Thursday, September 15, 2011

Crayon Melting Art

Make amazing art to hang up in your room!


What you will need:
- 100-500 crayons (You decide on how many you need and which colors you      want to use)
- Super glue
- Canvas (You choose the size)
- Hair dryer

Step 1:

Separate the crayons into color piles. (All the reds together, all the blues together, etc...)


Step 2:

Figure out the color order that you want, and start super gluing them to the top of the canvas. It's okay if the crayons don't quite line up straight, once they are melted it won't be noticeable. (Hint: Try to use multiples of the same color in order, otherwise the different shades will melt together and the colors will be harder to define. We made that mistake the first time, and our painting turned out like this...)



Step 3:

You will want to melt the crayons somewhere outside, they do splatter everywhere. If you choose to do it inside, make sure to lay down A LOT of plastic trash bags and/or newspaper. Once you have your melting area set up, begin melting the crayons. Try to keep the hair dryer a few inches away from the crayons, and try using an up and down technique. You'll get the hang of it the more you play around with the hair dryer. You can use to hot air to push the melting wax all the way down the canvas, and if you turn it different directions you can actually alternate which direction the wax melts. Be creative and use techniques that you like the best. 




Step 4: 

The wax only takes a few minutes to dry completely. There may be a few chunks of wax that are stuck in piles on the bottom of the canvas, if so, just pick them off.


Step 5:

Go hang your new art work up and enjoy!  :)



Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Plastic Cup Light

How to make a super cool light out of plastic cups!

   
What you will need:
150- 200 plastic cups (depending on how large you want the light to be)
Stapler 
600-700 staples
A light fixture (low wattage bulbs produce much less heat- recommended)



Step 1:

Start by stapling the sides of each cup together until you have a full circle of cups. Then start building on the second layer by stapling the cup TWICE, once to each cup beneath it. The staples should looks something like this....


Step 2:

Continue stapling layer after layer. Be sure to keep the cups as aligned as possible... (we made the mistake of not lining them up correctly and had to start over)



Step 3:

Make sure to leave a hole near the top large enough to put the light inside. Next place the lightbulb inside the cup ball, leave the cable hanging out and then continue to staple the final cups around the cable. 


Step 4:

Hang it up where ever you'd like!