As with many of my projects, this DIY flower spider project is a process of inventing it as I advance. I had a general idea of how I wanted the finished product to be seen, but the individual steps to get from the starting point to that finished product were not so clear in my head when I started. So yesterday I found having to rebuild a part of the frame.
As you can see in this photo that I showed yesterday, in that lower row of metal I had maintained the same space (that is, the same measurement of 5/8 ″) between the metal rods that I used in the upper ranks. But that turned out that the lower row of rods was not evenly spaced between the two upper rows of the bars. And this became a problem when I began to bend that lower row of bars. It seemed messy, unequal and not planned.
So yesterday I knew I needed to rebuild that row. But I already drilled holes through metal, so I needed to discover how to do it. After eliminating those metal rods (which took some brute force and pure determination since they remained in place with JB Weld), then I used more Epoxy of JB welding Epoxy to cover the holes that I had already drilled, making sure to push the clay towards those holes while molding it around the background metal piece. I tried to get it as perfect as possible before the epoxy clay dried, and then, when I was completely dry, I used the grain sandpaper 100 to soften it.
This gave me a new base in which I could pierce the new holes, and then I inserted the metal rods again and kept them in its place with super glue. Actually it worked quite well!
Once I had that row of metal rods instead and secured, I used a 1 -inch wooden spike rod to fold that row, just as I had used an empty room paint container, and a can of spray paint for the first two rows. I have to admit that I was quite proud of how all this frame was. I know that it looks like a disaster at this time, since there are no flowers, and everything is an ugly color. But imagine that the united flowers and everything was painted white.
I was also worried about the general size, but once I brought it to the closet and put it on the island, my concern disappeared. I think it will be the perfect size!
PLISE CUT THE VARILLAS. I wasn’t sure how tall I wanted them to be the highest rods (stems), but I think these are too high for a closet.
In addition, I apologize for poor lighting in these images, but this candlestick is the first light in the entire lighting chain in the closet, so without it there, none of the others in this switch will work. 😀
Nor does I plan to keep all the rods in that lower row of the same length. I love them a little more staggered instead of having 16 flowers around the bottom that are exactly the same height.
So I will keep eight of them the height that are now, and then I will cut the other eight about 2-3 inches, so that eight will be here …
And then I will adjust the heights of the rest of the rods from there.
With the finished frame, I was ready to make some flowers. And this is where things left the rails. 😀 But curiously, although my first two flower experiments miserably failed, my level of confidence in this project has increased from 60% to 80% after yesterday.
After watching many videos about how to make flowers with various types of media, he had determined that dried clay in the air would be the best option for this spider lamp. But since I have hundreds of spoons of wood taste at hand, I thought about trying them first. These were a failure. The spoons are not curved enough. As they are so flat, it is difficult to put them in the form of a flower. I tried to glue them to each other, but you can see how flat made the shape of the flower.
That is not at all what I am looking for. So I tried to paste them more upright, but again, since the spoons are so flat, and they are wood, so I cannot fold them at all, that did not work either.
So I went to Michael’s and bought some clay Craftsmart Air Dry. I had already seen several videos about making flowers with dried clay in the air, and everyone looked very easy, so I was quite sure I could do this.
Well, this was a complete disaster. In my humble opinion (although I have never used clay dry in the air before), this product is too humid. He stuck to everything! I couldn’t get it out of my hands.
And after trying to roll it between two plastic wrapping pieces, just when I saw a person after person in the videos I saw, he was so sticky that he would not leave the plastic wrap.
Then, both experiments failed. I think I just need to try a different mark of dried clay in the air. Or maybe I need to go with a baked clay. I really don’t know. I feel a little out of my element here. I only have a small experience with clay, and it has been years since I tried any type of project with a baked clay. But I do remember that it was much easier to work than this, and he did not stick to everything he touched.
If you have any experience with the clays, I would love to know what you think! Is there a better dried clay mark that should use? Should I go with a baked clay? Is there another product that has not thought (or do not know) that is easier for sculpture flowers? Tell me what you think.
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The additional decoration 2 is where I share my DIY and decoration trip while remodeling and decorption of the upper part of the 1948 fixer that my husband, Matt and I bought in 2013. Matt has more and cannot do physical work, so I do the majority of the work in the house for myself. You can learn more about me here.
