Friday, April 12, 2013

No Deer, that's not real wood. (a.k.a I think I'm having a craft fail....)

Ok so I've been working on this beauty that my hubby randomly brought me home from work


Yep, that's a cardboard deer head. 

I had some big ideas for it and took quite a bit of time experimenting and testing some new techniques to make it happen.  Some of those things are working out...others not so much.

Anywho, I had intended to post the finished head this week, but it's not finished...and honestly I'm so irritated with parts of this project that it may never be, but that's for another day!

One of the things I stumbled across while attempting to make the placard look wooden was a fairly easy way to make cardboard look almost exactly like wood!  (Oh, the possibilities here!) 

Check it out:




And it's super simple to do.  Simply get some wood putty (I used Elmer's wood filler because I had a big tub on hand...)

Mix it with about 1/3 water so it applies easily with a paintbrush but is still somewhat thick (Think half melted ice cream)

Brush it on, then use a damp paper towel (I found the hard papery brown shop towels were better than say a kitchen type paper towel because they absorb less) to lightly smooth it and add any features you want to the wood grain look.


It dries quickly so you have to work fast and in sections...remember wood grain will run all the way through a piece, so working in long narrow sections is best.

Once dry, apply your stain of choice (I used a Dark Walnut and did 2 coats) and then a coat of Polyurethane.


Well hopefully soon I will be posting the finished deer head but I may just throw this one out and start over.   I'm really only satisfied with how the wood portion is turning out!

At least there are lessons to be learned from craft fails too!

Happy Crafting!


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