Total Time 2 to 3 hours Ages all-ages
With its cool downtown look, this high-rise music holder will please even the most sophisticated kids.
What you'll need
- A wooden CD-Tower
- 1 qt. water-based primer
- Paint (see Tips)
- 2-oz. bottles of acrylic enamel paint (any colors)
- 2"-wide foam wedge brush
- 1"-wide polyester paintbrush
- Ruler and marker
- Craft knife and scissors
- 1 sq. ft. of corrugated cardboard
- 1 piece of felt (any color)
- Disposable plates or trays
- 1/2"-wide detail paintbrush
- Low-tack painter's masking tape
Helpful Tip:
We used 1 quart each of Purple Mountain's Majesty, Sky Blue, and Parrot Green semi-gloss interior latex paint by Crayola.
Variations:
This project provides a chance to make geometric stamps, which adapt easily to almost any shape when you?re ready to move on to your own designs.
How to make it
- Sand the CD tower if necessary. Make sure it's clean, then use the 2-inch foam brush to coat it with primer. Let it dry.
- Use the 1-inch paintbrush to paint the tower purple, inside and out, except for the roof and base. Let it dry.
- Next, make the stamps. Using a ruler, marker, and craft knife, cut 2 shapes from corrugated cardboard: a rectangle for windows and doors (ours was 2 by 2 1/2 inches), and a triangle for details (ours was a 1 1/2-inch equilateral). You may want to vary yours, depending on the size of your tower. Trace each cut shape 2 times on cardboard and 1 time on felt. Cut these out (using scissors for the felt). Stack the identical shapes with the felt on top and use the 1/2-inch detail brush to apply a ligh
- Pour blue paint into a tray, then press the rectangular stamp into it, felt side down. The felt should be thoroughly coated: Test the stamp on paper. Apply the door by making one stamp on top of another, overlapping slightly, depending on how tall you want the door. Wait for steps 6 and 8 to add details.
- Before you stamp on your windows, create a guide with low-tack masking tape so they'll be even. Stamp on the windows, working up from the door. Tape and stamp windows on the other side of the tower. Remove the tape when done.
- Use the triangle stamp, coated in green paint, to add detail work along the top of the tower and over the door. Let it dry.
- Use the 1-inch brush to coat the roof and the base with green paint. When dry, use the window stamp to shingle your roof with an alternating pattern of stamps in blue paint.
- Use the 1/2-inch detail brush and enamel paint to add people and other details in the windows. Consider curtains, cats, plants, aliens - the sky's the limit.
