Week 35 {tiny paintings project}
This Week: TINY TRAIL MARKERS
These trail markers are about 5” tall. You can make them larger or smaller, depending on the stack of rocks. Use them to mark a trail for a scavenger hunt, for parties and events, or in the office.
Trail markers are traditionally made from a balanced stack of rocks. But you may want to use a glue gun, poster tack, abc gum, craft clay, whatever you have around, to stick them together. Just make sure the rocks are clean for easier adhesion.
Caution: wire can be sharp, wear gloves and assist children.
Or, get the artwork in the "artwork downloads" column to the right. Print it out on 4" x 6" photo paper, and make sure the print size is 100%. You might need to save the file and print using a photo application.
This art is only for your personal use, and may not be reproduced. And please, if you use my artwork, send me a picture of what you made, so I can pin it to my pinterest board.
FIG. 1 Supplies: Printout, decorative paper (I used craft paper), needle nose pliers, wire cutters, scissors, rocks, 1/8” diameter twigs, ¾” duct tape, washi tape, packing tape, 20 gauge copper wire, ruler.
You can skip the packing and duct tape if you don’t need your trail markers to be weatherproof.
FIG. 2 Cut a strip of paper 1 ¼” wide x 2” tall. Evenly place pieces of washi tape under the edges of the paper.
FIG. 3 Fold the tape over to the front of the paper, so the edges are nicely banded. Fold the paper in half vertically, and cut points on the ends.
FIG. 4 Cut out the art on the black outlines. Stick a tape ball to the back of the art.
FIG. 5 Stick the arrow right in the center of the banner.
FIG. 6 Place the banner face-down on top of a horizontal piece of packing tape.
FIG. 7 Fold the tape over the back to seal it up. If your packing tape isn’t quite wide enough, you can leave an uncovered bit of banner at the top.
FIG. 8 Cut a strip of duct tape the width of the banner. Lay the top edge of the banner on top of the tape (same as fig. 2). Cut a 4” piece of wire. Place the wire at the top edge of the banner and fold over the tape.
FIG. 9 Using the wire cutters, cut a 2” twig. Fold the wire ends up and place them on top of the twig.
FIG. 10 Wrap the wire around the twig two times. Trim the ends and pinch the sharp edges close to the twig.
FIG. 11 Cut a 20” (longer if you want to use a rock base bigger than 1 ½”) piece of wire. Tread the wire between the banner and the twig. Bring both ends of the wire together unevenly,with 6” on one side. Using the pliers, start twisting the wires tightly around the twig.
FIG. 12 After a couple of twists, pinch the wires between your fingers and continue twisting until about 1” of twist shows below the center of the banner.
FIG. 13 Wrap the long wire end around the front of a 1” to 1 ½” rock. Bring the short wire end around to meet it at the back of the rock and tightly twist the ends together. Don’t join the wires underneath the rock, or it won’t stand up.
FIG. 14 Trim the short end and fold the sharp end under. Continue wrapping the remaining wire around the rock, keeping the tension taught. End by wrapping the wire end around the base of the twisted stand. Trim the end and pinch the sharp end down.