Before
we talk about today's project I wanted to let everyone know that I
will be getting back to the building project soon. I ran out of the
Basswood strips and haven't been able to get enough to move forward.
As soon as I can get some I will continue with the project.
This
week I decided to make some mini stepping stones for the dollhouse
yards. I do need to get the landscaping board started for my Harrison
one of these days. I know I have been saying that for at least 2
years but I really do want to get started. I think the fact that it
is going to be a huge project is what holds me back from beginning
it. Also that I have way more ideas that I will be able to use so I
have to decide what I am going to include and what will need to be
left off.
I
got the inspiration for this project because my daughter and one of
her friends spent a day making real stepping stones awhile back. They
made some really pretty ones and I know her friend is going to enjoy
them for many years. I had used this technique for making mosaic many
times for different projects and decided it would work really well
for mini size stepping stones.
I
used the little 1” round wood shapes for this, they are really
inexpensive and fairly easy to come by. In real life most of the
stepping stones I've come across seem to be about 12” so the size
is perfect too.
I
gave the wooden circles a base coat of craft paint that matched my
embossing powder, in my case white. I found if I skipped this step I
could easily see the wood through the embossing powder after I used
the heat gun to melt the embossing powder.
To
adhere everything together I used a product that I got in the card
making section of a local craft store. It is called Terrifically
Tacky Tape and you can find out more about it here. I have the 1”
wide version and I find it works for all the applications I use it
for. If you do have to lay down more than one strip be sure to
overlap where it meets. I find that it tends to pull away a tiny bit
if I don't, I think it may be shrinking a tiny bit when it gets
heated but I am not sure.
After
covering the surface you are going to put your mosiac on you need to
decide what you are going to use to replicate the tiles used in real
life. I like to use the paint sample strips from the hardware store.
They come in an entire rainbow of colors, they have a nice satin
finish surface and they are free.
I
used some hole punches this time to cut up the little pieces but you
could do this project entirely by just cutting tiny bits with your
scissors. If you need inspiration just take a look online at real
mosaic work, some of it is pretty incredible.
After
I applied the tiny bits to my design I coated the exposed tape with
the embossing powder and then used my heat gun to melt the embossing
powder. This is a fun process but do be careful. I overheated one of
my stepping stones and it was ruined. I'll post a picture of the over
heated one at the end of this blog post so you can see what you don't
want to do.
I
was thinking these stepping stones would be really cute on a seasonal
landscape since there are so many cute little hole punches that are
holiday themed. I can just picture a yard all decorated for Halloween
or Christmas with stepping stones to match the holiday theme.
 |
| this is what happens when you use too much heat on your stepping stone |
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