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Over the weekend a friend and I spend some time building her a
sheet music wreath to hang over her mantle.
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
glue gun and glue
scissors
hole punch
box cutter knife
string
sheet music (minimum 32 pages)
square of heavy box cardboard (min. 6 x 6)
We made an extra large one using full pages on the outer ring
and half pages for the inner ring.
Start by wrapping your first page into a cone and secure with hot glue.
It may take a few tries but you will get the hang of making the cones
fairly quick. For the outer ring Lisa got in the groove quicker then I did,
so we let her hands finish all the outer ring.
While I ran beads of hot glue down the sides of each finished cone to attach the next.
Normally I use 21 cones for the outer ring,
regardless of the size.
Lisa just kept making them so we ended with 24 cones.
 |
| 21 cones so far |
Rather than attached them to a backer to start,
I like attaching them to each other so I can stretch them
into a circle and they flatten out a bit.
PHOTO EXAMPLE BELOW
The second layer of cones we used 23 half sheets.
I got into the groove of making these ones while Lisa was cutting the sheets for me.
Each were glued over the bottom layer seams.
Once the second layer is in place gently turn your wreath over.
You will quickly see or feel how flexible the wreath is right now.
Here is where we attached the cardboard to stiffen up the wreath and create your hanger.
Cut your cardboard into a square and hot glue into place.
Punch a hole for your hanging string in a corner of the cardboard backer.
This step is easy to do with a paper hole punch just before you attached it to the wreath.
Measure and cut your hanging string extra long (you can always shorten it later)
Thread it threw your cardboard and secure it with some glue.
We picked one of the extra pin wheels left over from the Christmas sale
to glue in the center.
Here she is proudly displayed over Lisas mantle.
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Every year I make something for two dear female friends of mine, for their birthdays. This year I decided on Shaker Oval Boxes, and putting a music box movement inside. I saw the plan in a Popular Woodworking magazine and the credit is due to a fellor named John Wilson. His web site is ShakerOvalBoxes.com and has instructions and supplies.
I first studied the instructions, then ordered supplies Id need, then started making the forms. The forms are nice, thick blue foam. I cut an oversized block of foam, then copied a full size oval and adhered it with spray adhesive. Then I sanded down to the line.
Next, I needed templates for making the bands that form the oval box sides. Mr. Wilson sells aluminum ones, but I made my own out of plastic. I figured that "see through" material would help me find pretty grain for my boxes. Here are the templates for the side strip and lid strip.
After tracing these, they are cut out and sanded to the line. Here are strips made from sycamore.
The ends of the strips have "fingers" that need drilling (for copper tacks) and a beveled cut along the length of the fingers (nice touch to make them look more elegant, I guess).
From Mr. Wilson, I purchased a water tray and got a table top range burner from WalMart. The water is heated to near boiling and the strips are soaked for about a half hour. This makes them pliable for bending.
At the hardware store I bought a flange and short length of threaded pipe, then attached these to a leg of my workbench. This will back up the wood for nailing in the copper tacks. The anvil causes the tip of the copper tack to bend on the inside of the wood, so it holds the box closed.
Since I work alone, I could not get pictures of the actual forming process, but the hot strip of wood is bent around the form, then marked, then taken off the form. Then the marks are brought together again and the oval is made permanent by hammering in the copper tacks...lightly. Then the oval is put back on the form for two days of drying. The lid bands use the box band as their form.
I didnt take pictures of making the solid top and bottom ovals. Basically you mill wood to appropriate thickness, use the finished oval band as a tracing template, cut oversized, and sand to the line.
Now, these two boxes are music boxes. The movement is "Simple Gifts" which is a pretty well known tune by Aaron Copeland, from his piece called "Appalachian Spring." A Shaker wrote the lyrics for this tune. I thought it would be nice to include the lyrics on the inside of the lid. To do this I use ink jet T-shirt transfer material. The lyrics were printed in reverse and ironed onto the wood. It took a lot of trial and error to get this right. I think I had 14 failed attempts and 2 successes. But I learned what makes success, so that will help on future projects.
Success! So this doesnt come off I covered the lyrics with 3 coats of polyurethane.
The flat oval tops are placed into the band, then drilled, then held in place with glued in toothpicks.
When the glue is cured the toothpicks are trimmed, then everything is sanded. I sand it all down, apply 3 coats of polyurethane, and attach the music box movement. There is a hole drilled in the box bottom to allow for winding the movement. Also, my finishing touch is to drill a recess and glue in a penny (for the year), and add my name.
The original intent was to use sycamore, but I found that it does not bend well without breaking. It comes close, but tends to break going around the home stretch. So for the actual boxes I found that poplar bends REALLY well. Since making the above boxes I have experimented with cherry and cedar too. Cherry does well for the skinny lid bands, but tends to break for the wider box bands. Cedar does REALLY well, just like poplar. And I have an abundance of cedar and poplar. Below is just a test box. The bottom is made from poplar and the top from cherry. It will be for myself. Since this, I have put a cedar bottom into the poplar oval. And I will put a sycamore top into the cherry oval. Just a nifty multi-wood storage box for the shop.
My friends and I have an upcoming lunch, where we celebrate our birthdays and give gifts. I know they will like their music boxes. I had successes and failures along the way, but the end result is really pleasing and it was a good experience.
Here is the Sheet Music Tree tutorial so many have asked for.
Supplies you will need:
Sheet music book with cover
Scissors
Glue gun and Glue
Glitter
White glue
First cover the bottom of the cone with the sheet music
Cutting a circle an inch bigger then the cone base
and cutting notches every inch or so around for folding up the sides
With your hot glue adhere the tabs up the sides of the cone.
Below you can see the finished look of the bottom.
Using the heavier weight book cover
roll it into a cone shape to make your tree the height you want.
Quickly scan through the next few photos to help you understand what you are trying to achieve.
Once you have achieved the size you want glue it together.
Keep in mind your cone is going to fit inside the base
so the base circumference needs to be considered.
Working with your Styrofoam coneTrim any excess off the bottom of the cardboard cone.
With your hot glue run a bead around the Styrofoam cone about
an inch from the bottom, then slide your cardboard cone over top and into adhere into place.
Below you can just see where the glue ring is peeking out where the cardboard seam.
I chose this method so I didnt have to spend more money on bigger Styrofoam cones,and to get varying heights with multiple trees.
Start cutting your sheet music into strips approx. 1.5" wide.
Next cut into your strips every half inch,
3/4 of the way up from the bottom.
Take each cut and fraid strip and roll it in your hands to curl the edges.
Gently roll back and forth.
With your hot glue gun and starting at the bottom of you tree form,
run a bead of glue half an inch from the bottom around the base.
Trim smaller pieces to fit the missing gaps and glue them into place.
To help things go faster as you grow your tree up,
overlap several strips together and cut your fraid edges.
Continue wrapping and gluing your strips half an inch apart
all the way to the tree top.
Keeping each ban level will create a gap around the top edge
which helps push or hold the next fraid edge curl out more.
Once you get all the way to the top of your tree
you can start to apply some glitter.
These trees look great with or without glitter so of course this
next step is optional.
Add a dab of white glue to the branch tips.
Then sprinkle with glitter.
Now proudly display your trees.
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