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.
