Blog Description

A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

Bird Ornament Tutorial And The Winner Is...

Thursday, September 5, 2013

The first anniversary of 
the Botanic Bleu blog was
August 26, 2013.

In celebration, I had a Give-Away 
for a white ceramic message board 
with a fleur-de-lis. 


Congratulations!
The winner is 
Lisa @
Life Away From The Office Chair

Lisa is a North Carolina blogger who shares 
recipes, crafts, and random thoughts.
You have to see her Best Fried Pickle recipe!

Hop over to Life Away From The Office Chair 
and leave a congratulatory comment for Lisa on 
winning the white ceramic message board.  

Then come back to read how to create 
Bird Ornaments.
~~~~~~~~~~

More inspiration from The Graphics Fairy...



Using Microsoft Word and 
free (yes, free... can you believe it?) 
images from The Graphics Fairy, 
I created four small bird ornaments. 

Supply List
  1. Free images from The Graphics Fairy
  2. Computer Color Printer
  3. Canvas Cloth, 8.5" x 11"
  4. Mod Podge glue
  5. Art Mat Board
  6. Paper Cutter
  7. Ribbon, four 6-inch lengths 
  8. Hot glue gun


Here the little birds sit before getting their hanging ribbons. 


Step 1: Create the four bird images to print.
Using landscape in Page Set Up, I copied the four images from 
The Graphics Fairy and pasted them onto the same 
Microsoft Word document.  


Bird print #1: 
External Parts of a Bird
The Graphics Fairy image was black and white. 
To change its color, I used the Picture formatting options in
 Microsoft Word. 

There are so many kinds of computers, but there is a 
strong possibility that Microsoft Word 
works similarly on all brands of computers. 
I use a MacBook Pro laptop. 


TIP: Make a copy of the downloaded image. 
Make your changes to the COPY so if you 
are not happy with the results, you can start 
over with another COPY of the downloaded image. 

First, click on the bird print you want to change. 
You should be able to see an outline around the image. 
A "Picture" submenu appears in the Formatting Palette.
Above is what the screen looks like on my computer. 

The very first option is titled, "Recolor." 
Its drop-down menu has three more submenus, 
"Color Modes, "Dark Variations," and "Light Variations." 
I could not get a picture of those. 
The third submenu titled, "Light Variations" has 
several options.  I chose "Accent Color 3 Light." 
You know, I just discovered this feature within 
the past week, and I've been using Microsoft Word 
for years and years... 
So much to learn... 


I added a Box behind the image and 
added a colored line Border around the image. 
I did not see a list of what the external numbered parts are on a bird. 


Bird print #2: 
Tulip Soap 
The Graphics Fairy image is exactly as you see. 
All I had to do was to resize it. 
The canvas cloth texture makes these photos extra special. 
The colors seem much brighter on the canvas cloth than 
the colors looked on the practice paper pages. 


Bird print #3: 
Bird with Mistletoe
Superimpose the bird image over the mistletoe image, 
both from The Graphics Fairy. 


Use Microsoft's "Ordering" options and 
adjust "Transparency" to allow the bottom image 
to show through the top image. 


Bird print #4: 
Bird with Fleur-de-Lis 
The Graphics Fairy has links to sets of free fonts
One set is called, "Best French Free Fonts." 
The French font is all fleur-de-lis characters. 
Create a Text Box and fill it with fleur-de-lis. 
Create a Rectangle Box behind it as a border. 
Use "Layer" options to place the bird image 
over the Text Box which is over the Rectangle Box. 
Create colored line Borders around the Rectangle Box 
and the bird image. 
Use "Transparency" to show the Text Box image 
through the bird image. 

Step 2: Print the four birds. 
After formatting the bird images, print practice pages 
to check placement, colors, and sizes. 
Then print out these fine-feathered friends on 
canvas cloth paper from Office Depot. 
I printed all four prints on one canvas cloth page. 
I use an HP Photosmart C5500 printer. 

Let the printed canvas cloth images dry for several hours, 
preferably overnight. 


Notice the packaging descriptions:
brilliant color printing 
quick drying and fade resistant 

When I glued the birds to the art mat boards, 
I used a slightly damp heavy paper "shop" towel to smooth down 
the canvas and to clean off stray Mod Podge glue 
that was on the canvas from my fingers. 
The color did not run, 
and it did not rub off onto the paper towel. 
No compensation from Office Depot; 
just thought you would like to know. 


Step 3: Attach the four canvas birds to art mat boards. 
Cut out the four bird rectangles from the canvas cloth. 
Trace around the perimeter of the four birds 
onto art mat board. 
Use a paper cutter to cut the four art mat boards 
that will be the backs of the images. 
The mat board makes a nice stiff board for 
hanging on a tree, the wall, on a hook, etc... 

I glued the bird prints to the BACKs of the mat boards, 
allowing the fronts of the mat boards to show as the backs 
of the bird canvas ornaments. 
This is a nice finish on the back of the ornaments. 
Cover the back of the mat board and 
the back of the bird-printed canvas cloth 
with Mod Podge glue. 
Smooth down the bird canvas cloth image 
onto the art mat board BACK making sure 
there are no air bubbles and 
all the edges are firmly attached. 
Allow to dry. 


Step 4: Attach hanging ribbons to backs of the art mat boards. 
Find the center of the back of each of the small canvas bird/art mat boards. 
Use a hot-glue gun to attach both ends of a 6-inch ribbon at the 
marked center back.
 I glued my ribbon ends about one-quarter inch to one-half inch below the 
back top edge of the bird canvas/art mat boards.


This allows the ribbon to be folded down behind 
the bird canvas ornament in case you want to display 
the bird canvas ornament  
on a small easel instead of hanging it. 


Hang or prop and enjoy! 

Missed the tutorial on how to make the mossy hydrangea heart? 
Details are in the post entitled Hydrangeas and French Script

That little blue Eiffel Tower in the background 
will be discussed in a tutorial in an upcoming post. 

Oh, what fun I am having! 
~~~~~~~~~~