Level 2

Big Thunder Vista | Level 2

/ Alex Nadell / Leave a comment
Disneyland Big Thunder Mountain vista wall art painting

Howdy, folks! This here’s the wildest ride in the wilderness, that’s for sure! This project is an artsy silhouette painting of Big Thunder Mountain: the iconic mountain of Frontierland. It features the orange rocks, metallic gold paint, and blue and maroon contrasts. Here’s what you’ll need:

Supplies List:Tools List:
Hanging Wood PlaqueAcrylic Paint Brushes
Metallic Gold Acrylic PaintBlack Paint Pen/Marker
Champaign Colored Glitter Paint (optional)White Colored Pencil
Orange Acrylic Paint
Navy Acrylic Paint
Maroon Acrylic Paint
Dark Brown Acrylic Paint
Gloss Medium/Varnish

Instructions

Start by sketching an outline of the mountain with a White Colored Pencil onto your wood plaque. You can decide where you want the details at this stage as well. Because you’ll be painting over the white, you can make mistakes and changes here. It’s to get the general idea of where your blocks of color are going to go.

The shape is of a tall rocky mountain which you can draw using rounded rectangles and wonky triangles. You can copy my sketch or a picture of Big Thunder you might have/find on the internet.

Mix up some orange paint and fill in your drawing completely. I ended up painting over this part with a darker, more burnt orange. You’ll see in later pictures. This orange dried down to be too peachy. That’s what I like about acrylic paint. If you mess up, it’s okay!

Because it is a silhouette, you can add paint until you’re satisfied with the overall mountain shape.

Add in some dark brown paint in the background to give the mountain some depth. I also painted over this part to be darker than in the picture below. The paint dried down lighter than I anticipated. Again, sometimes you gotta just roll with it!

Dip into your Metallic Gold Paint and imagine where light would hit the mountain. Paint gold shapes that mimic the shape of the orange silhouette.

Think in vertical and horizontal lines for this part. Add bigger sections of gold to the lower-middle of the mountain.

Next, take Navy Blue Paint and fill in a large portion of the lower part of the mountain. The navy represents the shadows of the mountains. This area can be more abstract, though.

This time, think in vertical and diagonal lines. Leave a variety of small and large wonky triangles of gold. Smaller towards the top, bigger towards the bottom.

Fill the lower part of the mountain with navy.

To add some interest and warmth, take your Maroon Paint and sparingly, paint some wonky geometrical shapes over the navy paint. I know I’m using the word “wonky” a lot, but I really mean it! They’re weird shapes!

Also, can you see how the orange doesn’t stand out against the gold? That’s why I changed it to a darker orange. Like pumpkin orange.

Here’s the mountain separated into a couple pieces so you can have an easier time seeing the overall shapes. It’s all about the negative space!

This is where I repainted the orange and dark brown. It isn’t overwhelmed by the other colors now.

Optional: Paint the Orange parts with a Glitter Paint to add some sparkle. It adds a very subtle glimmer.

Using a Black Paint Pen or Marker, draw some lines to create a rickety fence. Avoid drawing any parallel lines.

Connect the vertical lines with horizontal lines.

Cover the painted parts with a Glossy Medium/Varnish to seal in the shiny! Leave the wood raw so it has a nice balance of glossy and matte.

You made it! Yee-Haw!

I’ll be darned! Amazing job, folks. I hope you had a good time. I really love this piece because it’s a subtle nod to Disneyland but still recognizable to any Disney fan. It’s warm, it has depth, and it’s shiny! Who doesn’t love that?

Thanks for making it all the way down here! Please follow us on Instagram and Pinterest for more projects like this. Don’t forget to share with your Disney DIY loving friends and family! We’d really appreciate it.

@mainstreetdiy

All images on this website were taken by and belong to Main Street D.I.Y. If you wish to share an image, please give credit where credit is due! Send the people our way!

Yeti – Inspired by Harold of the Matterhorn Bobsleds | Level 2

/ Alex Nadell / Leave a comment

Speed past the yeti at Disneyland, but don’t pass up this little guy! We’re celebrating the anniversary of the Matterhorn Bobsleds –which opened June 14, 1959– with this needle felted yeti. If you’ve never tried needle felting before, I suggest you don’t do it while angry or distracted! We’re working with very sharp objects!

I’m no expert at needle felting. I have no idea what kind of needles I used, so I apologize to those who actually know what they’re doing!

Let’s get it started by looking at what things you’ll need!

Supplies List:Tools List:
BattingFelting Needles
White Wool Roving Red Thread
Dark Grey Wool RovingBlue Thread
Light Blue Wool RovingSewing Needle
Needle Felting MatScissors

Instructions

We’re starting off with a good big piece of batting. Mine’s about 7 inches long and 5 inches wide.

Grab a Needle Felting Needle and start punching away! The more you punch the denser the batting will get. Think of it like you’re sculpting with clay, but you’re using a needle to direct where your “clay” goes.

The goal is to create a dense oval-like shape that’s tapered towards the bottom. This is the body of the yeti.

Tear off a smaller piece of batting (about half the length of your body piece) and start rolling. Felt the rolled parts, folding the outsides to the middle to create a dense ball. It’s not a sphere… more like a rounded cube. Now you have the head!

Use some loose batting and fix the head onto the body.

The Arms and Legs

Grab a couple chunks of batting about the length and width of the body.

Roll and needle felt until a dense log has formed. One end of the arm should be punched in, but not too much. The other end will have loose batting.

Make one more arm.

Fix the arms to the yeti shoulder using the loose batting on the top of the arm all the way around, under his armpit.

Repeat the steps for creating the arms to create the legs, except they are a little shorter and thicker. The loose batting at the tops of the legs should go all the way around the bottom of the body, but a good portion of it should go to the butt.

Position your yeti in a seated position upside down and needle felt his booty towards his legs.

The Fur

Grab some Dark Grey Wool and tear off small pieces. Punch your needle into the pieces onto the body and shape them into little leaves. We’re only doing this on the chest and back to create dimension. This step is optional if you don’t have grey wool.

Use the Light Blue Wool and lay it onto the yeti’s face. Punch in your needle and direct the edges of the wool into an oval shape. Layer and repeat.

Create a ball with the light blue wool by rolling up a piece, felting it, and pulling in from the sides to the center. Keep felting until the ball has formed. Leave some loose wool at the back to fix it onto the face.

The White Wool will be used for our yeti’s fur.

Separate thin bits of wool and punch your needle into the pieces so they stick together at one end. Use your other hand and pinch the bottom end together to shape it into a triangle. Punch your needle down to solidify the shapes.

Tip: Grab from multiple places on your smaller pieces to create more tangles.

Cut a slice of white wool and cut sections without cutting all the way to the top. Needle felt the pieces into triangles like before to create icicle-like pieces.

Take the separated pieces of white wool and felt it to the sides of the face, the upper back, and the shoulders. The face pieces are short, the back and shoulder pieces are longer.

The strips of white wool will be used to cover the rest of the body in layers. It’s going to take a lot of these! You can either layer top-to-bottom or the other way around. Just make sure you’re not punching in the individual hair locks.

Hands and Feet

Grab your light blue wool and roll and felt two small balls. Keep rolling, grabbing in from the sides to the center and punch your needle in until a dense ball has formed and cut off so that there is some loose wool left.

The feet are the same, just cylinders so you don’t have to pull in from the sides.

We want a crook in the foot (for the ankle) so take the loose end and fold it up with some of the dense part and punch that in place.

Fix your hands and feet in the loose ends of the arms and legs. You should be able to nestle them in and needle felt them together.

Take the loose ends of the arms and legs and felt them to the sides of the hands and feet. You can direct the wool to look more pieced.

Finishing up the Body

Continue cutting those strips of wool. You’re gonna need a lot. Layer them onto the arms and legs either bottom-to-top or top-to-bottom until the white batting is covered. Be thorough with your felting or the hair will fall off!

I worked both directions and it was fine either way, Again, don’t felt the individual locks of hair until your layers are complete. And when felting the locks of hair, don’t do it too much or else there won’t be any definition.

Personality!

Take a small piece of white wool and roll it in your fingers. Punch it on your yeti’s face where his brows should go and trim the excess.

Using your Red Thread, tie a knot at the ends after threading it thru your Sewing Needle. Punch in and out of a very small area under the eyebrows. Criss cross your stitches to create circles for the eyes.

The mouth is just a normal stitch. You can go over it again if you want a consistent line. Tie a tiny knot at the end.

The nostrils are made by punching in near the mouth and pulling back out at the top of the muzzle. You’re going to want to do this two times for a consistent line and tie a knot.

I had a tough time getting the knot to not pull thru. It takes a little patience.

Add some more eyebrow and punch in loose threads for a more appealing and cute face.

My additional brows made him look much friendlier.

You Made It!

Amazing work, everyone! It’s time to find a good place for our yeti to hang out. Some place high? Maybe near a mountain? This little guy is so cute and cuddly, maybe you don’t want him to be anywhere but by your side!

Thanks to everyone who made it down the mountain! Be sure to follow us on Instagram. We post pics from the park on there as well as the final pics of our projects. Follow us on Pinterest and add some of our pins to your inspiration boards! And please share with your Disney, DIY loving friends and family. We’d really appreciate it!

@mainstreetdiy

All images on this website were taken by and belong to Main Street D.I.Y. If you wish to share an image, please give credit where credit is due! Send the people our way!

Tea Party Lampshade – Inspired by The Mad Tea Party | Level 2

/ Alex Nadell / Leave a comment

Clean cup, clean cup! Move down, move down, move down!! Today’s project is inspired by The Mad Tea Party ride at the Disneyland Resort. I love the lanterns that canopy over the teacups and light up in all sorts of colors at night. I wanted to recreate that feeling with this project. We’ll be using some watercolor techniques, but don’t worry. You can definitely do this! Here’s what you’ll need:

Supplies List:Appx Cost:
White Fabric Lampshade$10
Black, Blue, Purple, Orange, Red, Yellow, and
Green Paint Pens and Acrylic Paint		$5-30
Colored Pencil Set$10
Approximate Cost of Supplies:$25-55
*Cost is approximated with coupons/sales and if you don’t already have all the supplies. You may have leftovers!
If the cost is $0, I’m assuming you already have these things.
Tools List:Appx Cost:
Ruler$0
Pencil$0
Jar of Water$0
Paint Brush$3
Scrap Paper$0
Approximate Cost of Tools:$3
*Cost is approximated with coupons/sales and if you don’t already have all the supplies. You may have leftovers!
If the cost is $0, I’m assuming you already have these things.

Instructions

Measure your Lampshade and decide how tall you want your teacups to be. They should be less than a third of the lampshade.

Take a piece of paper and fold it in half. This will be the template for your teacups.

Draw a line to double check the size and sketch in some circles to represent where your “guests” will be sitting.

With the paper fold on the left, draw a diagonal line curving in a little towards the bottom.

Cut out your teacup template. Adjust if necessary.

Trace your template around the base of the lampshade. There should be ample space in between each cup to accommodate handles.

The teacup handles are in the shape of an ear. It’s rounded at the top and curves hard towards the cup.

To make your cups look different, you can change the width of the handles or not have handles at all, as if the cup has turned away from you.

Adding Character

To draw your guests, start with a circle a little bit above the rim of the teacup.

Draw two lines underneath the head to represent the body.

Draw two sets of stick arms and fingers for some guests who are having a really good time.

You can add small tufts of hair, ponytails, or smiles to make each guest unique.

The Lanterns

There are three shapes for the lanterns that will go on the top rim of the lampshade.

Each shape has two thin rectangles on the top and bottom.

The first shape is a diamond, next is a long oval, and finally a double diamond.

Draw these lantern shapes around the top of your lampshade.

If I make this project again, I would make my lanterns a little bigger.

Take your Paint Pens and start outlining the lanterns. Fill in just the outer most part of the lantern. You can alternatively do this with regular acrylic paint and a liner brush.

Use Colored Pencils to fill in the rest of the lantern shape.

Once dry, use a black paint pen or acrylic paint to fill in the rectangles on the top and bottom of the lanterns.

The diamond shaped lanterns have this squiggle design on them.

Complete your lanterns all the way around the lampshade.

Warning: Because the lampshade is fabric, paints will bleed if wet!

Fill in your teacups and guests with black. Make sure everything is bone dry first!

Paint Time

To make the lanterns come to life, we’ll be using acrylic paint and water.

Using a wet Paint Brush, dip into your color and paint a circle under each lantern. The color should match the lantern’s color.

Quickly get more water on your brush and soak the spot you painted while rubbing it around where you want color to go. Repeat as necessary.

Here’s a step by step of how to apply your paint. Make sure the black is completely dry before doing this or it will bleed.

Do the lantern’s lights first and then fill in around with different colors.

Tip: Be careful! Colors opposite on the color wheel will turn grey and muddy when mixed. (yellow + purple, red + green, blue + orange)

Use paint pens to draw lines of colored light on your guests depending on which colored lantern they’re under.

Cover all white spots with color.

You made it!

Fantastic job, everyone! This is a fun project if you have a room that needs a little color and a touch of madness. It makes me happy seeing this all lit up just like the ride at the park. I can’t wait to ride it again and hear those whistling teapots!

A scene with the lamp and a teacup
Close up of a lampshade with people riding teacups
Lampshade with watercolor like background and people riding teacups lining the bottom.

Thanks for making it ALLLL the way down here in Wonderland! Please be sure to check out our Instagram and Pinterest. Follow us for more projects like this and photos from the park! If you have a DIY, Disney loving friend or family member, consider sharing this with them. We’d really appreciate it!

@mainstreetdiy

All images on this website were taken by and belong to Main Street D.I.Y. If you wish to share an image, please give credit where credit is due! Send the people our way!

Easter Basket-Inspired by Minnie Mouse | Level 1

/ Alex Nadell / Leave a comment

Happy April! It’s Easter time and you’re in need of a cute DIY basket inspired by the one-and-only Minnie Mouse. I chose to represent her blue polka dot outfit for those Springtime feels. This project can be done by kids who are able to operate a hot glue gun. I recommend ages 8+ with adult supervision.

Here are the supplies you’ll need. I found my basket at Michael’s. It’s a wooden basket that has flat vertical slats. Go for a basket that is flat sided and has a handle that can more-or-less stand up on its own.

Supply List:Appx Cost:
White Wooden Basket with Handle$6.30
9×12″ Foam Sheet$0.80
Assorted Yellow and White Paper Flowers$5
Red Acrylic Paint– matte$1
Yellow Acrylic Paint-matte$1
White Acrylic Paint– matte$1
Turquoise Blue Acrylic Paint– matte$1
Black Acrylic Paint– matte$1
Rhinestone Brads or any little round accent$3
A Larger Round Mug/Cup$0
A Glass or Cup$0
Scrap Construction Paper/Paper$0
*Approximate Cost of Supplies$20.10+tax
*Cost is approximated with coupons/sales and if you don’t already have all the supplies
Tool List:Appx Cost:
Hot Glue Gun + Glue$10
Paint Brush$0.80
Pencil$0
Tape$1
*Approximate Cost of Supplies$12.30+tax
*Cost is approximated with coupons/sales and if you don’t already have all the supplies

Instructions:

If your basket is as big as mine, you’re going to need a big mug to get the right proportion for the ears. If you have a small basket, make sure you choose a cup that is appropriate for the size.

Tip: You can try out different sizes by cutting out various sized circles from scrap paper and holding it up on your handle.

Trace around your cup on the edge of the Foam Piece. Measure the size of your handle–my handle was flat, so I measured the width of it and doubled that number.

Then, mark the distance on top of where you drew your first circle. We’ll call that your Handle Distance. The mug in the picture shows my measurement. Feel free to scroll down to check what they look like when they’re cut out.

Do the same thing right next to your first circle. To avoid readjusting your foam, make sure you’ve lined up the circles and the hat. More on that next.

Next to your second circle, draw a little hat. The way you do that is to draw a rectangle that would suit the size of your basket–a little wider than your circles and about the same height–then draw a shallow curve on the outer long side. The curve should be on the outside, closest to the edge of the foam piece. Mark the same handle distance as the circles.

Tip: I curved the sides of my rectangle to make it more cartoony.

Fold the foam piece over in the center of your handle distance. Cut out your shapes keeping the actual fold in tact.

Tip: I used tape to hold down the edge as I cut.

Unfold your shapes and paint your ears black on both sides.

Paint the hat red and the handle distance black on both sides.

Make a template!

Using a piece of scrap paper and a cup that’s smaller than your ear circles, make a polka dot pattern template.

Cut out your circles and tape or secure it onto your basket.

Use a pencil to draw your circles, moving the template over as needed to finish around your basket.

Let’s Paint!

Painting the sides was a bit tricky and time consuming. If you’re in a rush, I’d say you could glue on circles of paper or foam instead of painting them.

Start painting the blue background. Be careful not to paint inside the circles you drew.

Paint your circles white. Follow that up with painting the handle black, the top rim–inside and out–baby pink. You can make pink by mixing your red and white paint. If you did a good job painting the blue, you might not have to paint your circles white.

Finally, paint the bottom rim yellow. It doesn’t have to be perfect. We’re covering most of it with flowers.

The Final Touches

Dot some hot glue onto the handle distance portion of the ear. Make sure you’re even so the front and back of the ear lines up. If you’re good-to-go, glue the front and back of the ear together. Do this for both ears.

In the same fashion, hot glue the hat, placing it in front of the left ear. Glue the hat to the front of the ear. Top off your hat with a white paper flower with a rhinestone brad in the center. Or just use a sequin, rhinestone, or button. Just a little accent.

Add the paper flowers to the bottom rim with hot glue.

Create a hidden Mickey with the flowers. Glue to the top right of your rim on the front of the basket. I used the rhinestone brads here, but feel free to use whatever accent like I mentioned before.

Et Voilà! You Made It!

Congrats! I hope you liked this project.

May this bring a little magic to your homes as Easter approaches. This isn’t the easiest Level 1 project, again I’d say it’s good for ages 8+ with supervision. I’m glad I got to share it with you. Stay safe and healthy, everyone!

Thanks to everyone who made it til the end! Let us know if you made this Minnie-inspired Easter basket by tagging us on Instagram!! If you can’t make it right now, there’s always next year. Or hey, just for fun when you can!

@mainstreetdiy

All images on this website were taken by and belong to Main Street D.I.Y. If you wish to share an image, please give credit where credit is due! Send the people our way!

Spring Wreath-Inspired by Daisy Duck | Level 2

/ Alex Nadell / Leave a comment

It’s the first day of Spring 2020 and it’s the first project we’ll be doing here on Main Street DIY! I’m so excited! I hope that this project is something you can enjoy even if you can’t go out to the craft store to pick up supplies right now. I hope that this is something you can look forward to making.

Without further ado…this is the Daisy Duck inspired Spring Wreath and the supplies you’ll need!

Supplies List:Appx Cost:
12″ Floral Ring$3
6ft Garland with Purple Flowers$10
9 Large White Daisies$5
Long Stem with Leaves$4
4 Yellow Cattail-Like Flowers$1
3 Small Yellow Daisies$2
White Feathers$3
1.5″ Pink Wired Ribbon$2
*Total Appx Cost:$30 + tax
*Cost is approximated with coupons/sales and if you don’t already have all the supplies
Tools List:Appx Cost:
Clear Hot Glue + Hot Glue Gun$10
Wire Cutters$4
*Total Approximate Cost of Tools:$14 + tax
*Cost is approximated with coupons/sales and if you don’t already have all the supplies

(Please note that the supply links may not last forever since flowers tend to be seasonal items at craft stores. I will update as needed.)

Instructions:

Place the Garland with the purple flowers on the Ring, following its shape. The first wrap should be placed towards the opening in the ring, the second should go outside of the first–and so on if your garland is super long. Make sure you like the placement before hot gluing down.

Tip: I put one of the plastic ends of the garland thru a hole in the ring and glued it down in the back before wrapping and gluing.

Use the wire cutters to separate the branches from the Long Stem with Leaves. You should have enough to fill in most of the gaps left by the garland. Concentrate most of these leaves where your garland didn’t overlap twice. We’re going to have this be the top of the wreath. Glue ’em in place!

Tip: I placed the leaves pointing up. Those on the right side of the ring curve counter-clockwise and those on the left curve clockwise.

Create a hidden mickey with the three Small Yellow Daisies in the lower right corner of your ring. Mine had wires in the back so I wrapped them around the ring.

Next, use the wire cutters to separate each Large White Daisy from the bunch. Keep the stems if you want to fill in more space or finish the edge of the ring. Arrange the daisies around the ring on the outside. These flowers typically have wire in the stem so you can manipulate how they’re angled and curved.

Tip: Hot glue ended up melting the outer coating of the stems, separating them from the inner core. Make sure you hold the stems down to the ring until they’re set.

Nearing the end! Go ahead and stick some Feathers around the bottom half of your wreath. A dab of hot glue on the bottom of the feather should do the trick. Add the Yellow Cattail-Like Flowers on the left inner-circle.

Tip: I added the two leaves that came with the white daises to fill in more space.

Finish it off with a bow made from 1.5 inch Pink Wired Ribbon. Cut two 15 inch lengths of ribbon. Remember to fray check the ribbon ends. Fold the ends to the center and sew or glue one side so that there’s a little peak and the loops make a shallow ‘V’ shape. Do this for both pieces of ribbon.

Tip: To get center, I folded my ribbon in half to make a crease then folded each end to that crease.

Layer one piece on top of the other with the peak on the outside, scrunch the centers, and sew or glue together.

To finish the bow, cut a small length of ribbon–about 3-4 inches–and wrap that around the center over the sewed pieces, sewing or gluing the ends in the back. Leave space to feed thru an additional length–30-32 inches–of ribbon for the tails. You can cut little triangles in the ends of the tails for a cuter look.

To attach the bow to your wreath. Either thread craft wire thru the part where the tails fed thru and wrap around the ring or hot glue in place.

YOU MADE IT! Congrats!

Took a couple hours didn’t it. Phew!

I would like to thank every one of you who made it this far. I know I don’t read everything on blogs, so if you did I’m so proud of you! Let us know if you made this Daisy Duck inspired wreath by tagging us on Instagram @mainstreetdiy!

@mainstreetdiy

All images on this website were taken by and belong to Main Street D.I.Y. If you wish to share an image, please give credit where credit is due! Send the people our way!