Cindy Lou Who & Max

 

Stay at home orders and small bubble get-togethers make for a strange Christmas. While it may be one we all want to forget about, I wanted to make it a bit special with some fun things to remember.

So it was time to give the Grinch some company.

I’ve had the drawings of Cindy Lou and Max hanging on my corkboard for a couple of years along with some good intentions. This seemed like the year to follow through.

For the Grinch, I had purchased a pattern, but with a little experience under my belt, I decided to make my own.

At Staples, for $5, you can order B&W engineering prints on paper up to 36"x48". I've used it before for other projects. Unfortunately, I didn't take borders into account and my pattern came back just a smidge too small. 

On to plan B. I used the grid method to transfer the pattern to the paper-faced plywood and it worked just fine.

The paper-faced plywood is a little pricier than regular plywood - but it's great for drawing on. You need to get it at a place like Windsor Plywood and not big box hardware stores.

Once again, I cajoled Paul to work his magic with the jigsaw.

I added a thin base coat of regular outdoor paint that I had previously used on some house trim. (Didn’t want to obliterate the lines I needed to colour in.)

I got paint sample pots from Home Depot tinted to match Max’s colour and Cindy Lou’s nightgown. At $5 a pot, it’s the cheapest way to buy paint for projects like this. And I chose exterior paint samples so it would be ok outside.

For the Grinch, I painted the edges black. But for these two little guys I painted the edges the same colour as the face. (The pink nightdress is edged in pink. The red bauble is edged in red.)

For the narrow areas that were hard to cut out or might be weak - like Cindy Lou's neck and Max's ear - Paul left some blank space which I painted black. I didn't want them to break or have to start over.

The final varathane coating is essential to protect these guys from the rain and snow.

I don’t know why but these make me very happy every time I look at them. Not a bad thing during a pandemic.