Tutorial - Christmas Chickens III

Welcome to part three of the Christmas Chickens tutorial.

(You can find part one by clicking this LINK and part two by clicking this LINK)

Adding a string of lights is one of my favourite techniques for altering images. I usually create my wire with a black pen, but today I wanted to show you how to do it with a piece of heavy thread, which will give you a fabulous 3D look.

You'll need a set of images, a piece of patterned paper for the background, a needle and some heavy thread, and mediums to create the lights. I used a combination of Nuvo drops (for dimension) and stickles (for colour and sparkle).

Use the needle to poke holes on either side of the chicken's beak. Don't make the hole directly on the beak as you want it to look as though it's being held in the chicken's mouth.

Draw the thread through the first hole leaving a tail about 2" - 3" long. Bring the needle and thread up through the second hole, making a stitch at the back of the image.

Use glue and/or double sided tape to secure the stitch and prevent the thread from being pulled further through the holes.

Now do the same with the second chicken, leaving another 2" - 3" of thread between the two characters. Secure the stitch on the back of the second chicken with glue and/or double sided tape.

Repeat the process for each remaining character, leaving enough thread between them to create loops.

Secure the central character to your patterned paper with glue or tape.

Secure the right-hand image slightly over the top using foam tape to add height and dimension.

Do the same for the left-hand image.

Now it's time to create the loops and knots in your string! I find it easiest to squeeze some glue onto my finger and then onto the thread. You want to secure the thread on either side of each chicken's beak to make sure it doesn't obscure the eyes or face, and then at the beginning, middle and end of each loop. Add glue in any place where the thread needs securing.

To create the lights, I applied some white Nuvo drops for dimension, and some red stickles for colour and sparkle. Alternatively, you could use rhinestones, pearls or enamel dots.

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