Make your own 3D eyes.

I think eyes are even more fun than moustaches. I started making wobbly eyes before the tashes came about. The large eyes i have previously designed are primarily for the public realm, although they started out life in a domestic setting. I imagine these on billboards, adverts on buses, signs and on anything or anyone else that can be poked fun at, or made a bit more friendly looking.

Now, obviously you don’t all have vacuum formers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters and bandsaws, like I did when making my eyes.

Because these eyes are probably only going to be on static objects, they don’t need to be wobbly, you simply place them facing whatever direction you like. To make it wobbly, make sure the plastic top is shallow and use a black bottle top for the pupil, without gluing it down.

I have tried to make some 3D eyes you can recreate at home, using things you should be able to find around you, or not cost you much. As they are so cheap and quick to make, you can stick them to stuff and leave them! (but not without taking a picture and sending it in.) It would be great for the eyes to stay in position a fair while, but this needs to be balanced with not damaging property, I don’t like that man. Try to use glue that peels off (Pritt Glue dots, for instance) or don’t worry too much if it’s on a paper billboard, as they are temporary. Did I just say that? DAMAGE NOTHING, I don’t want to get sued.

Let’s get cracking, better go and get some more M&S shaker salads (also look like McFlurry tops) and head into the world.

The things you need are:

• Clear plastic top from a drink or boxed salad.
• White card (thin enough to cut, but still be sturdy), like mountboard.
• Black card.
• Coloured paper (optional)
• Eggcup or similar sized circular thing to drawn round.
• Glue, PVA or Pritt Stick. And a glue gun if you have one.
• Scissors or craft knife (plus cutting board).
• Something to stick it to stuff. Think carefully about this. try and find some glue dots that are prepositional, like what you get to hold cd’s onto the magazine.Firstly, with your white card, get your lens i.e. your plastic top. Draw round, with the back of the card facing up. Now cut this out, carefully cutting about half a centimetre outside of the drawn circle, so it is just a little bigger than the plastic top. You can do this either with some strong scissors, or with a craft knife. Please note, I had to hold the camera with one hand, so am only using one hand in these photos. In the interests of health and safety, and this turning out right, use TWO hands.

Next, you should cut out the pupil. Draw round your eggcup onto the black card. Cut straight round this, keeping carefully to the line. Now, this is where you can get a bit more creative. If you have some coloured paper, you could make some coloured irises, but that’s up to you. Just find something else to drawn round, maybe a jam jar lid, as long as it’s clean.
Now you need to glue it all together. You can see I used clear craft PVA, but you can use a glue stick, or even a glue gun if you like. Once they are in place, it’s time to stick the back to the front. Now, the easiest way of doing this is to use a glue gun, as it flows easily and dries like lightning. But you could also use double-sided tape on the bottom rim of the plastic top. If not cellotape used very neatly may do it too.

And that’s it. Simple eh? I got a little bit carried away and made some eyelashes for this one. I just cut up some more of the black card. Now, unless you are having this close to you at all times, it might be best to think of these in the same fashion as you would a pantomime set. i.e, detail is not so important, because it is designed to be seen from far away. By all means, make a super duper neat one for inside the house!

 

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