:
Twine cord used for wrapping pkgs to mail
glue
Fresh cranberries
asst. bead *ornaments, dried baby's breath and misc. greenery.

Dip a 3" piece of twine in a mix of half glue and half water. Wrap it around a plastic aspirin bottle or similar size and tie it ....not tight but firm. Let dry completely. You can use two pieces for a twisted look. Slice a few cranberries very thin. lay out to dry naturally or in a warm oven. you might want to dip them in lemon juice and water first to preserve the *white* inner side. When everything is dry. place *apple* slices around *wreath* until you feel good about how it looks then glue them in place. Add little pieces of baby's breath sprigs between the slices, and decorate to please. Finish with a small bow at bottom with little one inch tails. Voila'...a pretty wreath for your front door ...:)

Mary Ann

POTPOURRI BALLS:
On a strip of wax paper, drop small circles of glue; let set until almost dry.
Peel off glue circle, roll in potpourri to form ball. Let dry. If bare spots show, add touch of glue and roll again.
OR coat tiny beads with glue and roll in potpourri.
Pile in basket or bowl; use as ornaments on Christmas tree, etc.

NET POTPOURRI PACKETS OR GARLANDS:
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Minutely crushed dried flowers, herbs, etc. One teeny whole bloom in each packet often looks very nice.
Small funnel (can be done without it)
Small bowl spoon
A larger size cut down soda straw (about 3-4 inches) OR glue together a round paper tube of size desired
Tacky glue
Scissors
Fine bridal tulle or netting (examine your laces; some are fine enough to work)
Colorful thread, narrow silk ribbon

1. Cut a strip of netting longer than the soda straw; overlap over the straw and glue edges together. (This is the same principle as used in making bags over a form)
2. Slip net slightly off end of straw and tie tightly; slide back up.
3. Using funnel or narrow spoon, place potpourri in straw. OR use straw to scoop through potpourri to fill.
4. Slide off amount of net and potpourri desired; tie tightly. Make a second tie close to that one. Continue filling and tying with fine gold or silver thread or narrowest silk ribbon until net is filled. Cut between ties for individual packets.
5. For a garland, leave uncut, with longer spaces between ties, looping ribbon in and out, etc., if desired.

FOR NET POTPOURRI BALLS:
1. Cut small square of net and cup over end of straw
2. Fill and tie off. Cut off excess net.

FOR LACE POTPOURRI POCKETS:
Look through your laces for those that have tiny net in the center of small designs. Use a toothpick to apply glue around the lace edge. Add bit of potpourri and place second matching design on top of first; pressing edges together tightly. I find it easier to do these if I leave extra around the designs, glue them together first, then cut around the individual packets. If you want a hanger, insert loop of thread before gluing second piece down.

OPEN POTPOURRI TUSSYMUSSY:
Cut lace designs as above. Glue potpourri in center, leaving lacy edge visible. These look great glued on tree tips, especially with fine thread or ribbon streamers hanging down from back. Again, one teeny bloom looks good.

TOPIARIES:
1. Coat small Styrofoam ball with glue and roll in potpourri.
2. Use dowel or small twig and poke into ball; plant in pot; decorate with ribbons, lace, silk roses.
3. Coat inexpensive plastic toy animals - rabbits, ducks, chickens, etc., with acrylic paint; roll in potpourri. Tie small bow around neck, make hat of small snippet of lace, etc.

These are especially pretty in Victorian-type Christmas decorating, as well as in bathrooms and bedrooms.

Wanna in El Paso

I rolled paper clay out thin (about 1/8" thick) and used the sawed off part of a disposable bristle brush that Rik provided at the class, and pounced it over the clay surface to give it a used and porous look. You can even gouge it a little here and there for a really used look.

Then I used the little wooden thingy that Rik provided at the class to divide the clay into brick pieces. Of course you don't know what little wooden thingy I'm talking about. It's a thin wedge of wood with tapered edges. You can use the edge of a putty knife too. I was just too lazy to go out in the shop and look for it, LOL.

Now paper clay shrinks so I divided mine into rectangles, 1/2" by 1", and they shrunk up okay for my immediate use. One day I will most likely experiment around until I get the right size raw, to shrink down to the right size dry. The trick is to divide the bricks first and let the clay dry, because as it dries, it separates at the cut edges.

I forgot one thing: it sticks, so roll it out on a piece of glass, marble, or granite so that you can ease it up with a putty knife when it's dry. The neatest thing is when it dries it shrinks, and the bricks almost break themselves apart.

Now that it is all dry you can apply your paints and washes, and Voila, you have some pretty nice bricks.

Carol Wagner, Joshua Tree

How to add wonderful scale wood "graining" to cheap wood (like the kind of wood left over form dollhouse kits). This works great for furniture.

1. Paint the wood with a very light yellow (I used Cream Coat's Cornsilk yellow), try for at lest two coats.

2. Let dry completely for a day.

3. Pour on a few drops of any color wood stain, take a large, flat brush and lightly run down it (in the way you want the "grain" to go), when your done before it dries you can add wood knots and all sorts of wood swirls by VERY lightly using the same flat brush. I would suggest to study some real good wood and reproduce the wood swirls. It's easier than you think, just try if you mess up you can quickly go over the whole thing with the brush and try again.

4. Let dry and seal with a high-gloss sealer. Or leave unsealed for a more rustic touch.

I hope your project turns out wonderful! I had great success with this, it was very easy!

Anna Hart