Whimsical Stand for Fused Glass

I have been wanting to make a whimsical stand for my fused glass panel, but I could not come up with any unique ideas.  I originally just mounted it in a 10 inch steel ring, but it was not very exciting.  Then I decided to add a steel baseball cap and feet.  Now I am happy with the fused glass stand.  I still need to paint the stand.

 

The glass panel is held in place by homemade steel clips.  The hole for the bolt was drilled and tapped in the steel ring.

Styrofoam Bird

The bird was my second attempt using Styrofoam.  The material is actually Owens Corning extruded polystyrene foam insulation.  The four by eight sheet of insulation was 2 inches thick.  The bird was made out of welded steel.  The bird’s head and body was made out of Styrofoam.  The bird made look like it is on skis, but I plan to bury that portion in the ground.  I am hoping this will prevent the bird from blowing over.  Slots were cut for the steel tubing.  I later filled the voids using spray insulation foam.  

For the glasses, I welded steel plates to the frame.  The steel plates would be embedded into the Styrofoam.  The eyes were steel half spheres with steel rods welded to the bottom of the spheres.  The slots in the Styrofoam were made by heating the steel and allowing it to melt the Styrofoam.  The eyes and glasses were glued using Loctite Foamboard Adhesive.  Because of the large gaps, the Foamboard Adhesive took almost two weeks to dry.  I coated the bird with a cement mixture used for setting floor tile.  I primed the concrete using Latex Base DRYLOK® Masonry Waterproofer.  The final paint was 1 Shot which is an oil based paint.

Picture Frame

The picture frame was made out of Styrofoam.  The metal panel was made from18 gauge sheet metal.  I was originally trying to make a panel for a lamp shade, but the heat warped the sheet metal so much that I could not use it.  So after a year, I decided to make a frame using Styrofoam.  To make a custom fit, I heated the steel and placed it on the Styrofoam allowing it to melt the Styrofoam.  I then covered the Styrofoam with cement.

 

To add color to the cement coating, I used Gilders Paste.  The actual color that I used was Inca Gold.  In order to use a paint brush, I had to add paint thinner to thin the Gilder Paste.  Overall I like the look.