Friday, March 8, 2013

Bunny and Chicken Silhouettes: The Last of the Easter Decorating Extravaganza


That's right--Easter decorating week is nearly over! Back to our regularly scheduled tween room redo (with maybe some gardening action thrown in!) after this.

I've seen a ton of silhouette art around lately (it occurs to me that most of my posts could be Pinterest Challenge posts, really), so I decided to throw some into the Easter decorating mix here.


This really should have been the first post that didn't turn into a novel, so simple was the concept, but then I ran into a little trouble with the frames, and I will, of course, share my tale of woe with you in agonizing detail.

I started with two sheets of scrapbook paper and two $5 frames (they were half off, as they seem to be most of the time) from Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby stubbornly refuses to sell cheap white frames, but I had a plan. I would just spray paint them white. Remember back last week when I learned an important lesson about using primer when spray painting frames? I remembered this, too, so I got out my can of primer and.....realized it was empty. Oops. But surely these frames wouldn't need primer! I told myself optimistically. Then I started to take the glass out of the frames. And realized I couldn't manage to maneuver it out of one of them. Oh, Hobby Lobby: now I see why your frames are so cheap! Undaunted, I taped up the glass on that frame:


...and got to painting. And, yeah, these frames could've used some primer, too. The black showed through, mostly along the edges. So when Dave got home I asked if he could slap a coat of the latex paint that he'd used on the last frame on these, too.

He came back a few minutes later, holding that frame from the picture up there. "I tried to take the glass out of this," he explained, "but it broke." He seemed very surprised that such a thing had happened to him. Apparently I should have explained about that frame and its unbudgeable glass before he went down to the basement.

I glumly contemplated another trip to Hobby Lobby. "Maybe," Dave suggested, "you could just use the frames without glass." I thought about this. And then that's exactly what I did. Because it was easier than going back to Hobby Lobby.

The part where I found rabbits and chickens and cut them out went smoothly. I found the outlines here. Then I printed them out on cardstock, cut them out, traced around them onto the back of the scrapbook paper, and then cut THAT out. Lots of cutting.


The I taped them down to white cardstock with my best friend, double sided tape, and put them in the glassless frames. And then MORE (thicker) double sided tape to hang them on the wall.


Also, I've been meaning to move the Old Lady Cabinet out to the foyer for awhile now, and we finally did it the other night. For Easter. I think the Old Lady Cabinet might not be long for this house. She's a little stuffy. But she fits in the foyer beautifully.

Anyway. All done Easter decorating!



Linking with:
Monday Funday
Classy Clutter's Spotlight Saturday
Under the Table and Dreaming's Sunday Showcase
Hop to it Link Party
Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z
Stone Gable Blog's Tutorials, Tips, and Tidbits
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage
Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths
Craftionary's Friday Link Party
Inspiration Gallery
Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap-Up Party

17 comments:

  1. I adore all things silhouette and these are adorable!
    Kelly

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  2. I love those two outlines. They have just the right touch of whimsy meets realism :) It looks really great!!

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  3. love love LOVE that chicken! Ima come steal it off your wall!

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    1. ha! I'll be guarding it 24/7 now that I know of your evil plan ;)

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  4. those are adorable! i love the bunny especially! while kenz takes the chicken, i will take the bunny... ;)

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    1. I can give them away to the two of you and make ones with real glass in the frames next year ;)

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  5. Hey Gretchen! These are wonderful! I like how you did them in color and pattern rather than white and black! They really look outstanding with your vignette! Great work!

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  6. These came out so cute! I love the paper you used!! Nice and springy!

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  7. Too cute! I heart these, especially how you have them in the corners of the frames and not centered.

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    1. Thanks! I've seen a few off-center silhouettes on other blogs lately, and I loved the way they looked.

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  8. So sweet! Love silhouettes!Thanks so much for sharing the great tutorial! Would love to have you visit me sometime.
    Have a fabulous week!
    Hugs from Portugal,

    Ana Love Craft
    www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

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  9. Cute rabbit. Stopping bye from craft link party.
    Melanie
    Artzy Creations

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  10. Thank you for the link to Open Clip Art! Love it!

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