2013 Garage Nativity Mural

Call me crazy!

Cutest stinkin' idea I've seen in my life, and it drove me crazy, and I had to have one.

Only problem is I can't get it in a store, and there's no instructions with the picture!

: (

So, I gave it a try!
4 3/4" styrofoam board from Home Depot or Lowe's like $8 each.
1/2 gallon of dark blue paint. (I got a whole gallon, it was cheaper than a half gallon.)
rafia straw
scraps of white material for manger
brown or cinnamon paint for the manger
scraps of material for each of the characters: 1 yard for robes and 1/2 yard for head pieces.
foam glue (caulk sized and sold in the caulk section) and caulk gun.


I started with 3/4 inch styro foam board from Home Depot. I needed 4 of those sheets of 4' x 8'.

I stood them up and cut off the bottom 20 15/16" x4 ft for the bottom door hinge of the garage door.
I used a steak knife to cut it, then I pulled the foil looking stuff off the one side.

The next 20 15/16" x4' from the bottom was for the next garage door hinge and so on. (in case I cut it crooked, then the next piece will fit against it like a puzzle.)

I did this with 3 boards, so 9 pieces. They would go directly in the center of the garage door. Then I put a short 2' piece on each end. I did it like this for a couple of reasons:
1. my garage door is bent on the bottom hinge due to my impatience and misjudgment as to how quickly the door gets out of my way when I am in a hurry and am backing out, and
2. I didn't want to have a seam down the middle and chop the baby Jesus in half. I didn't think it would look good.

I had some cheap paint at Lowe's tinted a night-sky blue for less than $10. I painted all the cut pieces with a roller brush. I also painted the cut edges so that the white didn't show through and to keep those stupid foam balls from infesting everything around them. (I sealed the edges.)

I used some scrap foam and made the manger 2 ft long.

I glued the straw to card stock paper with hot glue, then I used the foam glue to glue it to the foam.

I glued the baby blanket to the actual poster, then glued the first foam piece down, then glued the foam piece with the straw glued to it down onto the 1st foam piece.

I glued two leftover scraps together to make them thicker and cut them in a profile shape of a baby, put some pillow stuffing on the top to give it some form, then wrapped it with scraps of material till it looked good to me. I glued it all together with hot glue, then glued it to the poster with foam glue.

SHAZAAAMM ! ! ! ! So far, so good !

Cut the magnets on a cutting board with an exacto knife, boiled them in hot water for a few seconds to get them to sit flat instead of being in a rolled shape. (These magnets come as a roll, so when  you unroll them, they tend to stay bent.) Then I stuck them against the fridge to cool off and straighten out. Then, I glued them to the backs of the posters with foam glue.

I cut the fabric at the break in the foam, so we could still use our garage normally.

I gathered the top and it gave good shape for the shoulders.

I hot glued the costume on the foam, cause I needed it to set quickly.

I glued it to the poster with foam glue.

I cut the top pieces at an angle to help them fit under my garage door frame

as the garage door goes up.

A piece to give the shape of the back.

My model for a kneeling shepherd.

This is what my neighbors saw for a few days while I was sick.  lol

Then, I got on a roll and BAM. . . . .

YAY!

DONE!

I am a whole lot crazier for attempting this.

I will NOT NOT NOT make a Christmas prop next year.

: p

We did hang a lighted star above the NOEL.

2013 Halloween Cemetery Pillars

The measurements are about 6 inches wide by 6 inches deep.

It is about 4 feet tall.

My other projects 

were just fine using this construction adhesive, but

when I used it to glue foam to foam, 

the adhesive melted the foam.

The instructions on the glue say not

to use it for foam to foam, however.

There is a foam glue

in a caulk gun size that I should have used.

It's blue and about double the price.

I think it was $4 for a tube of foam glue.

I left a space between the middle pieces so that I could run and electrical cord down the

middle for a lighted jack o lantern.

I weighted the foam down so the adhesive would stick better.

I found a pillar that I liked at a cemetery in a small town nearby.

I drew my design on the foam with a pen, then traced it/melted it with a hot soldering gun.

Painted the grout lines with just a latex paint.

Then rolled over the pillar with a grey latex paint.

I didn't pull the plastic off of the one side of the foam and I

didn't think it would matter, but

it did when it came time to paint it.

The plastic stuck out from between the foam, and

made it frustrating to paint, and

the plastic also showed.

I plan to cut out letters to glue down the front. But, this was a big enough project for this year.

(We also made the fence in this picture this year. It was a very long fence. Tutorial to come eventually.)

The pillars are pretty fun to have in my yard.

I would do it again,

but I would do it right the first time

now that I know.