Another Idea for a Painted Rock Hedgehog

My July 23, 2012 post described how I used wild rice for a painted rock hedgehog's quills.

Another idea is to use pine needles for the quills.


Brush a generous amount of tacky glue around the middle of the rock and press dry pine needles in it. The needles should point toward the tail of the hedgehog. Glue a second row of needles in front of the first, leaving a blank space for painting on the face.

Rock Painting Ideas from the Pantry

Over the summer, my niece is caring for a hedgehog named Basil.

Basil the Hedgehog

I never thought much about hedgehogs but when I saw Basil's picture, I just had to paint her on a rock because she was such a cute, little critter.

However, the idea of painting all those quills seemed too time consuming. So, into the pantry I went where I found a package of wild rice that was the perfect substitute for a hedgehog's quills.

I implemented my idea by first painting Basil's face on the rock and applying brown paint to the rest of her body. I then liberally applied Mod Podge where I wanted the quills to be attached and submerged the rock into a bowl of raw, wild rice.

Basil, the Painted Rock Hedgehog

It was necessary to revise my project idea slightly because I learned that Mod Podge is not the best glue for this project. (I had to go back and reattach some of the wild rice with Elmer's Glue.) Therefore, regular glue works best to attach the rice and Mod Podge is best used as a final sealer to further keep the "quills" in place.

My sister has since suggested using pine needles for the quills so they'll stick up more. Hmm... and I thought painting the quills was time consuming? I'll be experimenting with that idea.


All in all, I think Basil, the Painted Rock Hedgehog, is almost as cute a critter as the real thing.


© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Hand Painted Rocks Become Stony Faces

I recently had some fun painting simple facial features on various sizes of rocks and stones. I called my new creation Stony Face.

Stony Face Painted on Rocks

I then had an idea and even more fun rearranging the eye and mouth rocks I painted to create five additional funny Stony Faces.

5 Different Stony Faces from 1 Set of Painted Rocks

Then I was inspired to paint more detailed mouths on some rocks and ended up with these LOL rocks that I could use with the basic Stony Face from my earlier project.

LOL Painted Rocks for Stony Face

Finally, I decided to record all the steps I took to create the basic Stony Face, added 3 more simple eye and mouth patterns, and made a Stony Face rock painting how-to guide.

How to Paint a Stony Face on Rocks

The Stony Face craft project is easy enough for beginner rock painters. Simple, step-by-step instructions, illustrations and photos guide you in selecting the rocks, drawing and painting the mouth and eyes, and arranging your painted rocks into funny faces. The 4 basic mouth patterns and 4 simple eye patterns can be combined to create over 100 unique, one-of-a-kind Stony Faces.

This is an easy, fun, inexpensive, craft project for both kids and adults. It's amazing how a little acrylic paint and imagination can bring ordinary rocks to life.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks