Family Coat of Arms

The family coat of arms

My 10 year old granddaughter had some homework to do last week - making a Roman shield.   It had to be large and cover most of her body, as the were going to re-enact a battle; which I believe will involve having foam balls thrown at them..

Her dad got some plywood cut, which he bolted to a little bought kiddies shield which had straps.  

She had drawn a vague idea, but then we showed her a picture of the family coat of arms from the internet, and she decided that would be a great idea!

Her dad had primed the wood ready for her, so I was invited to bring my paint stash over, complete with paint brushes etc.    I also took along a pencil for her to draw the outline, however, I forgot about a ruler etc.   Undeterred - she used the plastic lid from their toy box to draw the straight lines, and drew the rest of the arrow parts freehand.  The circles were created by drawing round a" bat" from a velcro catch ball set which happened to be close to hand!

She then set to work painting her design, using acrylic paint.  The arrow tips she originally painted in gold acrylic, but they didn't show up too well.  Fortunately I had packed my liquid gold leaf paint in my stash, so she used that.  All the elements were then outlined with black acrylic, and then for good measure, I used a bit of pebeo gilding wax around the edge of the shield for her.   She could have done it, but I wasn't sure how rough the wood was, and didn't want her hurting her fingers.  (Nanny's fingers were dispensable!)    When she had finished we gave it a spray of spray and shine to seal it.

I think she made a fabulous job of it, and think it might become a family heirloom - lol!

looking as pleased as punch with her finished project