Sometimes, our house feels like the "Lost-and-Found Department" of a nearby shopping centre. Everyone's keys are missing and after a thorough search, the keys usually turn up in the most unexpected places. Here is a nice key holder that one can make. Hopefully, this will help solve the problem of lost keys!
Approximate Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Supplies:
- wooden tile, cut from a tree's trunk, easily obtainable from a florist
- acrylic paint in the following colors: raw umber, Touch of Lilac, magenta, Cobalt Blue Hue, ultramarine blue, Perm Red Deep, titanium white, yellow ochre, and lamp black
- fine paintbrush
- fine sanding paper
- a dry cloth to dust the tile with
- HB pencil
- kitchen knife
- Pilot drawing pen, size 01
- black permanent marker
- fine table salt
- quick-drying spray varnish
- a 10 inch leather string
- three screw hooks
Instructions:
- Sandpaper the whole wooden tile thoroughly. Dust well with a dry cloth before starting to paint.
- With the pencil, draw a design onto the wooden tile.
- Time to start painting! For the background, use Touch of Lilac, magenta, and Cobalt Blue Hue. While the paint is still wet, add some fine table salt to the wet paint, this will cause the colors to flow into one another, creating a softer end result.
- Wait for the paint to dry and then use the blade of the knife to lightly scratch off the salt from the paint.
- For the foreground, use raw umber, Perm Red Deep, ultramarine blue, magenta, and Touch of Lilac. Again, add some fine table salt to the wet paint. When the paint has dried, remove the salt before continuing with the next step.
- Add the first layer of color to the house with watery yellow ochre.
- Use raw umber and yellow ochre for the roof.
- Use raw umber for the door and windows.
- Add shadows to the door and windows with a dash of lamp black.
- Use the titanium white to highlight certain areas on the house, and add shadows with watery raw umber.
- Draw a tree to the left of the house, using a combination of lamp black and raw umber for the trunk, and ultramarine blue, Perm Red Deep, and titanium white for the leaves.
- Add little flowers on the ground below the tree. Basically, this is done by simply making a few small dots of Perm Red Deep and titanium white paint in appropriate places.
- Add a ladder to the side of the house. Use the Pilot drawing pen to do this.
- Add small chickens. This is done by making a small oval with titanium white and then adding a small dot to the one side of the oval with the Perm Red Deep. Add the finishing touches by adding a small shadow below each chicken with watery lamp black.
- Add a figure to the side of the house, and a cat sitting in front of the house.
- Finish it off by adding small birds to the sky. Remember to add a dash of white to the wings of each bird.
- Using the black permanent marker, write the word "Welcome" below the painted picture. Add a dash of Touch of Lilac to each letter to break the monotone black.
- To protect the paint from wear and tear, apply one coat of the quick-drying spray varnish.
- Drill two holes at the top of the wooden tile. Thread the leather string through the holes and make a knot at each end.
- Add the finishing touches by screwing in the three key hooks.
By Benetta from Pretoria, Gauteng
