Faux- Metal (TP Tube) Wall Art

Were you all as inspired as I was by this faux- metal wall art on Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom?  If you haven't been over there, you should really check it out- there are tons of great projects. Anyway, I saw her project and thought that I could totally do something like that, and besides, I have a bag of toilet paper and paper towel tubes I have been saving, much to my husband's chagrin, for some time. So I picked up some bass wood from my local craft store, and a can of bronze hammered metal spray paint (I already had black and clear), and got to work. I don't really need to give you the step by step- Suzy has already done that, but I might add a few notes...
- A smooth round pencil does a great job of "curling" the cardboard strips.
-Use hot glue- it dries way quicker than wood glue, although you will have to then pull away all the little strings.
-Spray paint first with black and be careful not to saturate it- it will fall apart. :( Paint light coats, let dry for 5 min in between.  After the black, find a metallic type paint and spray just enough to give it the look you want.
-When you spray paint, if you use some sort of protective material behind your art (because, you know, a big black spot on the lawn is not going to please certain other people you live with), use paper (like a big paper shopping bag) or fabric.  Do not use plastic, because it will stick, and you will be sad when it falls apart when you are peeling it off, and you have to re-glue it.  Not that I would know that from experience...  Anyway, I also sprayed mine with a clear coat to protect it and keep any paint from rubbing off onto the wall.  Since the finished art is so lightweight, I just hot glued black ribbon loops to the top and hung it with a push pin.

This faux metal art went very nicely with some frames in my living room (you can kind of see the reflection of those in the picture frame in the center) but this wall was pretty plain, and these really helped tie things together.

I kept the ends of the wood that I trimmed when I was making my large faux metal art, and made two small pieces for my bedroom.

Below are the small pieces, on either side of my fabric-covered-foam picture wall art. (If you are new and didn't see my tutorial in February on how to make these, click the link above for the tutorial).

A few people have commented on my "new wrought iron wall art" and have been surprised to discover that not only is it not metal, but it is made from toilet paper tubes.  Haha.  I should probably stop telling people my secret...

By the way, I posted a tutorial on how to make these natural home decor balls (above) earlier in the spring, but now is the time, if you have access to these materials, to harvest and start making them- check out the tutorial!