My creative efforts have been kinda low key lately. Because of knee surgery which was harder to recover from than I had expected, I haven’t gone to the studio.
So, I did a little busywork, and some simple things to keep my hands busy.
And to take my mind off of the world wide crisis we are in the middle of. I don’t think I have the mental focus to start a big project, and these little bits of cuteness were just what I needed.
Sugarwings is hooked on watching Squishy makeovers on Youtube, and I told her we could probably make our own little critters. When I went on the long camping trip to Florida, we trimmed up some memory foam pads to fit our camper bed and I saved the remnants.
They were not perfect for this craft because they are not as thick as I’d like and they have a grid pattern cut into the backside. But for our purposes, they were fine.
First step is to draw the design on the foam with a marker, then roughly cut it out.
At first, the cuts are larger, but as I get the shape to come out, they become teeny snips.
When my fairy girl started making hers, she was chunking them up too much and got frustrated. Once I showed her the trick of making itty bitty cuts, she got the hang of it. And soon, my home looked like the scene in Edward Scissorhands where Johnny Depp made snow from paper and created a blizzard.
I use fabric glue to seal the grid cuts that I mentioned, and to add pieces, like a wing or something to them. I try not to do many add ons, I like the challenge of cutting 3D shapes. But Sugarwings enjoys making hers in pieces and then attaching them with glue like they do in the videos she watches.
The kitty has a glued on mouth and nose, but the puppy is all one piece. They can be done either way.
Mine were all made to give to kids to play with and paint themselves. But I wanted to try out the paint myself first to see how it went, so I could offer some advice.
The paint has to be pliable so that when the foam is squeezed, the paint moves with it. You can use puffy paint, or fabric paint. Or make your own fabric paint by adding textile medium to acrylic craft paint. I have heard that you can make your own by using glycerin, but I had used all of my glycerin to make hand sanitizer.
Here is what I discovered: These are SPONGES, so they take a lot of paint!
It soaks right in and makes them hard to decorate. I decided that my best move was to cover them in a solid coat and leave it over night to dry.
Once dry, it was much easier to add other colors and details.
In the scheme of things, these are not anything that were worth much. But, they gave me joy and in my mind, creativity is good for the soul, whether you are making something simple and cute, or a spectacular masterpiece.
