kill bill: sword push pins

This week on Iron Craft — Challenge #9: …and the Oscar goes to…. The challenge is to create something reflecting any movie that is special to you, not necessarily one from this year’s Academy Awards.

Now, Kill Bill was never nominated for the Academy Awards (it did, however, get best actress and best supporting actor nominations for the Golden Globes).  But it was the first movie that popped up in my head after reading the challenge description, perhaps for various reasons.  First, I truly enjoyed the Kill Bill movies, lauded for their visually graphic, push-the-envelope, cheeky, not-take-itself-too-seriously approach.  Second, I had already crafted a Kill Bill papier maché project many years ago, back in 2003 when Vol. 1 came out and my group of friends decided to dress up as Kill Bill characters for Halloween.

I was Gogo and I devoted a few hours into making a ball and chain weapon using a balloon, newspaper, glue, metallic paint, and a few feet of metal chain from the hardware store.  I don’t ever know what happened to that craft and I only have these pictures to remember it.  There I am in my cheap black wig, almost eight years ago, flailing my papier maché ball and chain.

Source: Global Prints (www.globalprints.com)

Well, I didn’t want to remake the ball and chain from Vol. 1.  I feel its duplication would rob me of the experience of creating something entirely new.  And sometimes, I really don’t know what overcomes me to come up with some very random crafts.  But after googling Kill Bill for this challenge, I wanted to make use of the graphic conveyed in the poster for Vol. 2, and the thought process transpired as follows: death list — grocery list — sword — push pins.  Just like that, this one idea came within seconds, which does not happen nearly often enough in my culling of ideas.

The thought process of how-to came rather quickly, too.  I had a paperclip right beside my keyboard, and I knew instantly that a miniature sword push pin could be constructed by the simple bending of a paper clip, some 1-1/2″ square paper scraps, glue, black electrical tape, and faux-metal Con-Tact paper (which I’ve recently used to make a faux metal bib necklace and faux metal flowers).

To create your own sword push pins:

1. Stretch a paperclip and bend in half, ensuring that the sides are straight, parallel, and 1/4″ apart.  Apply glue on one 1-1/2″ square scrap of paper.  Place the paperclip along the edge of the paper and roll, making sure the bend is covered and the two paperclip ends are exposed.

2. Cut a 1-1/2″ x 3/4″ piece of Con-Tact metallic paper.

3. Wrap the Con-Tact paper around the paper-covered paperclip.

4. Cut a 1″ strip of electrical tape.  Fold 1/8″ from the edge, sticky sides facing away from each other.  Snip 3 little triangles.  Unfold and you’ll have 3 diamonds.

5. Affix electrical tape on the top end of the paper-covered paperclip.  Again, snip 3 little triangles to appear on the back side.

6. Wrap electrical tape around and trim any excess.  This makes the handle.

7. Cut a 1-1/2″ strip of electrical tape.  Fold in half, sticky sides facing each other, to make a double-sided square of electrical tape.

8. Cut electrical tape square into a circle.  Cut a 1/4″ slit along the center.

9. Slide the paper-covered paperclip through the slit until the circle reaches the bottom of the handle.  Trim the circle and round the corners of the handle.

Now, tack onto your cork board to help you attack your lists of to-do’s!

push pins for bright ideas

For those moments of “Eureka!”, pin up your bright ideas with these adorable push pins in the likeness of 1” miniaturized light bulbs.  I made them from materials I found in my crafting drawers, a couple of items from the hardware store, and a simple, bright idea.

I was motivated to make these in time for the New Year — isn’t it always our collective resolution to work harder and strive for better each coming year?   I hope these little pins will push forth forces of creativity in 2011.  I made and packaged this set for O.T., who is always brimming with bright ideas himself.

You will need:

a. If you don’t have a miniature light bulb (they’re hard to find now that everything is LED), you can use a marble and a 16×3/8″ socket set screw (it’s a screw that has a socket instead of a head).

b. Play-Doh

c. Plaster, a sandwich bag, and a disposable spoon.

d. Thumbtacks

e. An emery board or sand paper, yellow acrylic paint, silver paint or broad-tip silver marker, and Mod Podge gloss.

1. Glue together the marble and the socket set screw to create a light bulb shape.

2. Roll out the Play-Doh to about 1/2″ thick and cut into ten sections. 

3. Press the light bulb shape and pull carefully to create a mold.  Repeat on each section of Play-Doh.  You will notice that pressing the light bulb causes distortion in the shape of the dough, which is why it is best for the dough to be cut in sections for individual molds.  This prevents distorting the previously pressed shape.

4. Place three spoonfuls of plaster and one and a half spoonfuls of water into the sandwich bag.  Mix together by kneading the bag.  You may need to add a couple of drops of water to make sure the mixture is smooth and creamy and can be piped easily.  Cut the tip of the bag.

5. Pipe the plaster into the molds, working quickly as the plaster dries quickly.  Make sure to carefully tap each mold on the table several times to even out the plaster and to ensure there are no air bubbles.  Do not overfill.

6. Press a thumbtack into each.

7. Pipe a small amount of plaster around the tack.  Once more, carefully tap the mold on the table several times to even out the plaster and to ensure there are no air bubbles.

8. Let the plaster dry for an hour.  Remove the plaster from the molds and wipe away any residue of Play-Doh using a paper towel.  Make sure to get all the tiny spaces along the threads of the bulb.

9. Using an emery board or sand paper, carefully file away any uneven edges.

10. Paint the bulb using yellow acrylic paint.  I prefer using the tip of my fingers to paint so there are no brush strokes left behind.  Let dry.  Paint the screw with silver paint or broad-tip silver marker.  Let dry.  Seal with Mod Podge for a glossy finish.

Of course, if you don’t have a cork board and prefer to use a magnet board or the fridge for notes, simply skip the part about the thumbtacks and, after the plaster has dried, glue on magnets instead. 

 Happy creating!