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Items you will need:
Sand Paper
Scroll Saw
Wood
Paper
Fabric Stiffner
Stain
Paint
Animal Molds
Food Color
Directions:
You will need to choose a piece of wood with good grain quality; wood will also need to be a least a fourth of an inch thick, fifteen inches high and fifteen inches wide.
You will then need to choose a separate piece of wood of the same grain and material for shelves that the animals will sit on. From this material, you will cut three shelves approximately 2 ½” wide, ¼” deep, and 12” inches long; 2 ½” wide, ¼” deep, and 15” inches long” 2 ½” wide, ¼ deep, and 8” long.
Once you have selected your wood selected, you will need to draw an outline of your “ark” for cutting out with scroll saw.
The top part of the “ark” will need to be completely straight. The sides of the “ark” will start straight then round slightly towards the bottom, which will end with a straight line for the bottom.
Once drawn, use saw to cut ark out. Once “ark” has been cut out, use sand paper to sand edges until smooth.
Take other wood material and cut out shelves to fit the ark. Above are the listed estimates. However, they may need to be adjusted to on the designated areas of your ark.
Here are some suggestions:
1. Measure ark from top and bottom. Be sure to write down measurements.
2. Using Measurments, divide by three to see exactly how far apart shelves will have to be from each other. Use pencil to mark these areas on wood.
3. Using pencil marks from previous measurement on ark, measure ark from left to right. Be sure to write down measurements.
4. Line a chalk line marker up with the pencil marks on wood, and drag across “ark” to determine the length of your shelves. Be sure to snap chalk line for a straight line. Do this for all three pencil markings.
5. Once you have measured your “ark”, apply measurements to wood and cut out shelving according to your measurements.
6. Once shelves have been cut out, sand all edges.
7. Now you need to stain both the ark and shelving. Allow stain to dry thoroughly.
8. Take some wood glue, and attach shelving to ark according to the measurements that you wrote down earlier.
I suggest letting the ark set and dry thoroughly. About two to three days.
Animals
To make the animals you will need to pick up some small animal molds from either the dollar stores or craft stores. The animals should be big enough to fit on and between shelves of ark.
To make animals, take 2-3 tablespoons of fabric stiffner, mix with a little water, and tear up either a half of roll of toilet paper or other white paper of your choice. Mix all of this together. Pour mixture into colander to drain off excess moisture.
Once mixed, take mixture and spoon into molds until they are half full.
If desired, you may divide into separate containers and mix food color to give animals a colored look.
Once mixture is in molds, place in microwave for about 2-3 minutes for starters. Be sure to put a microwavable plate over the top of the mold to keep mixture from coming back out.
After 2-3 minutes, test mixture for firmness. If still too soft, microwave for another couple of minutes. Should not have to microwave for more than 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, take out of microwave and dump molds onto place. If they are still soft, place plate with molded figures back into microwave and heat until dry. Or you can choose to air dry them, but will take from 3-7 days until thoroughly dry.
Once dry, you may use paints or other materials to decorate your animals for placing on your ark.
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