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Thursday, June 26, 2014

All Fired Up!




Give a guy a beer and a barbie, and there is no telling what he can cook up!
This tutorial will show how to make a barbeque for your little people.

What you need:
Cardboard
Foam core from the Dollar Store
Glue
 ¼ inch masking tape
 ½ or 1 inch masking tape
Round hole punch
Wooden stir sticks


What to do:
  • Cut a 2 ⅝ wide x 8 inch long strip of cardboard.
  • On the 8 inch length, measure off  2⅜ inches(front), then 1¼ inches (side), and 2⅜ inches for the back and 1¼ for the side. Measure off another ¼ for a tab to glue the side and back together, making a box. Cut off the excess length.


  • Score on the measured lines.

  • Form into a rectangle and glue together. Punch out 16 circles with an ordinary office circle punch, and glue them together in groups of 4. Coat the sides with Gesso and sand smooth. Then glue each group onto a craft stick.  These are the  wheels to be attached to each corner of the box.

  •  In the spring, ads appear for BBQ's. Look for a picture taken straight on, with control panel and logo. Cut out the logo and set aside.
  •  Decoupage the control panel onto cardboard.
  •  Cut 2 strips of foam core, one the width of the control panel and the other a half that width.
  • This is what the strips look like when glued together and sanded .
  • Apply the control panel strips to the top front. Cut triangular supports for either side at the back and strips of foam core along both sides and glue in place.
  • This is the back view.
  • Coat the bottom with Gesso to fill in any cracks. When dry, paint everything black.
 

  • Now for the lid/cover. The grill is about 2 ⅝wide, so cut a strip of foam core that width. Now visualize the side of the cover and cut a piece of foam core to that shape. Use a string to measure the outside curve pattern, and this is the length of the 2 ⅝wide strip. Add a wee taddy bit to allow for fitting differences.

  • $store foam core bends relatively easily, while the higher quality stuff does not. The gluing has to be done on stages. The picture shows a Lego jig, with clamps, in the final stage of gluing. Notice the bits of foam core protecting the lid from clamp marks. Glue the foam core strip to the straight back first. Secure with masking tape. Clamp.The foam core strip will be sticking straight up. Allow glue to dry, but do not remove masking tape.Remove from clamps.Then gently bend the foam core strip around the top curve. Use masking tape to hold in place. Clamp. Then the final stage the front curve, Cut off surplus foam core. Clamp.

  • While waiting for the glue to dry, make the front doors for the BBQ. Cut a piece of foam core to fit the front panel. Use a blunt tool like a knitting needle to inscribe the impression of doors.  Glue the front panel in place.
  • Here is another view

  • Now to attach the cover/lid to the BBQ. Cut a strip of fabric to fit the inside width of the BBQ cover/lid. Glue to the inside of the BBQ box. Paint black.

  • At some stage in the game, you may want to create the hammered steel effect, which is just a matter of taking a "scruffy brush" (one of those cherished brushes which have taken a mind to spread their bristles like a daisy). They are excellent for dipping into a metal type paint (silver in this case) and creating special effects. Maybe a small sponge could work, you have to experiment.Consult some decorative painting sites.  Dry brushing is another option. The  ¼ inch masking tape is used here as a guide to mark off the hammered strip painted effect on either side of the cover.


  • Glue the cover to the base.  Here the lid/cover is in place, the interior painted black. The control panel has been glued in place.

  • For the prep surface, cut a piece of foam core to fit across the opening and to provide a serving space on both sides. Paint black. For the grill area, get some glitter in red and yellow. Apply glue and sprinkle around to resemble embers. Allow to dry.

  • Here is the front view with the hammered effect applied.
  • Back view

  • Plastic canvas was used for the grill, with warp pieces cut out, then painted silver.  A little dry brushing to indicate soiled areas is quite realistic. Glue the whole thing together, and now to make some food for Mannie to cook!

  • You may not have plastic canvas to hand (and it is useful for many more projects), it is possible to use cross-stitch fabric. Remove some of the warp weave paint with Gesso and then silver, and it does look OK. 



  • To suspend the shelf, Crazy Glue a staple from a staple gun. Once the cloth has been painted and trimmed, the shelf glued in place, and the grill is on the BBQ, it doesn't look half bad.