Sonya Nimri

My husband and I have a long running alliance with this very special, rare animal- we feel that if we were not humans, we would most certainly be platypuses.  This has led to many a-platypus in our lives: platypus t-shirts, platypus puppets, books, etc... So this year for my husband's birthday I decided to make an embodiment of our favorite creature to hang along side the real taxidermy we have in our house. What You'll Need: Wire Mesh- I used an old screen door screen Wire Cutters Newspaper and/or Newsprint Paper Mod Podge Sponge brush Gesso Plaster of Paris Paints and paintbrushes Drill and screws for mounting it 1.  Make the base structure with wire mesh. This is the back, I sewed it up with a loose wire. 2.  Decoupage over the mesh with strips of paper newsprint. 3.  Paint white with gesso- you can stop here after a few layers if you just want a papier-mache platypus and paint it the desired colors.  At this step, I thought tha...

Talk about a window to another world! With a simple picture book, plastic page protectors, and window paint, you can make your child's bedroom windows into a jungle, aquarium, and zoo all in one. Every time the sun shines, the animals come alive. This is kid-proof stained glass, and a great project for kids 2 and up. We've been working on Grippy's bedroom for a while and have gotten both windows covered almost entirely.  Grippy likes to make dots with the paint to make food for the animals to eat, so any time we have accidents, spills, etc., we call it food. This way, no paint ever goes to waste. What You'll Need: Gallery glass by Plaid or Klutz Squirt on peel off Window Paint Plastic page protectors- any thick plastic will do Toothpick A picture book with animals in it, any children's picture book will do Paper towel Noah's Arc on the window. We use an illustrated animal encyclopedia that we got second hand.  Love this book and it is a great...