When I first found a used lazy susan at the thrift store, I envisioned making it into a piece of “spin-able” art….but the first one was way to large and heavy to hang safely onto the wall (so it was turned into the wine-barrel lazy susan). I bought a slightly smaller 18″ lazy susan, and made this fun piece of Sticks-inspired art. On the Lil Blue Boo Facebook page I asked people to fill in the blank “I am____” and got some great words and phrases to use (Boo’s contribution was “Iron Man”):
The lazy susan was painted to be a fun piece of wall art that Boo can turn every day and pick her mood:
Today I will be……awesome.
This was a fairly simple project that took about 3 hours in total. The carving was easier than I thought it would be with my new rotary tool and accessory kit:
I also had my expert painter Boo as my helper. The key to painting with a 4-year-old is letting them paint freely and then just fix any large mistakes after the fact….when they aren’t looking.
Here’s how the art piece was made:
Photos 1, 2 & 3: I used a pencil to sketch my design out.
Photo 4: With a rotary tool, I started carving. I found that it is easiest to carve a faint line to serve as a guide and then carve deeper on your second pass.
Photos 5, 6 and 7: I carved all the designs out. They don’t have to be perfect…..I like slightly imperfect!
Photo 8: I used a block sander to clean up any rough edges.
Photos 11 & 12: I blocked in the main colors using basic acrylic craft paint. I like to paint “imperfectly” for character. I let Boo paint the black and white border.
Photo 13: After all the colors were blocked in, I let the piece dry.
Photo 14: I used gloss varnish…..
Photo 15: …..and painted a light coat over the whole piece to protect the colors from the glazing step.
Photo 16: I carved out excess paint from the designs.
Photo 17 & 18: I made a glaze of black liquid acrylic and added some water. I worked it into the designs, quickly wiping off the excess with a damp cloth.
The finished painted piece!
Using my Silhouette machine, I cut out the words “Today I will be” and applied the quote to the wall above where the lazy susan would hang:
Some heavy hanging hardware was used to attach the lazy susan to the wall:
Today I will be……on cloud 9.
I love, love Sticks! Thank you for reminding me about them. You did an awesome job! So cute. 🙂
I love that this is on a wall in your house! I know my kids would love having one too! & I bet gues would find it awesome! Might have to give it a try (i am more of the sewer than the painter when it comes to my craft talents)
I. LOVE. THIS. The spinner is adorable!
I, also, love the Sticks designs and bought a large unfinished lazy suzan at Ikea a few years ago to imitate theirs. I am so glad you put this on here because I wasn’t quite sure the best tools to use to get my project complete. I had practiced on a birdhouse (with a hand carving tool) and it took me a long time to get that done. Now that I see the electric tool, I know I can whip something up! THANK YOU!
As always, thank you for inspiration!…and I’ll send you a link with credit to you!…when I get mine complete!
i see a possibly lazy susan in my future 🙂
I love this! Honestly, this is one of the best, most creative creations I’ve seen in a long, long time!
this is an AWESOME idea and TOO cute! ♥
So Fun!!!
Yay, yet another use for my Dremel!
Yeah, I am going to need a Lazy Susan and a Dremel! Awesome!
vanessa
What a fun and fabulous tutorial Ashley! I hope to try this soon. Thank you so much for putting this together!
I love that and how sweet the says are on the piece. That would be perfect for my grandchildren to use each day. Thanks for an inspiring and wonderful tutorial.
That is such a cute idea! Love it!
What a great art project! Love it!
Your creativity is amazing. Love love love this idea!
Love..love…love this!!
This is a great idea. And looks fantastic!
What a fantastic idea! You’ve inspired me to do something with my lazy susan to make a game for my classroom at school, I never use it for its proper purpose!
Question. I see you have a cord on your rotary tool, but if you were buying one again, would you go with cordless (10,000-20,000 rpm). Just checking because I’m getting one for my anniversary! You know you are an artist when… 🙂
Also, what is the diameter (1/8 in?) of the bit you used for this project? Thanks so much!
Again, so sorry to hear you had such a rough week this week!!!
So cool! This is above and beyond! To think of this, you are so talented! Your kids are so blessed!
This is so cute! I pinned it! 🙂
Cute tutorial!! ^.^
This is adorable. I love it. I need to make this ASAP!
I love this idea alot! You are featured on my blog
http://www.jolynnshobbyshop.blogspot
What a wonderful idea! My sister was just diagnosed with a terminal form of brain cancer and she has 2 young girls. I think this would be awesome for them! They live in Oakland, my sister is a 1st grade teacher but also an artist so art is a big part of their lives and i think they will be very receptive to this colorful wheel. God bless you for sharing your struggle and positive outlook. I will share your blog with my sister.
This is the greatest idea!!! LOVE it!
LOVE LOVE this tutorial.
I LOOOOOVE this . . . I wish you were selling these. I can be crafty – but that’s out of my league! Bummer for me. Love, love, love this idea!
Do you dream of “crafty” projects instead of sheep? Your imagination is boundless and the darling ideas that you share are priceless!
This spinner takes the cake…….
I will show it to my hubby to see if he can tackle it for our 4 grandkids. It would be a great way for them to start off the day.
Thank you so much for all you do for your family and “fans”.
Nettie
This would be great with chores on it so they can spin it and you’re not the bad guy when you tell them chores for the day! Make it so you can change them out every week or something. 🙂
This is adorable!! And I am totally impressed with your carving abilities!!! I may have to add that to my “to do list”. – Dee @ From Wine to Whine