Week 6: Making aluminum foil art

Today I finished up a craft I've been working on for a few weeks.  It was a Pin I found on Pinterest that led to this crafty lady's page:

Make it a Wonderful Life: Owls, Foil, & Shoe Polish

I was just mesmerized by the finished look.  So beautiful, with such simple objects and techniques. I had to try it right away when I first found it last year.  I had reasonably good results with my first attempt.

Pretty neat, huh?  Not bad for aluminum foil & shoe polish.

So then I tried something a little more complex:

I decided to revisit this same style of work in my most recent piece, but this time I decided to add some color.

Things you'll need:

*Cardboard (smooth, non-corrugated is best)
*Craft glue (Aileen's Tacky glue has given me the best results for the raised glue parts)
*Mod Podge or white glue
*Aluminum foil
*Shoe polish (liquid kind with an applicator sponge works better than jar polish)
*A dull, well-worn pencil with eraser
*Sharpies of various colors

I drew a design on the cardboard.  I made it fairly basic for this particular craft.  I want to keep it simple until I feel confident and have developed skills with delicate glue application.  I outlined the entire design with craft glue.  I left it to dry overnight. 

Once the glue was dry, I put a thin, even coat of white glue over the whole front of the cardboard.  I then quickly, firmly and carefully placed the aluminum foil over the picture (white glue dries fast).  I tried to make it as wrinkle-free as possible, while at the same time pressing the foil into the grooves of the picture made by the raised, dry craft glue.   Then, using the eraser end of a pencil (a somewhat worn-down eraser, not a brand-new one), I started bringing out the design more.  Then, I used the lead end of the pencil (with a very dull tip) for more precise edging. 

After revealing what was hiding under the foil, it was time to start the detail work.  Using the same dull pencil, I created various textured details in and around the original design.

Then I started coloring in certain aspects.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much these colors popped.  Lovely~

Here's where things started going awry...I loved the piece as it was, and I debated on whether or not to use the shoe polish at all.  Did it really need it?  I didn't want to ruin the colors.  But then, everything I had seen made me believe that it was the application of the shoe polish that really brought out the beauty of the design.  I ultimately decided to go ahead with it. 

I kinda wished afterward that I hadn't.  Because either due to my ineptitude at applying the polish, or because Sharpies and shoe polish don't play well together, I was left with something I was not as happy about as I initially thought I would be.  The colors were scratched & dulled.  Disappointing! I didn't want to take a photo of that, much less post it online.  But I had put enough time & effort into this that I wasn't ready to give up just yet.  Oh, I definitely put it down for several days and scowled at it every time I passed by, because I wasn't sure it was fixable.  But I didn't give up.

After almost a week, I went back to my creation.  I cleaned the polish off gently with a damp rag.  Not all of it.  I left the grooves.  I just wanted to make the foil shine again.  It was not as uniformly attractive as I wanted it to be, but it did work, and the imperfections gave it an odd sort of charm.  I wiped off the dull, scratched colors.  That was ridiculously easy, which made me make a mental note that this would definitely need to be sprayed or painted with a protective coating once I was done with it.

 I re-applied the colors, although they didn't look exactly as they had before. 

 Ta da!  Not bad.  Notice that it looks very much like the last one I made in some ways.  I could call it a theme, make one more and hang them as a trio or quartet (and may well do that now).  I still need to protect it with some sort of acrylic sealant or something along those lines.  I just haven't decided what I'll use yet. 
  
Since discovering this method in my random Pinterest searching, it's definitely become one of my favorites.  I have requests from my husband to make other pieces for his lab.   I wouldn't be at all surprised if another craft like this one shows up in the next several weeks.

Week 5: Making Snow Cream

I was never told about snow cream.  When I finally tried it, I couldn't figure out why.  It's so tasty, and it costs next to nothing to make.  Frozen dessert.  For free.  Just walk outside.  Really?  Yep, really.  Many thanks to my uncle David, who posted the idea along with a photo when his wife, my aunt Charlene, made snow cream.

What you'll need:

*1/2 cup sugar 
*1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
*1/2 cup milk
*Lots of snow (about a gallon)

Now, I admit, this is not the recipe I used.  I didn't really use a recipe.  I guess I feel a kind of freedom making something that has snow as the base ingredient.  Just...put in stuff til it tastes good!

What I used (approximately):

*1/2 cup-ish melted honey (I used local Cantrell honey)
*Splash of vanilla extract
*1/2 cup or so half & half (I used local Snowville Creamery half & half)
*Enough snow to make it thick

Pour milk & vanilla extract into a bowl & stir.  Melt honey & add to the bowl, stir all three ingredients well.  Add snow until it's thick.

Eat it.

The honey was a little weird.  I used melted honey that had crystallized.  A few of the crystals didn't melt completely, so there were bits of honey in the snow cream.  Not a terrible problem. It was really tasty.  Maybe not as good as real ice cream, but will it do in a pinch?  Oh yes.  And I'm guessing adding more to it, like walnuts or chocolate syrup (um, both!) would be even better! 

Now I just have to wait for the next snowfall...