Tuesday, October 11, 2011

HTTC - 2 x 4 Mummies


Earlier this year I was stalking some blogs by some wonderfully creative people and I learned about a medium for crafting I didn't know existed: the 2 x 4. I saw some great crafts with snowmen, pumpkins, shamrocks, chicks, and hearts. But as soon as I saw this one I know I had to do it. The 2 x 4 craft I wanted to do more than any of the rest was a family of mummies. Too spooky cute! Then the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County set up a booth at the county fair about recycled crafts. Well my little brain got to working. I had paints from other crafts, I picked up an old sheet at good will, and I dumpster dived for my 2 x 4. Dumpster diving gets a bad rap, all I did was drive behind a sporting goods store and there was a big beautiful dumpster full of wood. The wood was clean and paint free. Why not recycle when you can? I was lucky enough to get the wood for the base on the side of the road. I even recycled the idea, there was a loverly tutorial by Lyndsy from Lyndsey's Craft Spot who was guest posting at the time on Kristikoo, who is guest posting with us later this month....how sweet is all that?!? So I got all my supplies together and got to work on an adorable set of mummies.

Supplies:

2 x 4: cut into 14, 16, and 18 inch pieces
one piece of base wood, mine was 3/4 x 11 cut to 20 inches long
black and white spray paint
white fabric, an old sheet works well here
black craft paint
sandpaper
q-tips
scissors
glue gun
Drill and wood screws (optional)

Step one:
Spray paint your three pieces of 2 x 4 white. Spray paint the base black. I did two coats for both of these. Now I have seen all the cool crafters out there sand off the top edges and corners of the bases and edges of their wood crafts to get a nice country look to it so I gave it a go, you know what they're right, it looks great! Using the q-tip dab on the eyes of your mummy with the black craft paint.
Step two:
Cut up your used sheet into strips, I did 10&1/2 inches long and varied the width. I would snip a little cut in the top and then rip the fabric the rest of the way to get a nice ragged edge on the "wrappings". I wanted a nice used look so I went outside and swirled my rags in the mulch for awhile to get them nice and dirty.
Step three:
I glued a strip on the top of each mummy 2 x 4 first so that I could cover up the edges of it with other wrappings. Now have fun wrapping your mummy in his rags, gluing down the ends to the back of the 2 x 4. Vary the direction of the wrappings to get a more real looking mummy pattern.
Step four:
Set up the mummies on your base to arrange them how you like.  We screwed ours down because we were going to put them outdoors.  I believe some hot glue would be fine for indoor use. Step back and let your family be impressed.
I think the excitement on their faces is for the promise of a cookie, not the mummies.  Dogs......

Happy Haunting,
Kelly, the origami ninja 

2 comments:

  1. What a fun and simple Halloween craft! I love how they are peeking out of the wraps, so cute! :)

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  2. Mummys are so in this Halloween. I love these. So simple to make and they look great.

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