Did you know that March is National Craft Month?! Yay!
I am determined to do at least one craft a day throughout the month of March. I love creating and trying new things, so this is going to be a really FUN month!
Today I’m reimagining Mourning Dove decoys.
Follow along with me and share your ideas, suggestions, and comments. You can also follow along on my Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/JayDeesBlogPage
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Silver Leaf Figurines
Today was about reimagining and adding sparkle.
A little backstory… When family members have passed, my family has noticed there is usually a Mourning Dove hanging around – especially in places we don’t normally see Mourning Doves. When my Grandma died, my Mom suddenly had a family of Mourning Doves nesting right next to her favorite chair on her patio – where they had never nested before. On that same day, my Aunts (Mom’s sisters) each saw Mourning Doves in their yards in other states. When my Mother-in-Law passed, we noticed Mourning Doves sitting in a tree out in the middle of the country in the old church cemetery where we were burying her ashes. When my Mom passed, there was a Mourning Dove that sat on our roof above the patio where I like to relax. And when my Dad passed, a pair of Mourning Doves visited our Bird Garden – in the middle of a snowy Minnesota Winter.
Mourning Doves will always remind me of the loved ones we’ve lost.
I wanted to have a pair of Mourning Doves that could sit inside our lake cabin to represent my Mom and Dad. A way to always feel their presence among us at their favorite place.
For this project, I bought a pair of dove decoys from the sporting goods section of a local store. Made some minor modifications to the birds with a Dremel tool, then added some silver sparkle. They are going to sit on posts mounted to a block of wood and will grace the living room at the cabin. I believe our loved ones are always with us in spirit. These doves will be a reminder of that.
What You Will Need:
- Concrete Statues or Plastic Figurines (you can use pretty much anything you want)
- Silver Leaf (Gold Leaf or Copper Leaf can also be used)
- Paintbrush
- White Elmer’s Glue or Mod Podge
- White Spray Paint (optional, but helpful)
What You Do:
- Thoroughly clean the figurine you want to apply silver leaf to and touch up any rough spots
TIP: An emery board works very well for sanding small areas to make them more smooth, while a Dremel tool can be very helpful in sanding down large areas that need smoothing. - This step is optional, but depending on your figurine, you may want to give it a basecoat of white spray paint – this will help the silver leaf stay bright and while make it stick better to your surface
- Apply a thin layer of white glue or Mod Podge to a small area of your figurine
TIP: It’s best to work in one small area at a time, overlapping glue and silver leaf as you go. - Use a dry paintbrush to apply the silver leaf to the glue and press into place
- Continue adding glue and silver leaf as needed to completely cover your figurine
TIP: Applying a thin layer of glue or Mod Podge over your silver leaf will help seal the silver leaf and keep it in place. This isn’t necessary, but it can be helpful. - Once your figurine is completely coated in silver leaf, allow it to dry before displaying
Additional Tips:
- Use Silver Chrome Spray Paint – If you prefer a quicker project, you can spray paint your figurines with Silver Chrome Spray Paint. My husband has tried dozens and dozens of “chrome” spray paints over the years, but most simply result in a matte to a shiny silver metallic finish. We know the only way to get a true mirror-chrome finish is to chrome plate, chrome hydro-dip parts, or use a chrome vinyl wrap, so we don’t expect the same results from a rattle-can. But… this Krylon Premium Metallic Original Chrome spray paint gives a smooth, near-chrome finish. The metallic particles are super-fine, and lay extremely flat when sprayed, which results in a finish that is so shiny, you can actually see reflections – something other advertised “chrome” silver paints just don’t deliver. The result on most items we’ve painted reminds me of silver-plating that is shiny, but not mirror-polished. I highly recommend this paint for indoor-only use projects where you want a super-shiny near-chrome finish!
- Mount Your Figurine – Depending on what you selected as your figurine, you may want to mount it on a display stand. For example, I had my husband cut a black cutting board into two 4″ squares, then we used a threaded rod stock from the cutting board to the bird. To cover the rod stock, we took apart two ballpoint pens to use the plastic barrel as a sleeve. Painted the plastic sleeve black to match the cutting boards. Voilà! There are many ways you can create a display stand – be creative!
Make sure to see all my other projects for National Craft Month to give you ideas of projects you might want to try!
I hope you enjoyed this project! Make sure to check back tomorrow to see what I’ll be working on.
