So given I
have only just started this blog, there are going to be a long(ish) list of
crafty things that I have done already. So I’m going to start trying to catch up
on them. And I’ll probably through some new ones in too!
So 4 years
ago, I decided to paint room. I went for the moody grey with a black feature
wall. But given that I’m not actually moody enough to consistently require a
black and grey room, it was always the plan to lighten it up with a piece of
artwork. Unfortunately for me I’m a student. Student = broke. So I decided to
get my craft on, browse pinterest and DIY it.
I stumbled
across crayon art, the one that did the rounds about 4 years ago. Where you
melt down crayons to create a picture, I did that.
It started
off wellish. I had read on one of the many sites that tell you how to do it
that the easiest way is to use a hot glue gun. I didn’t want to ruin the hot
glue gun that I already had, so I took myself of to the shop to buy another
cheap one.
I get
myself all sorted, a canvas painted black (to match my moody wall and I thought
that the black would make the coloured crayons pop), a rainbow of crayons, and
my hot glue gun. Then horror struck, my crayons didn’t fit into the glue gun.
So the rain affect that I was going for was not going to work by just running
it down the side. So I tried taping it to the top and getting the hair dryer on
it. That also didn’t work (though I have no idea why).
So
eventually I just put the crayons on the hot end of the glue stick until it had
melted a bit, and then dropped it onto the canvas where I wanted it.
I’m quite
proud of the final result!
If you are
wanting to do something like this yourself (which I’m sure you will manage to
do much easier than I did!) here are my tips:
- Go in with an idea of what you want to do. I wanted to do a story of someone playing in
the rain (hence the blue/ grey, and the coloured one). It was based on the
quote “life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning to
dance in the rain” cause that was the phase I was in when I made it. But I still love it now
- Find a hot glue gun that fits your crayons. I bought one of the thin glue ones which didn’t
fit my Crayola crayons. If you want to splurge on the big one than I’m sure
your life will be so much easier
- Splurge on a glue gun. You will almost certainly ruin the one you use. So whether you want to
use the one that you already have, or buy a new one specially for this project,
you will need 2. Unless you like to have pretty coloured crayons all over your
future projects, but that’s really your call
- Paint everything else after the crayons. It may sound obvious, but it wasn’t to me. I
was so excited to see my art come together that I painted that white bits
first. Then I sploted melted crayon all over my white parts. Good news though! The
paint covers the crayon really easily. I just put the tip of the hot glue gun
on the bits that were in the area I was painting over (to flatten them), then a
coat of white paint covered it completely
- Have fun! Clichés
are always fun, but in the case of crafty things, this one is always important.
You can always buy a piece of art to go on your wall, so there really is no
reason to stress! Worse case scenario you can do the good ol’ fashioned paint
splash.
Till next
time! And my next project!
Dat girl
