Archive for the ‘Hobbies’ Category
Breyer model horse toys can do something that real horses cannot do, change colors! Not only does your horse get an extreme make-over but you can have a lot of fun in the process. Here are some tips on the materials you will need and how to do it.
1. Paints – Acrylic paints are highly recommended because they are water-based rather than oil-based, so they dry much faster. You can buy tubes of acrylic paint at most art supply stores. In addition to the colors you want for your horse, you will also need to get black and white, which is used for highlights and smaller accents.
2. Brushes – You will need a lot of brushes in different sizes for painting different areas. To get started, get as many as you can afford to get in the 0-5 range of Sable Brushes. You will need some that can be dedicated to certain colors while others can be used for blending colors.
3. Foam Rubber – You will need foam rubber or something like it for blending colors. Some people use cosmetic sponges while others make due with just using their fingertips.
4. Gesso or Auto Primer – Gesso or auto primer is needed to spray on or rub on prior to painting. This chalky substance helps the paint to adhere to the horse better. Gesso is necessary if you are painting an unpainted model made of resin. Other types of models can get by without this step. You can find it in your hobby supply store in black, white and grey colors.
5. Matte Sealer – Just like ordering your pictures from a developer you have to choose whether you want a matte finish or a gloss finish. After you have painted your horse and allowed the paint to dry, you will need to spray it with matte sealer. If you prefer a glossy look, you can choose gloss sealer but most people prefer the matte finish.
6. Photo – It helps a lot to have a photo of the horse you want your Breyer horse toys to look like. If you can get photos from different angles it will really help with shading and highlighting.
7. Clear Nail Polish – This helps add a finishing touch to make the model horses eyes shine.
Now that you have gathered all the materials needed, you can begin the actual process. Before you can start painting, some model horse toys need some preparation. Plastic horses are fine the way they are so no pre-treating is required. However, if your horse is made of resin, china or ceramic, you will need to pre-treat it by spraying it with matte finish. This is necessary to get the paint to adhere to the slick surface.
The next step is to start painting. You will need to experiment with mixing colors to achieve the desired color. Start with light colors then add dark colors, then back to light colors for finishing highlights on the muscles. Paint the underside of the horse first, including the inside of the legs. Allow the paint to dry there before proceeding. Adjust the color for the top side of the horse and paint there. Again start with lighter colors before proceeding to darker colors. Allow the paint to dry before applying the next darker color. Use a piece of foam or sponge to blend and feather the color on top into the color on the underside. Finish up with lighter colors for the highlights and the horse’s unique markings. For the eyeballs and nostrils, it is easiest and also realistic to paint them black. After the paint has dried, applying clear nail polish will help make them shine. After all the paint and nail polish is dried, spray with matte finish to protect the paint. That is all there is to giving Breyer horse toys an extreme make-over!
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The best time for arts and craft projects comes at the end of the year. The spirit starts to drill into everyone around Halloween, working steadily through Thanksgiving, and climaxes with Christmas. It’s this time that we care more for those heart-felt gifts, since we’ve been pretty busy to ourselves the rest of the year.
However, you do not need to break the bank for a warm gift to give someone, as many of us already know. There are always things in the realm of “cute” and “darling”, that can give a wonderful impression to our family and friends.
Halloween can be an easy time to grab a smile from someone with a “Ghost Pop”. All you need is a small lollipop with a wrapper, a sheet of tissue paper, and a small rubberband. (see where this is going? 
Place the tissue paper over and around the lollipop, wrap the rubberband around the base several times, and then draw your “ghostly” face on the pop with a permanent maker. (Careful though, the marker’s ink will spread quickly, just a few dots is usually good enough.) This is an easy, fun, very cheap craft for the holiday, and best of all, the receiver of this gift has a nice snack also!
Thanksgiving is a tough time to give due attention to a nice craft, since Christmas season is starting to wind-up in everyone’s mind. Give it a little effort though, and you can have something to decorate your home with for many years to come. I think a good one is to take a small scrap sheet of treated wood, (wood that has been treated to withstand the elements of the outdoors. A piece about 2 to 3 feet is nice), draw a cartoon-like turkey on it, and then cut or have it cut around the border of your turkey. Then, “color” your turkey by painting it. With a small stake nailed to the back of it, you have a wonderful yard decoration for all to see! (Putting the date, and artist’s name on the back could make it a nice “heirloom” also, if you use a good piece of wood that will last.)
Christmas is the time when stores are packed with shoppers, Stay at home one day and make a few gifts of your own. You may be surprised at what you can come up with! Take an old seasonal dish towel, the kind that have a decoration for the holiday, and an embroidery hoop. (The hoop can be purchased fairly cheap at places like Wal-mart.) Stretch the towel over the hoop and clamp it. Cut the edge of the towel off, and wa-la!, a thought-ful kitchen decoration for someone! (Actually, it would look nice anywhere in the home or even at work for some people.)
Whatever kind of crafts you find yourself doing this year, make sure you are careful, and have FUN making and sharing your “gifts from the heart”. Tis the Season! -Stephanie
Copywright, October 2006
You can find other great projects by going to Stephanie’s web-site http://stephshomeprojects.com
Stephanie is a stay-at-home mom who experiments with arts and craft projects quite often. She likes to say that “What you can come up with is only limited by your imagination, but sometimes you need a little assistance.”