An altered cigar box I made in a class at Zinnia.
And he said, how did you do that? And I said, I'll show you some time
He went right home that day and asked his next-door neighbor, who smokes cigars, for a cigar box.
Well... yesterday, Logan had a free day, and he came over and we made his first altered cigar box. I set up the work table with paints and brushes, paper, gluesticks, stickers, bits of found objects to attach, and Mod Podge (registered trademark). We had a sandwich and started in on the project.
At first, Logan did what just about all of us did, he just sat there. He was afraid to mess up the box. He didn't want to ruin anything. I asked him what he was going to use the box for. He didn't know. Maybe to put important cards in. I said, okay, you may want to first decide what parts of the box you really want to keep, and what parts you don't want. He said, well, I don't know.
So I reached over and ripped off part of the label. Part of it wouldn't come off, so I got out the craft knife (without mentioning the brand, I'll say is rhymes with defacto), and started to coax the stubborn part of the label off. Logan loves the knife thing. He has, according to him, 27 knives--oh, but he forgot about his Scrimshaw knife, that's 28.
Seeing the glint in his eye, I said, now you want to think about what part of the box you want to remove and what part looks neat and you want to save. Once you remove the stuff that won't work, you can make the box your own.
At that point, all bets were off. Logan knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted a cigar box that looked like a safebox which had been tampered with and then burned and then blown up in a pirate-type raid of some kind.
And I said, well, of course. Duh.
And the finished product:
We liked how the chalk work he did on the paper tears created a rusted kind of effect. I'm just sorry I didn't realize ahead of time that we'd need chalk and a butane lighter.
Next up: Logan buys a torch.
15 comments:
Wow I never thought Auntie Chris would turn out to be the cool one!
So now I assume you are trying to lure Trevor into making pipe cleaner bracelets?
Anonymous K
PS tell Logan his box looks really cool.
How fun to do altered art with your nephew!
Chalk and a torch . . . well, of course.
It looks great!
You are the COOLEST aunt! Does he know about Michael DeMing yet?
Oops--I meant deMeng, of course. I blame all typos on the new computer ;-)
fire! brave soul!
love when little ones get all artsy!
What a perfect activity to share...Oh my a day full of memories to keep forever....His treasure box is awesome! :)
What a cool art auntie!! Way to go, Chris. You have done a world of good in that one act of helping him get over the fear of not messing it up. Cool.
What a great first piece...and a great teacher too!
I love the idea of boys getting in on the fun of altered art. Great way to pay it forward... inspire someone!
this is so cool, chris... wow, i love what you told him and what he decided. the chalk and the burning -- truly, i'm inspired! i also love your box...
how have i not been to your blog before?! seeing your face here and there in my bloggy world but never stopping by! it's a lovely spot you've got here... thank you for stopping by my place.
I love this story! Great work Logan!
Susan
So wait, based on a previous post, would this make you the pusher? Passing on that addiction? Loved the torch, chalk, and description. You go girl!
you definitely get a "Wicked Cool Auntie" award & Logan did an AWESOME job! thanks for sharing. :)
What a beautiful box Logan made! Roxanne
well done Logan your pirate box is ace or boss as we say here in Liverpool and I bet my sons would all love to make one of these..now who do I know who smokes cigars!! zilch no-one!! as the UK is clamping down on smoking everywhere..good job I dont smoke!!
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