Crafty Wall Hanging

It's been forever since I posted something crafty here. And since the bead blog is about beads and the stamp blog is about stamps... and this is neither, I thought I would share it here.

I don't remember what artist did this on Carol Duvall, but it's just my kind of craft... it looks nice and is super easy to make! It's one of the few things I saw demoed during the week and went home and made it! Mine is starting to look a little worse for wear but it has been hanging on my wall for 14 years!



Save for the pieces where white is showing...it looks like stone. Here's what you need:

• Water Putty - from Lowe's or Amazon 
• Scraps of 1/2 styrofoam
• 16 or 18 g wire
• Scraps of felt same size as Styrofoam
• Putty knife
• Soap or candle mold...something decorative and small
• White or Styrofoam glue
• Thinned brown paint or brown ink
• Paint brush
• Paper towels
• Wire cutters
• Round nose pliers

Steps

1. Mix some water putty as per directions on box. Pour into the candle / soap mold and allow to harden. When dry, remove from the mold.
2. Cut your Stryofoam into desired shape. I used a rectangle and two squares. 
3. Cut your felt to match your foam shapes. Set aside. 
4. With putty knife, spread water putty onto the sides and front of your foam shapes. Messy looks more rugged, like a real piece of stone. 
5. Spread a little putty onto one of the shapes from the mold and press into the front of the foam piece. I used three leaves on my rectangle and only one on the squares. 
6. Let everything dry. 
7. If using acrylic or house paint...thin it down with water. Or use brown stamping ink. Brush on and rub off with paper towels to age the putty. Think about shadows and light... where would the relief piece naturally be darker??
8. Glue the felt over the back. 
9. Cut a small piece of wire and bend it into a wide V from the middle. Grab one end of the wire about 1/4" from the end and bend it back up toward the middle bend but away from the overall wire piece. (See illustration below.) Repeat on other end. 
10. Insert wire through the felt and into the foam to hang the piece from 

This shows shows the bends in the wire from the front and the side. The little end is inserted into the foam and big bend serves as a hanger.

The beauty of a piece like this is that it looks much heavier than it is yet it can be hung from a sheet rock wall with something as tiny as a brad nail.