An attempt at some cabbages or similar plant type thing! I realised too late that I haven't taken photos of the intermediate steps but hopefully it is easy enough to follow. There certainly aren't many steps!
These are small plastic flowers I think for jewellery making or similar crafting. The bottom one is hot glued onto a plastic base strip, I found it easiest to just run/dot a series down the base then push on each flower.
The second one is cut on one side to the centre hole and folded or bent in slightly -they hold that shape relatively easily and then they can be glued into position. I started to use hot glue as I thought it might hold it most securely as well as any excess would just add character to the plant, but then found it quicker and easier to just use PVA. Hopefully they will remain secure (they have so far)
With the two layers of "leaves" in place I then added the centres. These are just small bits of paper scrunched up and glued into the centre with a generous dollop of PVA. This was not ideal, the paper kept unfurling despite being soaked in PVA and required constant poking to get it to stay in shape. I'll maybe try this again in future and use small bits of DAS or similar. However the paper does give some nice texture or irregularity to the final product.
They are then coated in black acrylic craft paint. I used a olive green paint as the main colour and a few dry brushes with lighter shades, using yellow to lighten them. They were then detached from the plastic bases (relatively easy by sliding a sharp knife under them. The hot glue base gave a decent size and flat surface which can be dunked into PVA and then placed wherever you want them.
The finished product in situ. The grass is a little too bright as I didn't add enough darker static grass to my mix bag! Gives a rough idea of the finish though. I'm quite pleased with the result and will happily have them add some variety to the next tabletop encounter.
These are small plastic flowers I think for jewellery making or similar crafting. The bottom one is hot glued onto a plastic base strip, I found it easiest to just run/dot a series down the base then push on each flower.
The second one is cut on one side to the centre hole and folded or bent in slightly -they hold that shape relatively easily and then they can be glued into position. I started to use hot glue as I thought it might hold it most securely as well as any excess would just add character to the plant, but then found it quicker and easier to just use PVA. Hopefully they will remain secure (they have so far)
With the two layers of "leaves" in place I then added the centres. These are just small bits of paper scrunched up and glued into the centre with a generous dollop of PVA. This was not ideal, the paper kept unfurling despite being soaked in PVA and required constant poking to get it to stay in shape. I'll maybe try this again in future and use small bits of DAS or similar. However the paper does give some nice texture or irregularity to the final product.
They are then coated in black acrylic craft paint. I used a olive green paint as the main colour and a few dry brushes with lighter shades, using yellow to lighten them. They were then detached from the plastic bases (relatively easy by sliding a sharp knife under them. The hot glue base gave a decent size and flat surface which can be dunked into PVA and then placed wherever you want them.
The finished product in situ. The grass is a little too bright as I didn't add enough darker static grass to my mix bag! Gives a rough idea of the finish though. I'm quite pleased with the result and will happily have them add some variety to the next tabletop encounter.
