Belznickle Blogspot

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Grandpa's Wooden Morels

The finished painted morels rest on a mossy bed
just outside my kitchen door.

Grandpa took a trip to Kentucky this last weekend. He visited the Shaker Village, The Kentucky Folk Art Center , Noah's ark, The Creation Museum, and quaint restaurants etc... He brought back these three hand-carved, wooden mushrooms for me to paint. He wanted them to be painted as morels and to display them under a Christmas tree, of course!

Supply List:

tiny soft paint brush
acrylic paints: burnt umber, a redish tan, and creamy white
wood varnish
eye hooks (if you plan to hang them on a tree)
a soft sponge or soft rag

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Make sure your mushroom blanks are clean, free of dust and dirt.
Select the burnt umber acrylic to paint the deeper pits and ridges of the morel cap. Load the small brush with paint at the tip only and randomly place the ridges over the entire surface of the cap only. Let the caps dry.
Layer random washes of a reddish tan water color over the surface. Let dry
Paint the bottoms of the stems burnt umber.
Paint the underside of the caps burnt umber.
Water down the creamy white acrylic and brush this over the surface of the wooden morels. Rub some of the paint off quickly with a soft sponge or soft rag. Let the morels dry.
Brush the surface with a thin coat of wood varnish and let the wooden fungi dry overnight.
Screw in the eye hooks to hang these natural looking ornaments on the tree or leave them without hooks and put them in a woodland display underneath your Christmas tree.

Purchase Wooden Mushrooms:

Left, the unfinished balsa wood mushroom blanks. Right, the first coat of paint.

Friday, August 25, 2017

An assortment of blocks for coloring

Description of Coloring Page: wooden blocks for play, wooden wagon for storing blocks

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Block Related Crafts and Activities:

Can you draw a stocking? It's easy to try; just follow the simple steps below and fill it with the toys you would like for Santa to bring to you!

Left, "Now Tommy was'nt very tall; in fact he was quite short and small." Center, "But he hung up his biggest sock, in hopes that Santa Claus might stop." Right, "And fill it up with presents fine, so Tom could have a jolly time."

A toy rocking horse coloring page

Description of Coloring Page: pretend horse, large enough to ride, safe enough to tumble from, stuffed pony, child sized saddle

The following illustrated Christmas toys may be duplicated larger, smaller, or the same size by the use of a grid drawing system. Read about Enlarging and Reducing Pictures Here. After learning this method you can use these pictures as patterns for ornaments, artwork or for making a picture with them. Illustrations include: a child hanging up her stocking, a pine tree, Santa climbing down the chimney, a sled and a small girl rolling a giant snowball.

Learn to draw using a grid system.

Description of Coloring Page: reindeer in barn, Santa's visit, sleigh bells, antlers, boy greets old friends, barn stall

Young Tommy says, "What's this I see?

Santa's reindeer so close to me!"

He has another surprise in store,

For Santa himself is at the door!

Color the wind in his beard...

Description of Coloring Page: St. Nickolas, snow, wind, holly frame

Once you have colored Santa and the holly wreath for fun, why not try drawing a wreath all by yourself?

Left, "A circle is an artist's friend, you lat it on the desk and then."
Center, "You draw another one inside, some ribbon lines that flare out wide,"
Right, "Some holly leaves with edges fine, and here's a wreath for Christmas time!"

More Links to Christmas Wreaths:

Color and Craft Christmas Dolls

Description of Coloring Page: St. Nickolas, armful of dolls, stuffed animals, sailor boy, bunny, monkey, china dolls too

The foundation for this doll is a lollipop. The head may be traced on a piece of cardboard and painted with acrylics. Miss Lollipop's cap is white crepe paper gathered with a thread and needle. The back view shows the adjustment. The head is pasted to a piece of white around the upper edge to xx, leaving room for the top of the lollipop. Paste and use needle and thread to fasten on clothes. Follow this order in dressing: cap, underskirt, over-skirt, cape, tie. The cap edge should have a frill. All is white except the violet over-skirt and tie. For a Christmas doll replace the over-skirt and tie with red or green colors.