glue

Update on My Fairy Garden

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

Update: My fairy garden is doing well! The log got sealed and planted with impatiens and two other flowers I can’t remember. The Lithodora l I planted is alive and well after a little bit of touch and go. It is not flowering right now but seems to be growing. My Icelandic Poppy has died off – not sure if it will grow back, we’ll have to see. I’ve added a cute little ladder and a piece of fencing that I made myself. I also purchased a couple of new accessories. I’ve planted the other containers including putting a cucumber vine I grew from a seedling in one. Just have fun with it! If you’ve done some whimsical gardening this year – let me know! I’d love to see.

This photo was taken about a month later after I had most things planted but before I added few new accessories.

I love fairies and all things magical! Anything that sparks a little bit of wonder and joy speaks to me

. I started fairy gardening about 5 years ago.  I first started when we lived in Texas and much of that garden was more architectural in nature with lots of stones and shells. It is fun […]

My Experience with Fairy Gardening and Practical, Fun Tips for Building your Own

Making Large Paper Mache Dinosaurs – pt 3

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

Progress goes slowly on the dinosaur. I’ve lost my helpers to Minecraft Dungeons…and the mastermind is not in love with the craft of paper mache. He does not love the glue on his hands.

Mr. Stegosaurus now has firmly attached feet. I ran strips lengthwise from the bottom of the feet up both sides of the leg and then wrapped additional strips around the leg.

I’m working on attaching the spines. I used what the boys drew and made more. I think I’ll need about 10 pairs of spines in varying sizes to finish. I used the handy-dandy masking tape from Scotch that doesn’t suck and went to town. One tip I can share – I attached the spines together where they met and hopefully gave them more stability.

I’ll reinforce them with more strips and glue and then add paper mache clay to give them detail. The next big task is making the paper mache clay. I’ll use the clay to smooth out my sculpture and add finer details – besides accenting the spines. I’m thinking toes, facial features, and bumps for knees are possibilities.

Three ingredients that I remember off the top of my head are joint compound, toilet paper and PVA glue (like white Elmer’s). I’m interested in how far the recipe from Ultimate Paper Mache that I plan on following will go in covering Mr. Stegosaurus. I think I’ll probably need multiple batches.

If I continue the dino paper mache saga – I’ll start cutting out the T-Rex. I feel like he is going to be more difficult – because he’ll be standing up on two back legs. Luckily, I found these cardboard boot inserts that I might use for his feet. They seem heavier and like they would give him more stability.

Stay tuned and comment below! What’s the craziest thing you have made for your kids?