Author: Craftytimewithdave

37.20.dp.FarmHouse.CraftyTime

Crafty Time

By Dave Pierik, Shelton-Mason County Journal

A garden home

Houses are a basic part of modular dioramas. Happy Tree City needs a farmhouse. This will be fun and easy to create! Time: about five hours or so. Cost: approx. ^$1 (mostly from using some paint).

Tools: ruler & marker, scissors, paintbrushes.

Materials: Corrugated and thin cardboard, regular sand, a flat toothpick, a plastic straw, masking tape, school glue, acrylic paints, small round beads.

1. Walls and floor

The floor, roof and garden are corrugated cardboard, 5”wide x 3” deep. For the walls, mark a 2” x 12” thin card strip, and then fold it for a 4” back wall, two 2” side walls and two 2” sections for the front wall. Tape the front. Cut ¾” window slots from the top. Glue to the base. Cut and glue ¾” x 1 ¼” cardboard doors.

2. Garden rows

Cut some leftover cardboard into loose confetti and set some small round beads aside. Run a few straight lines of glue, and then drop the confetti and beads onto it randomly. Then, drop sand onto it, let dry and tilt off the excess. Let dry.

3. Prime with texture

Bend the outer edges of the roof down, and cut 1/8” shingle edges with scissors, and glue onto the house. Let dry. Mix glue and sand with white paint. With a large brush, paint everything. Let dry.

4. Paint with washes

Coat the house with very watery black paint on the roof, very watery blue paint on the sides. Use dark and light browns and greens on the lawn and garden. Washes are a great way to deepen the shadows of color, and the white below will naturally give you highlights. Build up the color from there, including bold colorful garden produce.

5. Farm fresh fun!

The chimney is a rectangle of cardboard around two bits of straw inside it. Prime it black, and add some red and grey detail. The door handles are bits of a flat toothpick. Glue them on and paint with silver and brass. This colorful, cozy little farmhouse looks great on the table!

For questions, tips and information please email dave@masoncounty.com with your feedback. Visit the Journal office to see the display!

36.20.dp.GasO’SaurusFullService.CraftyTime

Crafty Time

By Dave Pierik, Shelton-Mason County Journal

Gas O’Saurus Full Service

Happy Tree City is a car lover’s kind of town, so it needs a full service gas station. Let’s build one from scratch! Time: about 6-10 hours or so total, will vary depending on how detailed you want to get. Cost: about ^$1 worth of glue, paint and craft sticks (cardboard is free!)

Tools: ruler & marker, scissors, paintbrushes.

Materials: Corrugated and thin cardboard, regular sand, popsicle sticks, bamboo skewers, flat and round toothpicks, plastic straws, masking tape, paper signs, school glue, acrylic paints, clear plastic (from window envelopes, for window glass), small round beads.

1. Walls and floor

Use thin cardboard for walls to make details like windows easier, and corrugated cardboard for a strong floor and roof. The garage base and roof are 6”wide x 4” deep. The height is 3 ½” tall. The back wall is 5 ¾” wide x 3 ½” tall. Two side walls are 3 3/4” wide. For the office, fold a 4” wide x 3 ½” piece in half so the back wall is 2” wide. Glue and clamp with masking tape. The gas base and roof are 3” x 6”.

2. Lifts and pumps

Measure and cut the office front wall, 2” wide x 3 ½” tall with a cutout for the door and window. Glue and clamp. On the gas side, cut 4 bamboo skewers to 4”. Measure and mark ½” from the long edge and 1 ½” in from the short edge. Poke pole ends into the marks, glue in and let dry. Cut 1” from both sides of 4 popsicle/craft sticks for gas pumps and car lifts. Brace to make an “H” and glue a straw piece to one.

3. Mechanics’ creepers

For boards, cut 3 cardboard rectangles, ¾” wide x 1” long. Pillows are ½” square, glue on. Lift with toothpicks and glue small beads for wheels. Let dry, and then carefully remove excess glue. Base coat black then paint boards and pillows red, dry-brush with white to bring out detail. Cut down round toothpicks, poke into the walls and glue in for shop wall mounts for these cool mechanics’ creepers.

4. Windows, doors & paint

Cut out holes for windows, glue on ¾” x 1 ½” tall thin card doors for interior, sides and back. Base coat walls white, floor grey and roof black. Using thicker clear plastic cut a ¾” x 1 ½” door for the front office door. Glue on and cut sections of round toothpicks for hinges, and flat toothpick for the door handle. Cut a straw lengthwise and glue to the edges of the roofs. Glue garage roof and door on last. Add signs.

5. Fun final touches

Glue windows on, finish details and enjoy! You can invent a fun brand and mascot like I did with Gus, the friendly Gas O’Saurus T-Rex bagpiper.

For questions, tips and information (including the Happy Tree signs art featured here), please email dave@masoncounty.com with your feedback. Visit the Journal office to see the display!

dp.PostOffice.CraftyTime.34.20

Crafty Time

By Dave Pierik, Shelton-Mason County Journal

Expanding Downtown Happy Tree

Our growing city needs a restaurant, a clothing store and a post office.

Tools: ruler, compass & markers, scissors, paintbrushes.

Materials: unpainted 6” cardboard building with three awnings (see last week’s Crafty Time), regular sand, coffee straws, milk pulls, masking tape, 1.5” and 5.5” wide paper signs, white glue, acrylic paints, clear plastic (from window envelopes).

1. Set up and plan

It’s a great idea to make more than one of most buildings and terrain to test variations and have extras. From one template wall, we made two 6” square buildings and finished one last week. Think and plan what businesses will be featured next, play with business names and signs, and lay everything out.

2. Textured basecoats

The front of the awning, doors and window “glass” should have no texture, just the base color. For the rest, mix glue and sand in with the first coats of paint. This will add realistic detail and texture to the walls.

3. Découpage

Trim a 5 ½” sign with scissors, paint the back of it with glue and glue it to the side of the building. Adjust placement carefully. Before it dries, paint more glue over the top. Regular school/white glue will dry clear. Press it snug with the building, allowing texture to poke through for a detailed look.

4. Drybrush & detail

Working dark to light, layer (drybrush) lighter colors over the sand-textured walls and edges. Use the hole in the bottom to access the inside of the windows, paint inside edges with glue and place clear plastic. Cut coffee straws to make downspouts in the back. Paint milk pulls black, glue to the roof and dry brush with silver. For doorknobs, cut small bits of round toothpicks and paint with brass.

5. Progress

Over the weeks we’ve built a city, one thing at a time. The stories and fun we can create are endless! Thank you for coming along for the ride.

For questions, tips and information (including the Happy Tree signs art featured here), please email dave@masoncounty.com with your feedback!

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Crafty Time

By Dave Pierik, Shelton-Mason County Journal

Fun with Stores!

Happy Tree City needs downtown buildings. You’re never too old to dream stuff up, let’s make some!

Tools: ruler, compass & markers, scissors, paintbrushes.

Materials: Cardboard boxes, masking tape, school glue, ordinary sand, paper sign designs, thin clear plastic (from window envelopes), and acrylic paint.

1. Templates

Measure and cut a 6” cardboard square. Customize windows as you see fit to make a storefront template. Measure and cut ¾” wide x 1 ½” tall doors. Using your template, trace and cut as many walls as desired. Glue the walls to a 7” x 6” base allowing 1” sidewalk in front, and clamp with masking tape until dry. Glue doors on. Cut windows out &/or trace pencil lines using your template.

2. Awnings

Measure and cut three pieces of cardboard, 1 ½” wide x 2” tall. Fold each neatly in half and check the angle you want with a test fit on the building. Trace the support shape until it fits right, then use it as a template and mark and cut six of those. Turn the building on its back, storefront facing up, and glue the awnings in place, clamping with masking tape. Let dry.

3. Flock with sand

Cut a hole in the base large enough for your hand to reach in. Glue a 6” square for the roof, adjusting to fit. Trace the pencil lines of the windows, seams and edges with lines of glue. While the glue is wet, drop handfuls of sand onto the glue and gently shake off the excess. Let dry. This process is called flocking and it is a wonderfully easy and cheap way to add strength, texture and detail to fine scale models.

4. Paint and detail

To create the illusion of three buildings, paint each a different color, with black between. Paint the side and back windows silver, the doors brown, the sidewalk grey, the roof black. Paint silver dots for door handles. Use an old brush to paint glue to the inside edges of the windows, then place the clear plastic from the inside. Paint glue evenly across the front of each awning and place each sign.

5. Let’s go shopping!

Happy Tree City feels more complete with Toys-O-Rama, Grocery-Mart and the Happy Tree Times. But it needs more, so we will continue next week. Until then, keep crafting. You’re never too old!

For more tips and information (including the Happy Tree signs art featured here), please email dave@masoncounty.com with your feedback!

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Crafty Time

By Dave Pierik, Shelton-Mason County Journal

A Welcome Walkway!

Happy Tree Village needs a safe pedestrian highway crossing, and an entry sign. Easy peasy, we can do this!

Tools: ruler, compass & markers, scissors, paintbrushes.

Materials: Cardboard boxes, masking tape, school glue, sand, paper sign designs, and acrylic paint.

1. Half of a donut

Measure and cut a 2” wide corrugated cardboard ring with 4 ½” diameter hole. Cut in half.  Cut and fold thin cardboard for the steps, these are 1 ¼” wide, with ½“ deep steps. Adjust, glue and tape in place until dry.

2. Base and flock

Measure and cut a cardboard base about 1/8” wider and longer than the feet of the bridge. Glue and clamp down with masking tape. Use an old brush to paint glue along the stair edges. Drop sand on it to flock for strength and texture. Let dry then cut the middle of the base out with scissors.

3. Prime and prep

Start with darker colors first. Mix black, gray and some white paint with a bit of sand and glue and paint everything. While it dries, think about what signs you want, what size they will be and where to place them. 

4. Drybrush and detail

Using lighter colors, dust the raised textures of the model with brown, tan and white. Cut the signs out, paint glue on the backs and glue on. Paint glue over the top, then paint nail dots, rust and aging effects with a mix of brown, copper and orange. Add dirt and grass browns and greens to the base.

5. Welcome to Happy Tree

Now motorists will know where they are, and pedestrians can safely cross the highway.

For more tips and information (including the Happy Tree clubs art above), please email dave@masoncounty.com with your feedback! We welcome your feedback.

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Crafty Time

By Dave Pierik, Shelton-Mason County Journal

A Lighthouse for Safety!

Happy Tree Village at the edge of Table’s Edge Sea needs our help to keep boaters safe from the deadly Great Chair Reefs. Duty calls so let’s make a lighthouse!

Tools: ruler & markers, scissors, paintbrush, and a sharp knife. Be careful with sharp tools.

Materials: Clean cardboard tube can, corrugated cardboard, thin cardboard, Styrofoam, flat toothpicks, clear plastic from a window envelope, large rubber band from grocery produce, masking tape, school glue, sand, a battery-powered tea light, plastic lids, acrylic paint.

1. Measure, mark & cut

For the base, measure and cut a clean, flat piece of corrugated cardboard, 6” square, then cut 1” angles from the corners. For the Styrofoam rocks base slot, cut a 3” round hole.  For the top lamp deck, measure and cut a 3” round corrugated cardboard platform.

2. Tapered tower & rocks

Leaving the bottom of the tube can intact, cut straight down opposite sides from the top and twist them in over each other, so the top is about as big around as the tea light. Mark the edges with a sharpie, glue and tape all the way down. Test-fit the can with the Styrofoam rocks slot. Adjust, glue and let dry.

3. Walkway & lamp deck

Use your fingers and/or a knife to shape and curve the Styrofoam rocks to the base. With a knife, cut a walkway from the edge to where the door will be. Level and adjust the top lamp deck, 3” corrugated cardboard circle, and glue down. Glue and tape craft sticks to the outside for the rail supports.

4. Doors, windows and paint

Glue clear and top lids to tea light. Cut thin card doors, glue on.  Add rubber band for the top rail. Paint all with glue, flock with sand, let dry. Prime in white, prime base in gray. Cut window frames, glue clear plastic to back, cut holes in tower side, glue on. Paint color, touch up. Test, check and adjust.

5. Happy Tree Lighthouse

This beacon will help sailors of the Table’s Edge Sea keep safe.

What would you like to see in an upcoming Crafty Time? Email dave@masoncounty.com with your input! Have you created anything crafty? If so, we’ll share it here if you like. See us for back issues too!

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Crafty Time

By Dave Pierik, Shelton-Mason County Journal

Fun with a Swingset!

Happy Tree Village Park includes a playground with a teeter-totter and a merry-go-round. Why not a swingset?

Tools: ruler & markers, scissors, wire cutters, paintbrush, clothespins.

Materials: corrugated cardboard, bamboo skewers, flat toothpicks, craft sticks, fine chain (such as for bead crafts), color-coated steel paperclips, masking tape, school glue, sand, super glue, acrylic paint.

1. Measure, mark & cut

For the base, corrugated cardboard, 4.5” x 2.25”. Four posts, 2.5” high and one, 3.5” long from bamboo skewer. Three seats, each ¾” wide, from craft sticks. Two cross-supports: cut flat toothpicks to 1.25”. Six swing chains 1.75” long. 12 paper clip bends for seats and top bar.

2. Structure

Test-fit bamboo skewer parts, then poke holes in the base for the posts. Blob glue over the holes and place the poles. Flock glue with sand. Bend them to the middle and glue the top bar on, supporting with masking tape until dry. Glue and place the cross-supports evenly, clamp with clothespins or tape.

3. Assemble & prime

For top bar swing supports, test-fit and glue 6 paperclip bends to the top bar, bend side down. For seat handles, superglue 6 paperclip bends to the outsides of each seat, bend side up. Superglue chains to  tops of seat handles and bottoms of top bar swing supports. Let dry. Prime base and structure white.

4. Details & paint

Dust structure with silver paint, leaving some white for that oxidized look. Don’t paint the seats or handles unless you want to. Don’t paint the chains, unless you want to add rust effects. Paint the grass with 2 greens, and the wear stripes with 2 browns. Kids wind swings around. Test that if you like. 

5. Happy Tree Park

The park at Happy Tree Village now has a swing set. It feels like it was always meant to be there.

What would you like to see in an upcoming Crafty Time? Email dave@masoncounty.com with your input! Have you created anything crafty? If so, we’ll share it here if you like.

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Crafty Time

By Dave Pierik, Shelton-Mason County Journal

Fun with Fences!

Happy Tree Village is missing fences. They are easy to make, so let’s get started.

Tools: ruler & markers, scissors, paintbrush

Materials: corrugated cardboard, round toothpicks, wide and fine acrylic mesh, masking tape, school glue, acrylic paint.

1. Measure, mark & cut

For this example, cut four bases 5” long x 1” wide, and two bases 8.5” long x 1” wide. Poke three pilot holes in each of the smaller bases, and five in each longer base. Cut 22 toothpicks to 2” for posts.

• Glue fence posts

Squeeze a blob of glue over each pilot hole and set up your fence posts. Sprinkle with regular sand, adjust and set aside to dry.

• Mesh it up

Test fit and cut down nylon mesh. Place masking tape on the back side of the fence posts, and paint glue on the front side. Press into place and set aside to dry.

• Details & paint

Mix glue into white paint for the wide mesh, water into silver paint for the fine mesh. Paint two coats of fencing. Cut masking tape to half-width and cover the side edges of the corrugated cardboard bases. Paint bases with a mix of greens. Leave some sand showing near the poles.

• A diorama element

Happy Tree Village now has chain link and wooden fences! They add a realistic touch to everything around them.

What would you like to see in an upcoming Crafty Time? Email dave@masoncounty.com with your input! Have you created anything crafty? If so, we’ll share it here if you like.

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Crafty Time

By Dave Pierik, Shelton-Mason County Journal

Picnic Table Fun!

Ants came to visit and that got me thinking. Picnic tables will look great with our Happy Tree Village diorama. Let’s do it!

Tools: ruler & markers, scissors, paintbrush

Materials: craft sticks, toothpicks, masking tape, glue, cardboard, paint wash

1. Measure, mark & cut

Cut the round edges off of the craft sticks and cut them in half to about 2 ¼” wide. Glue two together lengthwise, support with masking tape and set aside. Cut flat toothpicks down to 1 ¼” for the bench supports and ¾” for the legs.

• Cardboard ‘R’ helper

I was inspired by woodworker jigs and concrete forms. Make a 1” wide valley, the thickness of a piece of corrugated cardboard plus one layer of thin card. This is to get consistent distance and alignments between the bench and tops, and also to support them while they dry.

• Upside-down

Center the table tops at the bottom of your cardboard valley. Tape down. Test, mark and place the benches. Glue toothpick horizontal bench supports, then diagonals, using an old brush to place the glue. Adjust as needed. When dry, trim down legs and bits as needed with scissors.

• Wash & detail

You can rough up the tops and benches with a fingernail or a knife. Then, paint dirty paint water on there to age the surfaces and bring out detail. This is what they call a “wash”. When dry, add some character with a ballpoint pen.

• Happy Tree picnic

Happy Tree Village now has picnic tables, the logical next thing the park needed. They fit and work so nicely they feel like they’ve been there for years. It’s hard to believe I made them yesterday.

What would you like to see in an upcoming Crafty Time? Email dave@masoncounty.com with your input! Have you created anything crafty? If so, we’ll share it here if you like.

crafty time.Park.pierik.26.20

Crafty Time

By Dave Pierik

Shelton-Mason County Journal

Fun at a Park!

Nice weather, childhood and Father’s Day inspired the idea of a park. Happy Tree Village has a bait shack, a drive-in movie spot & restaurant, a castle, a bridge, water, trees, roads and buildings. This park will enhance our village – which is now growing into more of a town.

0. You will need: (Will – there is not to be a photo for this, it’s not a “step”)

Tools: pencil/pen & ruler, scissors, wire cutters, paintbrushes. Optional: Mini-clothespins and a craft knife.

Materials: cardboard (corrugated and thin card), school glue, sand, flat toothpicks, bamboo skewers, craft sticks, acrylic paints, masking tape, colorful metal paper clips, beads, and one plastic bottle cap. Optional: inexpensive necklace chain (for swings, not shown), straws (for slides, not shown).

1. Plan  

We could go so many ways with this! I did a quick Google image search, and then made quick sketches later. Concept sketches don’t have to be pretty; getting them on paper helps. You’ll have far more than enough inspiration to get started on a couple of park creations.

2. Measure mark & cut

Let’s cut corrugated cardboard to make three playfields, two of them 6” square, and one 6” x 8”. Using the inner part of a masking tape roll, I traced a circle for the merry-go-round (3” diameter). Tracing around a bottle cap lid gave me the bases for 10 street lamps (about 1” diameter).

3. Twisty trails

On thin card, I drew several twisty trail pieces approx.  2” wide. The dotted lines are about half an inch from the outside, allowing about 1” wide for the trail itself. Cut more than you think you need, cardboard is inexpensive!

4. Lamps

Cut 10 bamboo skewers to 5” lengths from the pointy side. Test-fit beads. With a sharp pencil, round toothpick or craft knife, poke holes in the middle of each base. Glue the poles in, let dry then glue the beads on, let dry. Add a pool of glue to the center of each base and cover with sand. Let dry then shake off the excess.

5. Merry-go-round

Trim masking tape and wrap it around the outside to cover the corrugated edge, wrapping any excess to the bottom side to leave the top flat. Glue the bottle cap to the center of the bottom side and let dry. Paint the bottom black and the top red. Bend and cut six yellow paper clips for handles.

6. Teeter-totter

Paint three craft sticks yellow and set aside. Cut and paint a corrugated cardboard base, black. Cut a 5” long piece of bamboo skewer for center pole. Cut four flat toothpicks down to 1” lengths. Prop the center pole in place (I used mini clothespins) and glue the legs to the base. Let dry.  

7. Flocking

Run beads of glue along the dotted lines of your trails and other items you need to flock. Drop sand over the top, with a box underneath. Set aside to dry, and then shake of any excess into the box. This adds weight, a raised surface, strength and texture. Keep extra sand in a container for future use.

8. Color

Things in the natural world are colorful. Is a blade of grass green? Look up close. It is lots of colors. So, for the browns in the trails, use a light and a dark but don’t mix them – include a bit of each on the brush. Do the same with the greens on the trail’s edge. Dust a bit of light red on the merry-go-round deck.

9. Painting

Flip the merry-go-round upside down and paint the bottom black. Paint the teeter-totter center pole and legs bright green. Use leftover black to touch up the teeter-totter base.

10. Handles

Make indentations for the paper clips (I used a craft knife, be careful with sharp objects). Test-fit and adjust, then poke & glue your handles in, on the teeter-totter and merry-go-round. Use masking tape to hold in place while they dry.

11. Check it

While the glue is wet, you can still adjust. Check your work as you go. While drying, bits are delicate. Once things are in place, set it aside so you won’t bump it until it is dry!

12. Silver streetlights

Basecoat completely in black, then paint the top 2/3 of each light in silver. You can leave some of the sand showing on the base if you like. Note, the sand and glue at the base help these to balance.

13. Happy Tree Park

Our Happy Tree Village looks like a great place to relax! We can move and add to these park elements as we go.