Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Bat Wing Headband Tutorial.

This Bat Wing Headband will spruce up almost any Halloween outfit. I tend to wear things like this to the day job all of October.
(Much to the dismay of my co-workers!)
I try to take advantage of every opportunity I can to make folks smile. These little wings made me smile. I hope they make you smile too.



Things you'll need to make the Bat Wing Headband:

1 package of FIMO air for the microwave
Basic sculpting tools
Black and silver acrylic craft paint
Craft paint brushes (Soft or stiff bristle will both work, use what you have.)
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Black maribo or the soft fuzzy part of a black feather
A black plastic headband from the dollar store
Black 1/4 inch wide satin ribbon
Paper and a pencil and scissors
microwave
small tub of water


This is the package of FIMO air for the microwave.



Draw out a bat wing. Mine is about half the size of my hand. Roll out some of the FIMO air for microwave (henceforth called clay!) to about 1/2 cm thick. Place the wing template you made onto the clay sheet and cut around it. Flip the wing template over to cut the second wing out so you will have one for each side.



Fold the edges of the wing up a bit by pinching the clay. pinch the veins into the wings also by pinching the clay from the wing points into the inside edges of the wing.



Make the wings as even as possible. When you're happy with them place them on a microwaveable tray lined with parchment paper. Fill a microwaveable cup up half full with water and place it in the microwave with the tray of wings. Microwave according to the manufacturers instructions. (Do read them, they help!) I microwaved my two half palm sized wings for 3 to five minutes. It worked GREAT!!! No more waiting for clay to air dry!

*Important*
FIMO air microwaveable is a COMPLETELY different product than FIMO polymer clay. Both are really great products but the curing instructions are completely different and should never be confused.

FIMO Air is a very lightweight, air dry water based clay.

FIMO polymer clay is a heat cured product.

I love them both!!!!


After the wings have cooled, paint them with a coat of black acrylic craft paint and let them dry.



Dry brush some silver paint over the high points of each wing.
Dry brushing means just that, use a dry brush dipped in a teeny bit of paint. Rub most of the paint off of the brush and then with a light hand tickle the wing with the lightly loaded bristles to put a dusting of silver paint over the high parts. This will give the wings more depth and interest. It looks way cooler than just mat black!

Let the paint dry.


Gather together the headband, some feathers, some ribbon and your glue gun and glue sticks.


Glue the wings onto the headband at an angle that pleases you. I put mine roughly at the ten and two points of my headband but closer to the top or wider to the side would both be cute.


Add some of the fuzzy parts of the black feathers to the base of each wing to hide any glue. pop a ribbon bow over the base of each wing to dress them up a bit.

Can't wait to wear these!!!!
:D

4 comments:

Jefferey said...

What a great Blog! Creative ideas, inspirational, and crafts that show true artistic expression. Thank-you for sharing your creative ideas with everyone!

Kellie Mowat said...

Why Thank you Jefferey!
I gotta share or I'd explode!!!!
You should wander over to the most recent post

http://makeitwithme-kell.blogspot.com/2011/10/give-away.html

and join in on the clay give away!
Yeay!!!! Fun!!!! Free clay!!!!

Colin H said...

This is excellent, I've been looking for a pair of bat winged headband for a gift to a girl i like, my creative arts is not very good but i'll most defiantly give this a shot, i'm going to put them on a soft plush huskey dog toy for haloween, that way she will get not only the dog gift but she can also use the headband for haloween :) Many thank for showing me how to do it.

CH

Kellie Mowat said...

Hi Colin,

Oh my goodness... what a romantic idea! I'm sure you'll do a fantastic job. She's a lucky girl.
Be sure to let us know how it all turns out. Happy Halloween!!! :D