DIY Cardboard Flower Wreath

I was excited to make a recycled cardboard wreath! My candy-cane wreath is getting old so it is time for a new one. I never really cared much for wreaths until I made that one, but now I kind of enjoy seeing something colorful on my door when I come home. I am easily amused.

So, for this craft you will need a bunch of cardboard rolls. I think I used 12? I’ve been planning to make this wreath for a few weeks now, so I have been saving.

Things You Will Need:
Paint
Newspaper
Hot glue gun
Paint brushes
cardboard rolls
Maybe some paper towels

Step 1:

Cut your toilet paper rolls so the cuts are about 1/2″ wide. You should get about 5 pieces per roll.

Step 2:

Paint the inside of the cardboard roll. Let it dry.

Step 3:

Paint the outside of the cardboard roll. Let it dry.

Step 4:

Glue the cardboard petals together to look like a flower. Similar to the above photo.

Step 5:

Glue the flowers together and possibly add on a few extra petals to make everything look a bit more even.

Step 6:

Add some ribbon for show!

This wreath is great for summer I know it isn’t quite summer yet but I’m hopeful.

A Look At My Sketchbook

I don’t do this much. No, I actually never do this. I am going to show you my sketchbooks from before I graduated from high school. Scary right? Some of these drawings are from 7th grade. I was a strange kid, so don’t judge, haha.

I learned to draw by drawing what  was in front of me. I ripped pages out of magazines with models or celebrities on them and drew them. No one really taught me how. My art teachers obviously had a hand in my learning process but the majority came from imitating what I saw. I’m not sure where the dragons and skulls came from… maybe I was having a bad day? Who knows.

Here we go. Deep breath.

A compilation of the drawings I am going to show you.

 

This is what I mean… I was a strange kid. I went through a phase like this where everything I drew was somewhat dreary. I’m honestly surprised that my 12 year old self was drawing Marilyn Mason. (I actually kind of like his music now.)

 

At some point in their lives every artist tries to draw themselves. Some are better at it than others. This happened to be the first self portrait I drew. Little did I know, in college, I would have a professor that thought it was necessary to draw myself 100 times in a semester. I never want to do it again.

 

This is a portrait of one of my best friends from high school. It was one of her senior pictures. It is not a good representation of her though.

 

Apparently I was much better at watercolor when I was in 7th grade than I am now. No idea how that happened.

 

 

This was an old house in the woods behind my house growing up.

 

You guys remember Missy Elliot, right? She was a pretty big (in terms of success) rapper in the early 2000s. I loved her. Then again, my taste in music was questionable.

I’m actually not sure who this is supposed to be. I most likely found a picture in a magazine of this girl and just enjoyed the layout or colors. I have a painting of this girl too.

 

Ohhhh, Eminem. I LOVED Eminem. Seriously, it was a problem. I had pictures of him plastered all over my room and I listened to his music WAAAAYY too much. I think my parents were beginning to worry about me.

 

Nelly was another one.  I’m not sure what I liked about him because his music was terrible and he wore tape on his face. Again, I made a lot of questionable decisions as a teenager. I suppose it could have been worse though.

 

I know this was supposed to be a celebrity, I’m just not sure which one. My mom really liked this one if I remember correctly.

 

I have no idea where I found a picture of this. I want to say it from a pog or something.

 

I remember drawing this one. It was from a really old Christmas card that my parents got.

 

Dale Earnhart. A guy I worked with (when I was 16, maybe) was a HUGE nascar fan. So I drew this for him and this is the copy.

 

I got bored at work one night and started this drawing. It was such a crappy night because of the snowstorm that no one was coming in and I had finished all of my cleaning.

 

I drew this at the beach one year. I saw it on the bottom of a skateboard and really liked it.

 

I think this one  needs no explanation.

 

 

Angelina Joli. I didn’t even like her that much…

 

I would get discouraged because my drawings weren’t accurate and wanted to throw them away but my art teachers and parents always told me to keep them. I’m glad I did because I can see how much I’ve improved over the years. Especially if I look at the ones from grade school, oh man, those are baaaad. I will spare you and myself and keep those hidden away. It is true, the more you do something, the better you get at it. Don’t give up!

I have a Deviant Art account that I haven’t used in a while but you can check it out if you want to. There is also a page on here (at the top) called Megan’s Fine Art that has some of my work in it. I would love to see your work as well so send me a link and tell me to check it out!

Thanks for taking a look at my work. Hopefully it has inspired you to keep working at whatever your passion is. It has made me want to draw again. You might see another one pretty soon

 

 

Historic Visions of the Future

Via Yahoo News. I love Yahoo News. How depressing is that?

Click the link for more images and information!

A group of French artists designed a series of postcards between 1899 and 1910 that depicted scenes of what they thought we would be doing in the year 2000. Some of them are actually pretty good. Very inventive

Bubble Wrap Prints

Via Mess For Less

Great idea for children. Get some bubble wrap, paint and a bit of canvas (or paper) and you’ve got yourself a beautiful work of art. It is even better when your kids make it for you, so I’m told. Let me know how it goes

Check out the post for the tutorial!

Zindy

If you have ever looked up portraits, drawing, etc. on google you have probably found Zindy. I’ve always thought she was an amazing artist. That’s has quite a variety but I chose a lot of celebrities so you can see how accurate she is. Check out her site for more.

And these too!
Deviant Art
facebook
Blog

Going Green?

Ed Chew is quite inventive. Ed created the TetraBox lamp. The lamp is made of discarded drink packets. The design is achieved by unfolding the packets and refolding them into shapes and sectioning them off to form the desired shape. Wow… :-O

Reality Invasion

No matter how professional we have become, we all had that childhood game (or dream) to have things we draw – be it a cute animal, a character, or a console we wish to have for Christmas – come to life. After all, that’s the time when we could exercise our imagination and express our expectations without any limitations. Some of us never let that phase pass, which is a good thing, because then the rest of us could watch these drawings come to life – with some help from graphic editors!

(Image Source: Macacolandia)

In this showcase, we are featuring 22 lively artworks that look like they belong to the physical world. Watch how creatures, tools and even the artist himself, make you question your ability to separate art from life. Enjoy them and draw inspiration from them to make your drawings alive afterward!

Meanwhile, check out our street art posts for more illusionary awesomeness!

• 3D Street Arts – Part I

• 3D Street Arts – Part II

• 3D Street Arts – Best of 2011

King Kong. Made by Macacolandia, watch King Kong’s face as we threaten it with… a fountain pen. (Image Source: Macacolandia)

Fierce Dog. You can’t stop staring at how cool and creative this drawing is. (Image Source: Macacolandia)

Chef. Draw, or the crazy chef will cut off your hand! (Image Source: Macacolandia)

Bike. Greatly inspired by the works of Macacolandia, Javaraj Paul has his own style when it comes to creating the artwork and illusion that both rock. (Image Source: Ads of the World)

Can. Do my eyes deceive me? I saw a 2D can in 3D! (Image Source: Ads of the World)

Sword. A sword-yielding warrior spells adventure no matter how you call it! (Image Source: Ads of the World)

Drawn That Way. “I’m not a bad guy, I’m just drawn that way.” (Image Source: DrumRoll Studios)

Don’t Get Drawn In. Now that’s a self-portrait. (Image Source: Josh Sommers)

Almost Drawn In. Art imitating life imitating art imitating life? (Image Source: Josh Sommers)

Drawn In Together. A new form of human reproduction! Genuine one by Josh Sommers. (Image Source: Josh Sommers)

Drawing Comes to Life. If you have a god, this is probably how you will look at him, with a dash of curiosity and bit of fear. (Image Source: D4Ybe)

Drawing Sam. He has some artwork done on his body and a body done on his artwork. (Image Source: Elliott.G.Montello)

Drawing Hands. The artwork is greatly inspired by the extremely famous idea from the master artist M.C. Escher. You can also view similar version here, and here. (Image Source: Josh Sommers)

Don’t Stop Me From Drawing. Told you to not draw the strong guy! Nice one, by the way. (Image Source: mezoomar)

Art Attack. It takes a bit more effort to get the idea, that’s why this piece, done by Fanboy30, is cool! (Image Source: Fanboy30)

Draw Your Dream Tonight. Incredible! And it’s not even photoshopped, salute to the deviant WhiteSpiritWolf. (Image Source: WhiteSpiritWolf)

Dancer Sketch. Art? Reality? You can’t really differentiate them even if you know how to. (Image Source: zepaulo)

Stargate Drawing Comes To Life. Besides the awesome composition, I must say the idea is really hilarious, don’t you think so? (Image Source: Scipio164)

That Would So Happen. It will be great if the cute characters you draw come to life, the world will be a lot cuter! (Image Source: winter-ghost)

Neville Longbottom. “Neville Longbottom as a paper child! Hang him from your wall to keep the snakes away!” (Image Source: rockyownsmyheart)

Colin Meloy. Hey, don’t look at me like that, you should not play while baby is crying. (Image Source: rockyownsmyheart)

John Dalton’s Gif. Who is the artist, and who belongs to reality? FredoART is the one who’s a professional at distorting reality. (Image Source: FredoART)

Via hongkiat

Folding Money

Via A CUP OF JO

If you’re giving money as gifts, here are some funny folding techniques. I love the too-cool-for-school Abe Lincoln.

Art of the Toilet Paper Roll by JUNIOR FRITZ JACQUET

French artist Junior Fritz Jacquet has been fascinated by paper since a very young age. Among various other paper and cardboard creations, he transforms plain toilet paper rolls into remarkable miniature masks. His technique is inspired by origami, in that it uses a single piece and folds it into a shape, but has a unique smoothness that deviates from the sharpness and jagged edges of origami, creating shapes that are astonishingly human. The masks are sculpted by hand, then coated with shellac and different pigments. A testament to the power of taking something incredibly simple and transforming it into something impressively expressive, each piece exudes a complexity of human emotion conveyed in just a few brilliantly orchestrated folds.

Via yellowandotherinspiringstuff

DIY Hanging Frames

For this Monday’s tutorial I am going to teach you how to make hanging frames. You can buy hanging frames in stores for anywhere from $15-$75 depending on where you get it.  This one is going to cost you less than $5 and looks really cute!

It is very important that you get craft frames and not finished ones. The craft frames are made of wood and have no finishing or sprays on them. These frames are very light weight and are about $1.00 at Michael’s and other craft stores or $.97 at Walmart. If you get them at Walmart they are in the craft section with the beads and crayons.

 

 

Things You Will Need:
Pencil
Brush
ribbon
Mod Podge
exacto knife
3 craft frames
scrapbook paper

 

 

Step 1:

Choose 3 pieces of scrapbook paper that are similar in color or have a similar design. Once you’ve chosen your 3 pieces cut them to the size of your frame.

 

 

Step 2:

Brush a think layer of Mod Podge onto the frame and press the scrapbook paper onto the glue. Push hard on the edges and corners to make sure the paper is going to stick. Put some pressure on it.

 

 

Step 3:

Once the glue has dried add a thin layer of the Mod Podge on top of the paper. Repeat twice. Make sure the paper is dry or it will begin to ripple to tear.

*Repeat steps 1-3 for the remaining frames.

 

 

Step 4:

Line up your frames vertically and measure the ribbon to the size you are going to need (depending on the size of your frames).  Hot Melt glue the ribbon to the corners of the frames. You want to ribbon to follow the edges and come back down the other side like above. Add in some pictures and you have yourself some decorative hanging frames (that no one will know was only $5).

 

 

 

 

Hopefully you enjoyed my tutorial!