Monday 14 March 2011

Harry Potter Birthday Disaster...er I Mean Project, Part 3

The paperclay proved to be a disaster. Well that's not quite true. I finished the painting and the clay did not crack any further but the backboard of the shadow box warped horribly and despite many an hour under heavy weights I could not get it back into shape.
This meant it would not fit on to the back of the frame. Which meant I had to start again.
So new frame. Smaller than the last.
Same left over roof tile flooring with a little bit of greenery to hide the gap at the back.
This time I lined the frame directly with bog standard stone effect paper nothing fancy.
A bit of bush greenery in each corner softened the edges nicely. All was going well until I noticed the size of the back board. For reasons known only to the manufacturer the board was the same size as the glass, this meant it fell straight into the frame. I could not work out how the board would ever fit. Surely it needed to be slightly wider than the opening?
Well anyway, the physics of that was beyond me. I am sure there is a really simple answer but what I did was make four sides to frame the hole at the back and cover them with the stone paper providing an edge all the way round.
The backboard could now be glued to this. 
This will be the stone wall for the new floating shelves. With my son's birthday on March 15th I have been a little worried that my teeny Harry Potter dolls would not arrive on time.....but they have!!!
How cute are these?! They will really make him laugh, she says hopefully! Birthdays never seem to be as much fun when you are working and paying rent so I wanted to make him feel that he is still allowed
 to have a bit of silliness in his increasingly sensible life!
Shelves still need to be added and they will each have their name on a parchment scroll.
When everything is glued into place I should be able to place them all in the shadow box. A much simpler project than I had first planned!
Floating distressed steps added along with the parchment name scrolls.
Oh dear! Set light to this scroll but after taking three attempts to get the right font and size I decided to leave it as is. He is deceased after all!
All done just in time for the birthday tomorrow. The back fitted on nicely and I have added picture hooks so it can be hung up, somewhere!

14 comments:

  1. Janice, I'm sure your Son will Love his HP present. I think the little characters are rather cute. Well done you on getting it finished in time. Hope your Son has a Great Birthday Tomorrow.. xxxx

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  2. Thanks Debbie, I can't believe he is 22! Where have all those years gone......

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  3. LOL they certainly make me chuckle! :o))) Such a inventive idea too! :o))

    I know from painful experience that paperclay of anything that's water retentive or even just a paint wash will have a nasty habit of warping/expanding things. If I have anything now that I know has to fit into another thing...I try and let it dry in situ (if possible), that way you know it will fit and hopefully stay flat!

    What you have used here is perfect and no warping...phew! lol

    Michelle xx

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  4. Wow, that's a lot of work. It looks great.

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  5. It's looking great Janice and I'm sure your son will be thrilled with it. I hope he has a wonderful birthday on the 15th. The years do fly, my daughter will be 21 on the 31st, it feels like only yesterday, she was a tiny baby :0)
    Julia xx

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  6. Great job Janice! I love it and I know your son will treasure his gift.

    Victoria ❤

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  7. Janice - it looks great. I'm sure he'll be really chuffed that you made this specially for him and I like the little singed piece of scroll - it's a nice effect (a happy accident!)

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  8. So glad I returned to wall paper...in actual fact it was a very quick project once I had made all the mistakes.

    On to Dobby's box next for my daughter!!

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  9. Janice,you have made a great job and a very funny ,too.I'm sure your son will love it,happy birthday to him :-)!Jeannette

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  10. :o) This is a wonderful gift that Im sure your son will treasure. It certainly made me smile, the knitted characters are just so cute! :o)

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  11. He He, love it, so so different, Im sure it will go down a treat! Im pleased you went with the paper too, I must admit I am not a paperclay person, it scares the hell out of me ! Cant wait o see Dobbys box!Kate xxx

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  12. You did not do all that work for nothing; I'm sure he will love it;-)
    How cute are those little dolls!

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  13. Love the little dolls, But I think I like the idea of Mom making her son something for his birthday is touching! My favorite gifts have always been the handmade ones:) What a great Mom you are!

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  14. This is a wonderful project! I'm sure your son loved it. Mine would. Good job mom!

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