Monday 23 May 2016

Trying to be a good parent ~ The crafty way #3

This weekend I have been super busy getting creative! I thought I would share with you my first creation.

In order to keep Lucy in the living room I created this little barricade.  I needed it to be low enough for Emily to climb over but high enough that the baby couldn't escape and also noticeable enough so us adults, in our dazed state didn't go tripping over it!

The board lifts into place and sits in the gap where the door opens (by the hinges, this helps keep the door open as well so no squished fingers!)  the other side I fixed a scrap bit of wood to the door sill.

The first thing I did after cutting the board to size was to cover it in white tissue paper and use wide tape around all the edges.  I used a 3d glue to draw the flowers.  I was very liberal with it so that it gave it lots of texture. once dried you could feel all the petals and stems.  Very tactile!


Next I grabbed my new Dylusion paints and started to add colour. I actually quite liked it at this stage.  The tissue paper gave the background such a wonderful colour.  You can see the black lines leaving a bit of shadow here now they have been painted over.


I got busy painting the flowers, trying to keep things bold and fun.  Once I had finished with the colour I added some glossy accents to highlight some of the petals and add even more texture.


Now for the fun bit! I cut out petal shapes and glued them to one of the flowers then added a round mirror to the middle (found in the range) I went round the edge of the mirror with washi tape before gluing just to make sure the edges were as safe as possible.  I added buttons to flower middles (using nails to secure them) and added those fun (yet very noisy) door stops.  I also upcycled a pair of old jeans to create a cushioned ridge along the top.


Hey presto, all finished.  Now add children and away you go (honestly I could escape into another room!)



What have you been up to this week?  I have another couple of exciting parenting type posts lined up, one about reward charts and the other about how to make an outdoor abacus so don't forget to follow me so you don't miss out!

I will be popping by Homemade Monday as usual as well as Creative Monday so why not come and say hi!

Jenny xx 




4 comments:

  1. What a great idea which looks so pretty as well!

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  2. It's very pretty, but I wonder how long it will be before she can get through. I remember that awful day when my toddler worked out that you could move a chair and climb up to get what you want!

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  3. I agree, very pretty and practical (for now - just enjoy whilst it is working! They are like little escape artists aren't they, always working on how to get where you don't want them to be!)

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  4. What a lovely idea, so much prettier than a plain baby gate.

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