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Halloween Raven Painting

10/18/2019

This painting is what I chose to mimic for my October Painted Canvas program at work. I run a "Painted Canvas" program once every quarter along with other monthly craft programs, but the Painted Canvas is, by far, people's favorite. With my other craft programs I usually always have empty seats even if the class had a full registration list but that is definitely not the case with Painted Canvas! The seats are always full!

I wanted to do something "spooky" for this quarter's painting program especially since it's October. I had something else in mind originally but ended up picking this one! I followed the tutorial from "Painting with Jane" on Youtube, she's amazing! I didn't go about it exactly as she did. She used a gold metallic canvas (have never seen those before!!) and a paint/gel medium mixture to create translucent paint. I changed mine to just using a sponge on top of gold metallic paint. It's an "ok" effect, and one I think is easier for people in my class but maybe sometime I'll give the gel medium technique a shot!

Supplies:

Acrylic Paint: Gold, Silver, Brown, Orange, White, Black
Paintbrushes - I used 3 different types
Sponge
Canvas/Canvas Board
Large circular object for tracing
Bird cutout for tracing if preferred
Pencil

1. The first step is to trace your large circular object for your blood moon (I used a large plastic bowl). You want it to be nice and big to fill up your background. Paint this circle with your gold metallic paint (you should do 2 coats).

2. "Painting with Jane" recommended using translucent paint so that the colors do not get "muddy". I understood what she meant when I started sponge painting the colors. It did seem to get muddy but I was ok with it overall once it was done. Like I said earlier, I would like to try the original artist's technique in the future. I used a dry sponge and dipped it slightly in the paint, do not saturated your sponge! I started with brown for the dark shadows on the moon, then went into orange, blending slightly, I went back through with more gold to still have the gold represented, it's too pretty not to!

Note: When you paint your moon, it is best that you go outside of the original circle. This is so you don't have an unnatural, harsh line showing through later. I did go over my line but I should have done even more because I feel I noticed where I didn't cover the areas well enough once it was finished.

3. Before we are done with the moon, add some silver highlights with your sponge, you can add a dab of white too if you're feeling daring!

4. Retrace the same object you used to reemphasize your circle. With a flat or angled brush, trace the outline of your moon with black paint. Take your time and be patient on this step. Paint the remaining white space black. I used two coats of black paint. As I put the second coat on, I also mixed in a bit of silver to make the background seem "shimmery". You don't have to do this part, it is a personal preference. You will notice this effect more in later photos.

5. Trace your bird/branch template or free draw a bird if you feel comfortable. Paint this entire space black for a good base coat. I left a spot open for the raven's eye so that some of the gold shows through later.

6. Now it's time for highlighting the raven's feathers. I mixed black with a little bit of white to get a charcoal grey. I used this color to lightly brush strokes of "feathers" throughout the bird, specifically accentuating the tail and wing. I did the same with the raven's face.

7. In between painting feathers, I went in for the beak and tried to mimic the shape done in the video.

8. I highlighted everything with white. I used my smallest/pointiest brush for this and went over the previous grey with light, quick strokes.

9. The last step is to highlight the gnarly tree branch! To do this, I lightly added some silver in various spots then, again, lightly added some white to those same highlights in smaller strokes.

That's really it! Sign your painting with your initials and you are good to go! Talk about an awesome addition to some holiday decor! (And let's all be honest here, this would look pretty good with some glitter too)

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Fairy Lantern PB Jar

10/10/2019

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I've done this fairy lantern craft before with glass jars and people loved it! They couldn't wait to take it home, show it off, and replicate it with kids/grandkids/friends. I left that night feeling really great about the program and that I helped people create something they fell in love with.

Time for some self-shaming. David, my boyfriend, and I eat a tonnnnn of peanut butter. Like, a tonnnnn, probably way more than we should to be honest. We've actually recently cut down on it but, boy oh boy, do we love us some PB.

On that note, I was getting anxiety over using up so many plastic containers. There had to be something I could use them for! With no plan in mind, I started soaking them, washing them, and de-labeling them meticulously one at a time with no purpose at the end of the tunnel.

Then, the fairy lanterns came into mind. I had done it before with glass and thought, well, why not give it a try... I have plenty more to use if it doesn't work! I gotta say it turned out pretty darn cute. I think it's decently disguised but if I were doing it for myself, or for a gift, I think I would choose to add a lot more moss and other items to disguise it even more. Anywho, the instructions are as follows, happy crafting!

Supplies:

Peanut Butter Jar washed and de-labeled
Tissue paper (I used white but I want to try pastels next)
Cut out fairy or other silhouette on thick paper
Mod Podge
Foam Brush
Glitter
Hot Glue Gun
Moss
Flowers
Paint - green, brown, black
Tape
Battery operated tealight

1. I used a half sheet of tissue paper to cover up the PB jar. Tear your piece off and crinkle it up into a ball. Coat a large area of your PB jar with Mod Podge using the foam brush. Carefully, unravel your tissue paper and lightly lay it into the glue. You don't want to flatten it out completely because you want the crinkle to stay in the paper. Continue to do this so the entire jar is covered in tissue paper.

2. Cut or tear the rest of the tissue paper to get rid of any overlap. Keep in mind, to have this area at the back of your lantern so that you cannot see the "seam line".

3. The bottom of your jar will become the top. Mod Podge the bottom and fold over the tissue paper at the end to cover this entire area.

Note: I did not cover the entire lip of the jar so that it can still be twisted shut if desired.

4. Next, I did the same thing with the lid of the jar. I knew I wanted to paint it and glue items to it so I thought covering it with tissue paper would create a nice textured layer for this purpose.

Note: I did not cover the inside of the lid and afterwards, I wish I had. I can, of course, do this at any time but I wanted to point this out. I feel if you do not cover the inside, you can see the red of the lid on the outside. It isn't super noticeable, but I notice it.

5. While the lid is drying, I added my fairy on the inside of the jar. I adhered her with two pieces of rolled tape, one on her legs, and one on her wings. This is better than gluing her completely down. It creates a more natural shadow effect when the lantern is lit up at night!

6. Now that I know where my fairy is sitting, I added glitter to the outside of the jar. I didn't cover the entire thing, just enough to form a frame around where the fairy rests. I used a translucent glitter for this, brushing on Modpodge, then lightly adding the glitter. As the glitter dries, I tap it so that it sets into the glue more.

7. Here is where I painted my lid to camouflage it. I knew I would be adding moss later, but I didn't want any of the white tissue paper coming through! I sponged on a layer of green, then brown, then black with the foam brush, just enough to cover most of the white.

8. For the fun part! I used moss for a more stereotypical fairy lantern look and I am very glad I chose to do so. First, I added moss to the top of the jar. To do this, add a bit of hot glue, and tap in some moss. Careful with your fingers! This is high-finger-burning-time! Keep adding the glue and moss until you feel satisfied with the amount. I wanted to add enough to disguise the shape of the PB jar.

9. Next, add some flowers, leaves, whatever you'd like to dress up the top!

10. I did the same exact thing with the lid and even added a leaf here as well.

Note: I wanted to point out that I noticed the expiration date and other numbers was printed on the plastic and was totally showing through the tissue paper! Eww! I covered this up with yet another leaf and some more moss.

11. The last step is to add your battery operated candle! I purchased mine on Amazon. I chose a tea light that was a little taller than the typical light to accommodate the height on the lip of the jar.

Turn that beauty on and look at her glow!

Were using the PB Jar method at work for a mother-daughter craft program. This makes it even better that we are using plastic jars instead of glass in case we have any little ones attend! We are also including in the description that these are actually Peanut Butter jars and that if you have a peanut allergy we do not recommend attending just in case any residue is leftover.

Let me know if you have any questions!

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Halloween Raven Painting

Fairy Lantern PB Jar

Rebecca Myers

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