...musical pears and a paper pumpkin carriage tutorial

...hello dear readers!

Today I will be sharing with you

 a tutorial of

how to make your very own,

 

~ paper pumpkin carriage ~

Here is the bare minimum list of supplies that you will need:

*a paper mache pumpkin

*mod podge (I use the matte finish)

*paint brush or foam brush

*vintage sheet music

(later, you will see what I mean about minimum supplies...)

Shall we get started?

First, I like to hand tare my sheet music into strips

and place them into a dish of warm water

 

I find that when they are hand torn as opposed to cutting

they will receive the water better.

I also soak them because it makes them a little more pliable

and I don't have to use as much mod podge.

Next, place a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper

or even a silpat, under your work space.

It is important to use only these as opposed to like let's say,

newspaper!

Trust me!!

There is nothing worse than anticipating a lovely covered pumpkin,

only to find that once it has dried

and you go to remove it from the newspaper, 

that it has dried actually stuck to the Sunday funnies!! 

I don't think you will be laughing...

Now start applying a good coat of mod podge to your paper mache pumpkin  

after you've covered the entire area,

start placing your soaked paper strips around

the pumpkin.

   

keep your mod podge and brush handy

as you will need to keep applying it as you go around

and the paper covers the other strips.

keep wrapping until you are happy with how it looks.

When you happy with how it looks and feel you have finished,

go over the entire pumpkin again with a final coat of mod podge.

Don't be afraid to use your hands to smooth as you go...

Now you can do any shape you like! 

Like say ~ these pears...

these cracked, not so lovely pears,

 will become ~ 

covered in musical notes!

  

By using the same process as the pumpkin.

and yes,

you COULD stop here ~

and wait for them to dry

and be happy with their new look...

but,

you should know me by now,

and this was just day ONE!

(This is what I meant by the bare minimum supplies.)

Now it would be nice if you could just roll right into applying

this next step,

but it is important to let your music strips dry overnight.

~

Day Two:

~ adding the lace ~

1st ~ prepare your work space like before

2nd ~ run your piece of lace under water and get it wet,

then place it in a glass dish and pour some mod podge over it.

Squeeze it all through the lace,

   

add more if your lace doesn't feel covered enough.

It should feel like you covered your lace in yogurt!

For this next step,

use a plastic to-go container to raise the pumpkin up off of the waxed paper.

This is so the lace can hang down beyond the base of the pumpkin.

Now, drape the lace over the entire pumpkin,

pinching it up on the sides as if you were pulling a curtain back.

Play with it until you are happy with how it looks.

Now take a needle and thread

and just basically stitch through the side gathers,

this will ensure your "curtain" will dry just as you wish.

Do all four sides.

Two in the front,

two in the back.

Fluff your lace around the top of your carriage

and fan out the bottom sides.

When it is dry, it will be stiff but still pliable, just not moveable.

I couldn't resist!!

I did the pears that way too :)

  

...for tiny pear carriages!!!

using the same process as before and

again, let these dry overnite.

 ~

Day Three:

~ embellishing ~

I love to use rhinestone buckles for the carriage doors!

It looks so romantic...

For this next step, use a buckle of your choice.

Draw an outline of your buckle in pencil on the front of your pumpkin.

Use an ex-acto knife and carefully cut where you have outlined your buckle shape.

Here, I am using the Versa-Tool, with the hot knife tip attachment.

If you have never used one of these all I can say is

that it cuts most anything like butter!!

Not necessary, just a little easier and it gives a little smoother cut...

go all the way around your shape and once it is cut,

remove the outlined piece.

Perfect!!

Now glue on your buckle.

I like to use liquid nails in clear.

It's almost like instant gratification!

~ but, use your favorite glue,

and allow your carriage door to dry.

I lay my pumpkin on it's side overnight.

Unless you want your elegant carriage door to slide off!!

The next step ~ you will need some wooden wheels.

Attach them to wooden dowel rods.

Then paint them the color of your choice.

Once dry,

put them under your pumpkin carriage, to see where you want to glue them.

Hot glue these to the base of your carriage.

I used a leftover piece of lace to cover the bottom

and one of my lace Ozma tags.

Now you can add whatever you would like to decorate your carriage!

Here, I used some silk fabric butterflies,

rhinestone button pullbacks,

and grunge dyed ribbons and roses!

Here is the finished pumpkin carriage!

What do you think??

...a silver tray full of pretties.

See the mini pear carriages??

I couldn't find any wheels small enough that I was happy with.

They where all to chunky.

So I settled upon these vintage bells as this is a magical music carriage!!

I also used cameos in place of the rhinestone buckles for these.

Mostly because these pears were styrofoam,

so I needed something to cover the entire hole.

This is a bottle that I covered in lace and then embellished

with grunge dyed roses and ribbons.

I made the tag out of some lace that I mod podged,

but then layed it flat on the wax paper so I could then cut it out like paper.

I then sewed on a lovely, silk Da Vinci women image

and added a cotton ribbon rose out of the same grunged ribbon.

  

added a few silk butterflies...

  

in the back I added a swirly mother-of-pearl button

and a piece of lace and silk

and one final silk butterfly!!

Voila!!

There you have it!

A few pretties covered in lace ~

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial,

and if you make a pumpkin carriage, I'd really love to see it!!

~ 

Happy White Wednesday!!

I'm linking up with Kathleen

over at Faded Charm Cottage 

Stop by and see a few more inspiring souls!

~

On Friday,

I will reveal a giveaway...

until then ~

here's to mod podged lace pretties!