Bird and Bear Nicho

The base of this nicho is an empty crab meat can.  

It's a little deeper than a tuna can.

I washed it well and made sure to get rid of any odor. 

My next step was to draw and cut out a cardboard frame 

to fit the opening of the can.

I taped the frame to the can with masking tape. 

 Using my homemade air dry paper clay, 

I built up some dimension and ridges

on the frame and paper mached the whole thing. 

It took a full 24 hours to dry before

I coated the whole thing with Zinzer 123 Primer. 

The following picture is the completed piece.

I used an old greeting card for the background and some reindeer moss

for the inside surrounding edge.

The roses were made from my cold porcelain clay.

I used acrylic paints and dimensional fabric paints (which 

may be used on surfaces other than fabric). 

I coated the outside with Liquitex Gloss Heavy Gel Medium. 

Because of the depth and the visibility of the outside

of the can, it needed some embellishing as well. 

I haven't finished the back yet because I have to figure out

how and if I want to hang it.

It sits nicely on a flat surface, but I think it'd be cute hanging as well. 

Once I figure that out, I'll add a meaningful quote and my signature 

to the back and give it a quick coat of the gloss medium. 

Fabric Basket

Here's a fun and fast project that 

takes just half a day to make.

If you like to sew, you probably have all the 

materials on hand. 

~Material

~Fusible batting

~Four Buttons

~Square Template or Ruler

The little unfinished basket in the following 

picture belongs to a friend of mine.

She brought it with her to our last coffee date and let me take it home

to study and make one for myself. 

I used a 15" square template and hers was probably a 10" square. 

After I finished this project I went on Pinterest and typed "fabric baskets" in the search bar. 

Plenty of pins like this came up with DIY's you may link to  

if you're interested in making one for yourself. 

I look forward to making more of these.

I think they'd make great little gifts!

Questions are welcome.

Happy Sewing!

Te Amo Niche Shrine

This project was an experiment

with a variety of mediums.

Paper Mache

Cold Porcelain Clay

Air Dry Paper Clay

Niche Design and Creation

Nothing was purchased for this project. 

Lately I've been trying to create things

 from materials I have on hand. 

I've always loved niche/shrine/diorama art pieces and

decided to give one a try myself. 

This one took me about 4 to 5 days to complete.

I ruined a perfectly good sauce pan cooking the cold porcelain

clay, because I mixed it in the pot instead of a separate

bowl first and then I cooked it too long. 

It made me a little sad throwing that pot away

that I've had for 28 years! Next time

I'm buying a cheap pot from the thrift store and using that. 

That's what I get for being a rebel and not paying 

attention to the suggestions on the youtube videos I watched. 

I found the easiest way to color the cold porcelain 

clay is with markers. Just poke them into the clay and knead away.

Sharpies are fine and won't permanently stain your hands. 

The flowers, leaves, candles, and pink hearts are

all made from the cold porcelain clay.

The big red heart at the top and the center cross are

made from the paper clay. 

I used acrylic paints as well as dimensional fabric paint 

and sharpie markers on the design.

I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out and have started

a couple more. 

Let me know if you have any questions. 

Happy creating.

Terri