Aluminum Foil Birds

We made these cute little birds in art class last week.  They were made out of foil lasagna pans from the dollar store.   I found the pictures I wanted to use in bird books which I traced using tracing paper.  Then I put the tracing paper on top of the foil and went over the lines with a pencil leaving little indents in the foil.  Then before cutting them out, I added the pin-prick detail by tapping a darning needle with a little hammer making a series of little holes to outline the wings and beak and outside edge.  Then I cut them out using scissors (no fancy tools needed) and attached them to twigs and raffia. Can you see them on the mantel - they are kind of hard to see, but I like the subtle detail.

The other change I made to the mantel was that I had to replace the carnations as they finally died.  I bought a poinsettia from the grocery store and cut the branches and put them in the tray.  They looked great ... until we put the fire on in the fireplace.  The leaves were not too impressed with the heat and now most of them are wilted.  I need to find some faux branches or possibly snip some evergreen from the tree in the front garden.

It did this all weekend and now we have loads of snow and everything looks very Christmassy.

And finally I wanted to show you this photo that my daughter Kate sent to me that she took of the harbour in Halifax (can you see the lighthouse over on the left).  The air was so much colder than the ocean that it produced this magical effect.  She's almost finished her last essay and will be heading home this week and will be here on Wednesday.  Yay!