Crayon Artwork for Nursery or Child’s Room

Today I have a fun DIY that would make a lovely addition to a nursery or child’s room. This is a project that could be completed in an afternoon or even during “nap time” and it uses supplies that you may already have at home!

STEP 1 GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES:

For this project you will need:

*A Canvas of any size. I used a canvas that measures 11 x 14 inches. (I added a coat of white paint to my canvas to give it an even color. This step is optional.)

*One box of Crayons. You will need enough crayons to cover the horizontal measurement of your canvas. I used 33 crayons but you may need more or fewer depending on the size of your canvas. I recommend using Crayola brand crayons. You can find them just about anywhere.

*Hot-Glue Gun and hot-glue sticks

*A hair dryer with several heat settings

*Newspaper or a paper shopping bag to protect your crafting area.

*Masking tape.

***PLEASE NOTE: This project includes warm to hot tools and materials. Please use caution with your hot glue gun and hair dryer while in use around children. Also, while it will not get VERY hot, please exercise caution while working with the hot/warm wax, especially if you are doing this project with children or have pets nearby.***

STEP 2 PLAN YOUR ARTWORK:

First, let’s lay down our paper bag or newspaper over our workspace. Use masking tape to secure the corners to ensure that the paper will not move around while you are working and using the hairdryer. This is to protect your workspace from getting melted wax on it. Before moving on to the next step, plug in your glue gun to allow it ample time to warm up.

Make sure you have enough crayons to go across your canvas

Next, set your canvas down and lay out your crayons. You don’t need to decide what colors will go “where” quite yet. This step is to make sure you have the right amount of crayons to go across your canvas. Add or subtract crayons as needed (I needed 33 crayons for 11 inches of canvas). Once you have the right number of crayons, arrange them in the proper color combination for your preferences.

I chose a rainbow order from white to black.

Before you start gluing, make sure that you have the right number of crayons and that they are in the correct order. You should also decide whether you would like the crayon brand name to be facing out OR if you would rather each crayon’s color name to be showing. I love the names of the colors, so I chose to have those facing outward.

The color names are way more fun to read than the brand names.

STEP 3 GLUING:

Now that your crayons are in place and your glue gun is heated up, you are ready to get gluing! Start with your first crayon and carefully glue it to the canvas. Glue each crayon one at a time with a long, thin strip of hot glue. Make sure each crayon is carefully secured before moving on to the next one.

By gluing each crayon one at a time, you’ll make sure no crayons are glued in the wrong spot or wrong order. This will also help make your piece of artwork more durable in the end. Once every crayon is glued to the canvas, lift the canvas up and hold it vertically. Make sure you have a clean line across the top and that no crayons are coming loose. Unplug your glue gun and plug in your hair dryer; we are on to the next step!

STEP 4 MELTING:

You can see the crayons heating up.

This next step requires a little patience and is a little bit messy. If you haven’t put down some scrap paper or newspaper yet, it would be a good idea to do that now.

What you will want to do is hold your hairdryer in one hand and use your free hand to hold the canvas. Start on ONE SIDE and aim your hairdryer (on high heat) at the crayons and heat them up. The crayons will start to sweat a little bit (as shown in the picture above) and then will soon start to melt. Keep the canvas horizontal until the crayons melt enough to make a small pool under each crayon. Turn the hair dryer off or point it away from the canvas and slowly tilt the canvas vertically so that the wax will run down the canvas. Try not to rotate side-to-side so as to keep the path of the wax only up and down.

What a beautiful rainbow!

To stop the wax from dripping further down the canvas, just reduce the angle and move toward a more horizontal position (as if you were lowering a lawn chair to lie down). You can always add more heat to the crayon or the wax path to make it bigger or longer.

**Take advantage of lower settings on your hairdryer if you want to work more slowly. Also keep in mind that the highest settings may blow harder and could cause the wax to spread and splatter.

Add and remove heat as necessary.

 Repeat these steps across the canvas until each crayon has been heated and every color is melted onto the canvas. I found it easiest to work in groups of 6-or-so crayons at one time, waiting until the last group was mostly cooled before moving on to the next group of colors.

If you want the melted wax to travel all the way down the canvas or make a certain pattern, just add more heat until you reach the design you would like.

If you find your wax thinning out toward the bottom, use your hair dryer to add more heat to the crayons and melt more wax of that color. The wax will follow the path already created, so it is pretty easy to add more wax. Be careful not to over-melt the crayons, though. I almost did that with my silver and grey crayon while trying to melt the colors next to them. If you melt a little too much wax at one time, tilt the canvas back to stop the flow and allow to cool before proceeding on to the next color.

Almost done!

**As you get closer to the bottom of your canvas, you may notice some wax dripping off of the canvas. Be careful not to get any wax on you, your clothing, or your workspace. While it will not be VERY hot, please exercise caution while working with the hot/warm wax, especially if you are doing this project with children or pets nearby. The hairdryer scared my cats away, but please be mindful and safe while working on this project.**

I wanted to take full advantage of these artful drips, so I made sure to have my wax drip over the sides of my canvas. This way, little-ones can see the rainbow on the canvas even if they are looking at the artwork from below.

I wanted my artwork to fill the whole canvas! Even the sides and bottom!

STEP 5 COOL and HANG:

Spend as much time on the previous step as you need, tinkering to make sure your artwork is “Just Right”. When you are finished with your artwork, unplug your hairdryer and set the canvas down horizontally to cool for a few minutes. Once completely cool, hang your new artwork in your living room, nursery, or playroom!

Voilà! Shown with another fun DIY project.

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Coming soon: A colorful new DIY Project

A colorful sneak peek of things to come…

I’ve been working on a fun new DIY Project that I will be sharing with you in the next few days.

Keep your eyes peeled!

MonDIY: Make your own Craspedia bouquet Part 2

Picking up where we left off in the first part of our tutorial on how to make your one Craspedia Bouquet…

Step 3: Get your glue on.

Use a generous amount of glue on each skewer “stem” to ensure you do not lose your flowers along the line.

This is pretty easy. One by one, take a skewer and put a generous amount of glue on the sharp end. Take the glue-covered end and place a wool felt ball on top of it.

Putting the glue on the skewer ensures that your bouquet will last well into spring and summer.

Twist the ball a few times to ensure the glue is evenly distributed. Set aside to dry.

**If you are concerned about the glue showing once it has dried, feel free to use a glue that says “clear dry”. I have had no issues with the Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue, though. It just takes longer to dry clear than other brands.

Just the right amount of glue.

Step 4:  Dry and arrange.

Fortunately, this project does not require a long wait-time for the glue to dry. That being said, it is wise to place your flowers in a wide-mouth jar or other container where they have ample space to dry without touching each other. I used a mason jar to dry the painted skewers first, and then again when letting the glue dry on the flowers themselves.

Aren’t they cute?

When your flowers are completely dry, please arrange them how you would like them in your favorite vase or jar. This is where cutting the skewers at the beginning will come in handy. The variance in heights really makes the bouquet extra special.

The varied height gives a lovely effect to these flowers.

I Took photos of my bouquet in a few different vases and vessels.

What a lovely reminder that spring is on the way.

The vase in this photograph was detailed with gold paint. I took a glass vase, masking tape, and gold paint, and painted the bottom part of the vase for a regal look.

A mason jar and some twine. Ain’t nothing better than that.

You could even get crazy and do colorful felt balls in an empty growler like I did with this bouquet…

The blue flowers look great in this colorful growler.

Good luck with your creations!

MonDIY: Make your own Craspedia bouquet Part 1

It’s Monday and it’s cold. I’ve been wanting to buy some flowers to brighten up the house. But with the bitter cold and the fact that most spring flowers currently available are a bit malodorous to me (pollen allergy), I just haven’t gotten around to it. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Craspedia flower, a member of the Daisy family and an oh-so-cute flower indeed. They are super-popular for brides, so lots of people sell them online. I bought some seeds last summer with the intention of drying the flowers, but they did not grow this spring.

I was just about to order a few dried bunches online the other day when I realized something: I could DIY that. With supplies I have at home.

Time for som MonDIY: Make your own Craspedia Bouqet!

Supplies needed for making your own Craspedia flower bouquet.

Step 1: Gather your supplies.

Everything that I used for this project, I already had in my craft supplies. Feel free to substitute some of the “ingredients” like glue or paint for your personal preference.

*Wool Felt Balls. I chose a variety of sizes and colors for my bouquet. I wanted something warm and springy or summery, so I chose an orange and yellow patina. Order online or find at your local craft store.

*Glue. I love Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue

*Wooden/Bamboo Skewers. (for grilling) I got mine at the grocery store.

*Paint. Scottish Highlands (High Gloss) by Martha Stewart

*Jar. I used a mason jar that I do not use for food. This will be used to dry the paints and glues. (and even to display the finished project!)

*Scissors, Paint Brush, Vase (if you are not going to use a Mason jar)

**You can use a different color paint or different color felt balls. Also feel free to use a favorite vase or bottle to hold the bouquet when you are done. Switch it up by adding string or twine too.

Painted bamboo skewers. Scottish Highland and Mermaid Teal.

Step 2:

Paint your skewers. Grab the sharp end and use your paint brush to paint a generous layer of paint along the entire skewer. I found it easiest to paint by holding the sharp end and twisting the whole skewer as I painted. Don’t worry about getting 100% of the sharp end painted as that is the end that will be covered with the felt. Set aside to dry. They will dry rather quickly as the wood absorbs some of the paint.

Meanwhile, prep your wool felt balls. Using an unpainted skewer, “pre-drill” a hole in each felt ball. Some felt balls come with holes for stringing, if yours have that, skip this step. All others, take the sharp end of the skewer and make a hole in each felt ball, make sure it goes in fairly far but not so far that it passes through to the other side. This will make the bouquet more durable and you will be less likely to have “flowers” fall off their stems.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Happy Halloween!

I spent the better part of this month talking about my Hylian Shield Tutorial. Now is your chance to see the shield in action! Presenting my HALLOWEEN COSTUME 2014: Link the Hero of Time! I spent a lot of time making the shield and sword look accurate. I also spent quite a bit of time on the costume itself. I included some details that you may not even see… I wore a locket around my neck with a Piece of Heart and a tiny Potion Bottle, had the Small Key and Dungeon Key, and I even had the boring-old compass! Here are some fun photos of my ADVENTURES AS LINK:

  

I am ready to fight for Princess Zelda!

 

I spent some time cutting down bushes for Rupees

and checking for Gold Skulltulas.

Here I am getting ready to fight an enemy.

Visiting the locals in the town…

…and SMASHING all their pots!

Now I am on my way to my next adventure…

Halloween is Only a Week Away!

Gosh, Can you believe we are almost done with October and that HALLOWEEN is only ONE WEEK away?! I can’t

I’m sure you know by now, but I am going to be LINK from the Legend of Zelda for Halloween. I already posted a tutorial with steps to make your own Hylian Shield, but I would like to share some more photographs that showcase my handiwork. I also want to show off my awesome Master Sword:

While I did not make the sword from scratch like I did the shield, I did do some alterations and a paint job. I painted the hilt, added some gold detailing, and wrapped the hilt with suede leather. She’s a pretty convincing Master Sword and well made too!

Detail of the sword and shield together.

I’ve got my EYE on you

The EYES have it!

Halloween is my favorite time of year. I love the changing seasons, and the chance to decorate my house with spiders and pumpkins is always a HUGE plus. This year I channeled my inner Martha Stuart and made some fun decorations!

Keep your EYES peeled.

This Eyeball Wreath was made from scratch by yours truly. It has is a wired chenille-like material for the base and is adorned with glittery eyeballs, glittery black and orange balls, and a glittery spider. I want to leave this Beauty up year ’round. (We’ll see what the boyfriend says about that…)

In the meanwhile, I will be working on making some new wreaths. I have some ideas in mind for some non-traditional holiday wreaths too. Perhaps even some wreaths that would actually look good on your door year ’round. Stay tuned!

How to make your own DIY Hylian Shield Tutorial PART THREE

This is Step Three of Three in a tutorial to make your own Hylian Shield from the Legend of Zelda series. If you would like to start at the beginning, please follow this link to PART ONE.

If you recall, we just finished adding all the hardware and detailing to the shield. A lot of the detail we added has a functional purpose too. Now it is time to add the finishing touches to really make this Hylian Shield look fit for the Hero of Hyrule!

Step 9A: Painting the shield. Now this is where everything comes together. You CAN prime the shield first, but as I am impatient and since the foam-core I was using is white, I decided to bypass that step. Get yourRust-oleum “Hammered” silver spray paint and go to a well ventilated area (outside). I chose to spray the back of the shield first, just incase anything happened.

 Looks pretty good to me!

I had no issues with the paint. I was mindful not to get much paint close to the edges of the foam-core as it has a tendency to eat through styrofoam. I had very little corrosion on this project, but please bear that in mind. The only place were a little touch-up was needed was underneath the wooden buttons. For this, I used my Martha Stewart’s High Gloss Acrylic Paints  in SILVER.

You (almost) can’t see the little crescent of silver paint.

I know it is hard, but you WILL want to wait at least a few hours between coats of paint. I let mine dry overnight before painting the front of the shield. The Hammered spray paints seem to take a little extra time to dry without becoming tacky. But once the back of the shield is dry, take it outside to add a coat of silver to the front of the shield. This looks awesome when painted.

Maybe I’ll just leave it like this… 

If you notice any spots on the front of the shield that need a touch-up. As we will be painting most of the interior of the shield a different color anyway, you may not need to do any touch-up work with the silver paint at all. I would double check near the wooden buttons and the edges. This may be a good time to use your SILVER ACRYLIC paint to do a coat around the edges. Allow all paint to dry.

Step 9B: Painting the shield with Acrylics is the last big step. The High Gloss colors I used on the shield were: Habanero, Beetle Black, and Indigo. The Metallic colors I used were: Gold, Yellow Gold, and Sterling (silver). I chose to start with the blue part of the shield.

Use a fine detailing brush to get in those tough corners.

You may need to do several coats in some places. I found the blue did not cover the silver completely in certain areas. Once the blue paint has dried completely, move on to red and then gold. If you are using the same brushes, be sure to thoroughly clean them between colors.

Before the detailing on the silver areas.

For the back of the shield and for the silver detailing on the front, I mixed the silver paint with a little bit of black paint to make a dark silver color.

After. Doesn’t it look better?

This is an optional step, but I found it really added depth to the shield. You really only need a little bit for the front, but I would suggest making a couple Tablespoons worth of dark silver for the back of the shield. I used a 1-inch brush to apply the dark silver paint to the recessed area on the back of the shield. While waiting for the paint to dry, go fetch your fabric/felt and embroidery thread. Also grab some scrap pieces of foam-core and some more brads.

Step 10: Adding the finishing touches. Now that the painting is done, there is little left for us to do. The finishing touches include adding a strap to the back of the shield to keep it close to your arm, and minimal detailing on the handle. Let’s start with the arm strap!

For the arm strap you will need a long piece of felt. Mine was about 8.5 inches by 2 inches. If your arm is bigger or smaller, you may need to adjust the size. You will also need to cut two pieces of foam-core from your scraps. These pieces will be used to secure the strap to the shield.

Glue the foam-core and felt together with the foam-core on top. Take the furniture nail/tack and push it through the foam-core and into the fabric close to the base of the scallop shape. The tack should have enough room left to be pressed into the back of the shield. Do this for the other side of the strap. Take both ends and press into the shield approximately 5 inches apart. Note where the tack makes a mark and apply glue to that area. Glue both ends and apply pressure (lay a book on top) and let dry. Once dry, take a brad (they are longer than the tacks) to opposite ends of the piece of foam-core and press into the shield. This will add extra strength to the strap. Allow to dry completely before use.

The arm strap and the handle being finished.

While you are waiting on the straps to dry, take your two embroidery flosses. Wrap them around the handle and cover the center of the handle completely (see above photograph). Overlap slightly and use glue to secure the loose ends.

You can see how the detailing really makes the shield come to life!

Step 11: Take a step back and admire your handiwork!!! 

That’s it! You’re FINISHED!

How to make your own DIY Hylian Shield Tutorial PART TWO

This is Part Two of Three in a tutorial to make your own Hylian Shield from the Legend of Zelda series. If you would like to start at the beginning, please follow this link to PART ONE.

We last left off at Step 4 after having cut out the front and back shield pieces. I hope you have gathered your hardware and tools to add some of the important details to the shield! Let’s start with the front of the shield and work out way to the back.

The chipboard pentagon in place. To the right you can see some of my hardware.

Step 5: Gather your hardware and your Chipboard or corrugated cardboard. For my shield, I used chipboard from the back of a  nearly empty sketchbook. You could also use a full sheet of matting material for framing, or even a cereal box. The chipboard is the perfect thickness but is HARD to cut. So make sure you have some spare X-Acto blades handy and a good pair of scissors at the ready.

We’ll use the Chipboard for the pentagon at the top of the shield as well as the interior shield design with the bird and Triforce. This will add dimension to the shield without making it the same depth as the outside boarder. I used my template from earlier to cut out the design for the interior of the shield. Trace those pieces onto the chipboard and get cutting. It will take a few passes with an X-Acto blade to get the pieces all the way cut. Once cut, place all the pieces on the front of the shield in the way you want to glue them down. Use beads of glue to cover the back of each piece and press it down. Allow ample time for drying.

Leave the right wing of the bird unglued for now. We will be placing screws for the handle through that side of the shield.

Make sure you use enough glue. You don’t want the pieces to come off!

Step 6: Detailing the back of the shield is a little less tedious than the front. For the wooden buttons, you will want to gather 3 small screws that will pass through 2 layers of foam-core and still have about 1/2 cm of thread sticking through. Prep both pieces that make up the back of the shield. Cut small slits with your blade in each of the three corners where you will be securing a wooden button. Then push/screw the small screw so that the head is on the BACK of the shield and the thread end is sticking out the front. Carefully screw the thread of the screw into the wooden button, securing it to the shield. This is a little tricky at first, but you will find it easier after the second one. I also put a little glue on the underside of the wooden button as I was screwing it into the foam-core for added strength.

Now glue, glue, glue! When the first wooden button was in place, I used the screw as a hinge and opened up the BACK of the shield. I then put a generous amount of glue on the back of the cross-shaped piece.

Be generous with the glue. You’d hate for the pieces to come apart in battle.

Align the two pieces and press together gently. Set aside to dry.

Wooden buttons screwed in place. Other hardware staged.

Once the wooden buttons are secured, it is time to add the brads to the vertical beam on the back. As with the screws, make a small slit with your blade where you would like them to go. Carefully push the brads straight down (they bend easily). Put a little glue on the bottom of the brad for extra strength. These will pass through both layers of foam-core and have a little bit sticking out the back. This is okay as this will help secure the front and the back pieces of the shield.

Set aside the BACK half of the shield and add the 3 wooden buttons to the FRONT half of the shield. Use the same method you did for the other wooden buttons AND for gluing the two front halves together. Once the wooden buttons are secured and dry, it will be time to move on to the handle.

Step 7: Adding the handle.

Once the brads and wooden buttons are in place, it is time to move on to the handle. I made my shield RIGHT HANDED. If you would rather use your shield with your left hand, just slide the handle over to the other side of the shield. Wherever you are putting the handle, make sure to measure carefully to ensure it is straight up and down. To properly secure the handle, you will need to work with both the front AND the back of the shield.

This is the last time you will see them apart!

Make holes on the back of the shield where you will be inserting the screws. Turn the screws around and push them from the back. Mark where they land on the backside of the FRONT half of the shield. This is where you will be screwing them from. Remember where I told you not to secure the right wing of the bird? That is because we will be inserting the screw through there and we will use the wing to cover one of the screws when everything is secured.

Measure carefully!

Lookin good!

Following the manufactures instructions, secure the handle. For my handle, I begin with the head of the screw on the FRONT of the shield, with the thread passing through to the back and into the handle. Add glue between the two halves before completely screwing them together. Secure tightly. FYI: mine came with two sets of screws, but I thought that one set of screws would be strong enough. It seems secure with just the single set.

Step 8: Finish the front of the shield by gluing the right wing of the bird over the screws for the handle. Once the bird motif is finished, you will want to start adding more brads to the front.

Laying down the last piece of the bird motif.

These add a nice amount of detail to the shield as well as more contact points to secure all parts together. By adding more brads around the perimeter of the front and back of the shield, we are making it stronger and less likely to pull apart with use. There is no right way to do this…just make sure it looks symmetrical on each side. Also be sure that you stagger them from the front and back so that there are not two brads pushing into each other.

There is no “right” way to put the perimeter brads down.

Once the shield is secured with brads and glue, make sure that there are no parts that seem loose or out of place. If anything seems loose, add a little extra glue (or whatever you need to do to fix the problem). This will be the last time you will be able to make any major changes without it being difficult. The next step after this is PAINTING! We are almost done!

Click here to continue on to PART THREE.

How to make your own DIY Hylian Shield Tutorial PART ONE

I’ve already talked about my love for Zelda. Now its time to geek out over my love of making things!

I love working with new or challenging materials. Initially I had wanted to make my shield out of wood, but without a proper workspace, shared walls, and older neighbors, I thought that may prove to be too messy and noisy. I have worked with wood before, but always in a proper workspace. After successfully creating a tiny version of the Hylian Shield, I decided it was time to get started on my FULL SCALE version of the shield!

Step 1: Gather your materials:

YOU WILL NEED:

Foamcore (in large unbent pieces): I sourced mine from my local art-supply store. Michaels may have them large enough. Be sure they are at least 20 inches (50 cm) square.

Newsprint: (or other scrap paper) to make your template drawings. Or print them out from images you find online. Be sure to make drawings for the front of the shield AND for the back of the shield.

Pencils and Bold Markers to make your drawings on the newsprint and on the cardboard.

Brads: buy a lot of them, I went through close to 75 of them between both shields..

Glue: I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue and it worked quite well.

Masking Tape: .5 inches to 1 inch wide

Rust-oleum “Hammered” silver spray paint

Rust-oleum Primer (White)

X-Acto #11 Blade and Knife

Scraps of Leather or other durable brown fabric or felt.

Paint and Paintbrushes: I used Martha Stewart’s High Gloss Acrylic Paints and an assortment of brushes

Measuring tools: Ruler, compass, protractor, measuring tape, etc.

Handle: Purchase a drawer/cupboard handle and its hardware from your local hardware store. Be sure to use one that fits your hand nicely. This will be the handle on the back of the shield.

Wooden Buttons: approximately 1.25 inches in diameter. Embellishments on front and back of the shield.

Chipboard or (non corrugated) Cardboard for some of the detailing on the front of the shield.

Embroidery Thread: or yarn in several shades of brown.

Step 2: Draw out the templates for the front AND back of the shield. Be sure to make them the exact size that you want them to be. For me, that was 20″ tall and 18.5″ (approx. 50 cm by 45 cm). The shield may need to be larger or smaller to suit your needs.

Make sure you include all details too!

Once you’ve drawn out your templates from newsprint, cut along the outside like in the above photo. You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble by cutting the templates out this way. This would be a difficult project to freehand. Next, trace around the templates onto the sheets of foam core using your pencil. Carefully cut along your pencil line to cut out your first part of the shield.

While you’ve got your ruler handy, make some guide lines on the shield to help you orient the template onto the center of the shield. Make one line down the center and another 1/2 way down the shield. Cut out and mark 3 shield parts in the SAME way.

Step 3: Cut out the interior of the FRONT Template. This will assist in keeping the shield pieces symmetrical Using an X-Acto blade will be much easier than trying to use scissors. You will be using the inner pieces as a guide in our next step. Keep all shield pattern pieces.

Cut inside this boarder with an X-Acto knife.

Once you have cut out the boarder, place it atop one of your shield pieces. This piece will become the top layer on the front of the shield. Use a tiny bit of masking tape to secure the stencil to the foam-core. Trace the inner boarder with a pencil. Use an X-Acto bade to cut out the design. Save the pieces from the center and set aside.

Make sure you secure the stencil/template or it may shift during tracing/cutting.

Here you can see the stencil/template and the pencil lines. Ready to cut!

Step 4: Do the same thing for the back of the shield. 

But here is where things may get a little tricky… or at least different. Depending on the size of your handle and your personal preference, you may give the supporting cross on the back different dimensions. I made the horizontal arm on the cross slightly smaller than the size of the handle. This way, the handle goes around the cross instead of on top of it.

This was cut after careful measurement.

Measure twice, cut once.

Carefully cut out the cross pattern and outer boarder. Make sure that you give the outer boarder a uniform thickness. For my shield, I gave it a 4cm thickness (see photo). This will make it look more finished and will also provide more stability.

I found it helpful to use a ruler to cut straight lines.

Here are the front AND the back of the shield.

Above are the two pieces we just cut atop the two shield pieces we cut from before. We now have two “front” pieces and two “back” pieces. That’s all the major cutting we have to do for today. Next we will add some of the hardware that gives this shield its character and believability. Gather your hardware and tools and meet me back here ASAP!

Click here to continue on to PART TWO.