I'm Dreaming... of a Giant White Butterfly

I'd dreamt of doing a large-scale art project for quite some time, and this year I finally completed my giant butterfly ornament.

The inspiration was my vintage butterfly Christmas ornament, currently hanging in my kitchen.

I started with two round cotton canvases I purchased from an art supply store.
They measure about 19 3/4" in diameter.

Getting the acrylic paint color right was my first challenge. Matching vintage colors is especially difficult (have you ever looked at the colors in a vintage tie?). I mostly used Azure Blue, but when you look at the ornament in certain light, it has a green tinge. So I mixed in Light Turquoise.

After painting both canvases, I applied acrylic gloss medium to add shine.

Next, I drew the butterfly on paper to create a template for both sides of the ornament.

Template Stage 1

Template Stage 2

I used painter's tape to hold down the template, then traced it in pencil on both painted canvases.

Then, I painted the butterflies in Titanium White.

Painting Stage

Mistake/imperfection alert: Instead of painting, I originally applied Elmer's Glue then white glitter, but the glitter dried more clear than white, so I painted over the glitter on one side, reapplied Elmer's Glue, then glitter one more time. Yikes! Arts and crafts can be really hard work!

Glitter Stage

After the glitter dried on both sides, I had to figure out how to seamlessly fuse them together. I already had Weld Wood in the house, so I used that. It's rather toxic (make sure you open a window) but it does work as a permanent adhesive.

Before fusing the sides together, I also had to decide how to hang the ornament. I broke off part of a wire coat hanger for the cap hook. I bent it with plyers and inserted it inside a jagged-type picture hanger, then hammered this to the inside edge of one of the canvases.

I thought of painting a silver/grey crown onto the blue canvas, but didn't want to ruin the integrity of the circle. Instead, I made a small paper crown and used that (it's tough to see in the photo, but it's there).

Lastly, I bought a white tension curtain rod, climbed a ladder, and placed it in the middle of my kitchen skylight. I bent an ordinary wire coat hanger to form the ornament hook and, voilá!

My butterfly ornament was free to fly!

Final Installation

Seeing Stars... and a Giant Butterfly (please excuse the kitchen clutter).

A Very Vintage Christmas 2013

While most of the world seemed to "cut back" on excess consumption this year, my vintage Christmas collections continued to grow, starting with my giant vintage Noel candles.

I normally don't shop on eBay, but these were priced well and in really good condition so I went for it. The flames pop off to reveal 15-watt bulbs.

The backs say, "Carolina Enterprises, Inc. 1973."

Back in the 1970s these were "hot" – often appearing on suburbanites' front stoops or on either side of the front door – along with large C9 Christmas lights decorating bushes. (Those of us who are vintage enough will also remember the trend of covering your front door in usually red or gold foil and placing a spotlight in the yard to shine on the door).

I decided the candles would fit well on either side of my fireplace.

Also new and vintage this year is a C6 pinecone light I found at Brimfield. It probably dates to the 1920s. This photo isn't great, but the light is actually covered in chipped green paint.

It's the light at the far left on the mantel greens.

As I've been doing for quite a few years, my live Christmas tree is imported from South Windsor, CT. This one is especially tall – about 7 1/2'.

This time I used vintage C7 lights because I found some new figurals. My favorite is the Cat & The Fiddle, which I found on ebay as part of a lot.

Vintage C7 Cat & The Fiddle milk glass light. Most likely dates from the 1950s.

I also found this snowman at Brimfield. Along with the cat, this is usually difficult to find.

In addition to lights, I found vintage gift wrap and ornaments at Brimfield this year.

Vintage 1970s? gift wrap. Note the unusual design along with the black, red and gold color combo.
The bells are marked "Germany" on the caps – unfortunately, I broke one trying to hang it near the top of my tree :(

More vintage gift wrap (same bells as above).

Happy Vintage Christmas to all... and to all a good light!