Saturday 20 June 2015

Something fishy

           Hi guys, after I'm back after a long hiatus. Sorry but I've been rather busy lately. Anyway, getting right to it, this week, I'll be making a wind chime (somewhat) from paper mache, paint, and waste products left over from painting. Lets get started.

Things you will need for this are
1: Painted paper mache fishes (any type, but preferably the 3D ones)
2: Old paint brushes
3: Sand Paper
4: String (I used the elastic type, but you can use any you want)

Collect used or badly damaged paint brushes. Use wooden ones if possible and avoid plastic materials as the next step is not suited for plastic. Try to match the thickness of the paintbrushes as closely as possible.








Sand the brushes to remove paint and make it smooth to touch.











Punch small holes in the top fins/parts of your fish. Try to make the large enough to fit the string, yet small enough to go unnoticed.










Run the string through the hole. Cut off excess string to make the line as short as possible. Cut 4 strings of 25cm and 15cm in length.















Tie knots about 10cm from the top of the 2 25cm long strings. Make the knot larger if you feel one is not enough. This knot will help you hold your paper mache in place.









Cant be seen here, but the knot actually holds the underside of the fish and keeps it from slipping down onto the other fish in line.
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Seal all connection points with strong silica glue. The glue will harden and provide extra support so that your fish won't break of and fall.















Cut off the tips of the paint brushes and glue them together. You may need to use cellophane tape to hold them together until the glue dries.














Make 4 arms in total. Join the middle parts by using string. Once again, I used silica glue to strengthen the connection.















Tie your fish paper maches to the ends of the brushes. Again, I used silica glue to keep the string in place.















(Optional step) Paint the brushes with natural/woody colours. Alternatively, you can polish them and spray on a layer of lacquer.










Add another piece of string and hang it from a suitable place. Another optional step would be to add bells to the strings and make it a makeshift wind chime.















                                                               Thats it! Fish chime.