How To Make Stunning and Vibrant Dragon Wings

This blog post is all about making Dragon wings as stunning and brilliant as any fire breathing creature could want. Why Dragon Wings? Because Dragons are my favorite creature. Because I have rolls of this gorgeous foiled paper and needed to make something worthy of its shine. Because I can!

~ Cosmic Dragon Wings ~

 Instructions:
Step 1: Draw skeleton and wing membrane onto paper. Cut out skeleton.

I wanted my wings as big as my foiled paper would allow. I cut paper to the size of a roll of Star Struck Marigold Rinea Paper then drew a diagonal line across it. I drew (with many erasures and adjustments) a wing that fit on one side of this line.

 Step 2: Trace skeleton onto heavy cardboard or drawing board.

I picked up my drawing board from Michaels. This one was 16x20 and I was able to fit both wing skeletons. I flipped my drawing over and traced it again to get the pair of wings.

 Step 3: Cut wing from board using utility knife for best results.

The bone structure can certainly be cut with scissors, however, they bend cardboard and create creases. A utility knife uses pressure straight down and eliminates the extra stress. 

 Step 4: Paint wing skeleton.

I used DecoArt Acrylic paint in black satin. It took three coats of paint to satisfy me. I added one coat of paint to the edges of the board also. 

Step 5: Cut slits for harness. 

I cut four 1/2"x1/8" slits in the wide part of the bone structure for harness attachment.

Step 6: Trace outer edge of skeleton onto foiled paper. Fill in curves for membrane, cut, and glue.

I waited to trace the wing onto the foiled paper until my skeleton was finished. There are always little changes when transferring a design from paper to board. I didn't want to waste a scrap of my Rinea foiled paper.   

  Step 7: Trace skeleton onto contrasting foiled paper. Cut and glue to front of wings. Decorate. 

The back side of the wing has the black skeleton for definition. For the front I used Glossy Mocha Rinea Foiled Paper. I punched suns, moons, and stars from the Metallics Variety Pack for membrane decor. The Stars are punched from Copper Foiled Paper and show the color difference between copper and marigold.   

On the skeleton I used Rinea Starburst Stamps with Rinea Ghost Ink. I added a gem to each starburst.

To attach the Foiled Paper from the hefty skeleton to the tiniest star I used ScraPerfect's Best Glue Ever. I did have one or two "oops" moments that left sticky spots on my skeleton. Knowing these would dry to dull splotches I used ScraPerfect's Best Cleaner Ever to remove the glue spill.

 Step 7: Lace wings together with wide ribbon. 

Wrap ribbon over shoulders, across chest, and under arms to make a harness for wearing the wings. 

Each wing measure 22" from lower wing tip to upper harness corner and 16" from lower wing tip to claw. The handsome young man in the photo wears a men's size medium shirt. I was able to fit this pair of wings onto one roll of each color of foiled paper with careful placement.

Supplies:
Foiled Paper, Stamps, Ink:Rinea
Drawing Board:Canson
Acrylic Paint:Deco Art
Gems:Michaels
Flourish Die:Echo Park
Punches:Close To My Heart, Stampin' Up, Studio g, 

Scrap On!

~charity~