It's time to upgrade your sewing arsenal with a fashion design staple; your very own dress form. Pick up a few handy supplies and spend an...
Are you guys ready to talk about my favorite subject of all time? PAINT!! I can't count the number of posts I've written on this subject but I feel like there is always something awesome to
An elementary art teacher blog with art projects and lessons, DIY projects and outfit photos as well as clothing I have made myself.
Vous rêvez d'une verrière dans votre intérieur mais vous n'avez pas envie de débourser des centaines d'euros pour une verrière sur mesure en métal? Créez en une en bois!
Create a beautiful patio or driveway without the expense or environmental impact of concrete, with one of these budget & eco-friendly concrete alternatives.
After ordering a vintage print download I decided to have it printed on a canvas. When ordering I realized how much more expensive it was to have a frame with t…
DIY KALLAX : NOus avons tous ce meuble chez nous! Réalisez des portes en lattage pour votre meuble IKEA Kallax!
I’ve been consistently journaling for 25 years now. I have no doubt that this has been the most important habit in my life that helps me stay sane (or at least return to sanity when stress, confusion, or circumstances knock me down). This is what I think is most important about journaling: find what works for you. What do you want to get out it? That’s really all that matters. When I boil it down to the simplest reason for me, I journal because I like how it makes me feel. I look forward to ho
I am so excited to start doing DIY projects to go in our outdoor spaces for the season! I had the idea to create a cottage garden obelisk for our garden and Jose was kind enough to build one for me! While we have many structural supports for our garden plants, an obelisk is one that I have been wanting to add, as I love their unique shape so much! A garden obelisk is a tall structure with a pyramid-like shape used as a decor and also plant support. An obelisk can vary in style but each has a common
Raise your hand if you love caning! Keep your hand raised if you have NO IDEA how to use it! Get excited and settle in because this tutorial on how to cane is going to
Negative leaf print by one of my second grade students earlier this year. Hey, guys! This post has been very popular on my blog...if you are interested in other leaf-y projects, look at my Leaf Relief project and my Pressed Leaf Project as well. Thanks! I don't know what it's like where you live, but here in Tennessee, we are experiencing spring-like weather. For the most part. I mean it did snow the last two Saturdays (and, in Tennessee, "snow" means just a few flakes and a couple of inches) but the other day it was 78 degrees. Crazy, right? For that reason, I've got touch of spring fever. You too? Well then you might enjoy this leafy printmaking project I did at the beginning of the year with my second graders. It's simple, scientific, beautiful and fun...okay, enough talking about me (!), on with the lesson. For this project, you'll need the following: gelatin, not Jell-o. Most grocery stores carry a brand called Knox which sells in boxes of 16 pouches. cookie sheets printmaking brayer, sold at most craft stores printing ink variety of leaves paper Print pulled from the same printing tray, this time the positive version. The night before you begin, you'll need to prepare your sheets of gelatin. To do that, bring about 3-4 cups of water to a boil. Once boiling, whisked one pouch of gelatin into the pot. You don't want any clumps of gelatin, so whisk like there's no tomorrow. You'll end up adding about 12-15 pouches of gelatin into that one pot. Sorry, I'm not into exact measurements. Which could explain a lot about my cooking. If there are any remaining unwhiskable clumps, remove them with a spoon. Pour mixture into a cookie sheet filling it about 1". Leave uncovered over night. If you see any bubbles in the cookie sheet, pop them or remove with a spoon. For my class of 20 students, I made three trays. Pulling the first print always managed to get oohhhh's and aahhhh's aplenty. The following day, we were ready to print. The surface of the gelatin was squishy yet very firm, perfect for holding our printing ink. I think I can explain this best in steps, so here you go: Using a brayer and printing ink, cover surface of gelatin in ink. Place leaves onto the ink-covered cookie sheet with the veiny side down. I don't recommend using anything with pine needles because that will puncture the gelatin. But experiment, you never know! Once leaves are in place, lay paper on top of cookie sheet and rub (er, we call it "massage") the paper. Pull paper off, as you see in the above photo, and viola! You have your first print! Notice how clear the gelatin looks. All of the ink that was once on the tray is now on the paper. I love her dainty fingers pulling up the second print. So sweet. Now for the second print: Gently remove all of the leaves from the tray. It's best to pull them out by the end of the stem. Place a new sheet of paper over the now-empty cookie sheet and rub. Pull second print which will be a positive image of the first. Looks like a black and white photo, don't you think? Once both prints have been pulled, re-ink the tray and begin the process all over again. With a class of 20 students and 3 pans of gelatin, about 10 kids were able to print per half an hour class. The pans of gelatin can last about two days with an endless amount of printing. I tried to cover the gelatin and keep it for a little longer, but condensation droplets created strange little craters on the surface. If left uncovered for too many days, it begins to dry and crack. For that reason, if you plan to do this project for longer than a couple of days, you'll just need to prepare more gelatin pans the night before. Our second go-round of printing involved using white ink on black paper. Just as pretty. This project is so easy and the results so stunning that everyone is successful. I've now had a couple of craft get-togethers and this is always a hit. Once those leaves start growing in your neck of the woods, I do hope you'll give it a shot! I love the photo negative quality of this print.
At our house we have tons of books. It has gotten to the point that we don't have enough room for them all anymore. So I decided to build a bookshelf for my son's room. I went to Ana White's website. She has tons of free building plans for everything - beds, bookshelves, tables, chairs, desks - anything you can think of. If you haven't visited her site go check it out. It's amazing. I used the loft bed, small bookcase and desk plans, but I only made the bookshelf portion. I used a special jig we bought for another project and drilled pocket holes for the screws so they wouldn't be visible. Here's a tip: When placing your shelf, measure and draw a line. Then line up the shelf on the line when you screw it in. Just make sure your on the correct side of the line. Yeah, I screwed it in on the wrong side of the line and the shelf was sloping to the left. Luckily I noticed before the glue had dried and it was easily fixed. I had some baseboards that I used for some trim to add a little more detail to it. I think it just makes the piece. Then I filled all the holes and sanded everything down. Then I painted it a flat black that we had left over from something else. I think it's easier to paint it before you put the back on. I decided that I didn't like the flat paint. So I sprayed on some clear glossy spray paint. Total cost for my project? Since I had the paint, backing, glue, and baseboards on hand, it only cost $20 for the wood and some screws.
Since this is the most popular post on my blog in 9 years and Architectural Digest, Apartment Therapy, Domino and many other magazines named it as one of the best Ikea Hacks ever, I’ve decided to add an instruction in English. Scroll through the post to find the English text in each step. Before you […]
An elementary art teacher blog with art projects and lessons, DIY projects and outfit photos as well as clothing I have made myself.
My second grade kiddos just finished up their Super Hero Selfies for their Artome art show! These 12" X 9" works of art were so much fun to make...and to see the finished result. I thought I'd share the process with y'all! We began by chatting about Vincent van Gogh and looking at Starry Night. From there, we used our paper and my VERY favorite oil pastels (Sargent's florescent brand!) and created our skies. Because I have 30 minute art classes, that took one art class. The following art class, we added either all warm or all cool watercolor to our skies: Y'all might have heard: I LOVE me some Crayola watercolor paint. I order the following and place them in each watercolor pan: magenta, red, red-orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue-violet and violet. I place them in that order so the kiddos know what colors they can use as far as warm/cool colors go. The following day, I busted out the tiny brushes and India ink for some cityscape painting: We started by painting simple rectangle shapes. Then we added shapes on top of those like triangles, rectangles and squares. From there, windows were added. They really rocked these! Many of my students sketched their cities out on dry erase boards first. This really helped them get comfortable with their ideas before attacking their paper. It did mean that some kids took two 30 minute art classes to complete their cities...I was okay with that. I never mind the kids going slower if it means they do their best and are proud of their work. Once the paintings were complete, we could start creating our Super Hero Selfie! The kids were given a circle template...simply so we didn't end up with tiny little folks. The template really helped them gauge size and get a jump start. I did a quick demo on how to create a body by using shapes like a rectangle for the torso. I showed them how to draw stick arms and legs and turn them into THICK arms and legs. Some of us are still pretty skinny tho, ha! LOTS of kids wanted to add their pets or their siblings as their sidekick...how cute! After drawing with pencil, tracing with Sharpie, the kids added color with color pencils. In all, that process took about two art classes as well. Then the CAREFUL cutting began. Not gonna lie: some of us may have cut off limbs. No biggie, we simply glued them back in when we glued ourselves onto the background. When coloring, we did talk quite a bit about color schemes. We chatted about the colors of Superman and Spiderman, Wonder Woman and the rest...they have about three specific colors. The kids were tasked with picking out 2-4 colors for their hero. Weapons were not approved but shields were, of course! And capes! And disguises! One thing that really helped was giving the kids an About Me super hero sheet. They had to come up with a name for their hero, what their special power was and how they make the world a better place. On that same sheet, they had to create a sketch of themselves as well as a sidekick. I'm really excited about these and cannot wait to see them at our art show! I don't often repeat projects but this one was a winner with the kids and parents last year. Last year, I had the kids paint a black silhouette of the city and add the windows with paper. I didn't love that as much...the paper didn't really stick well to the ink and the kids didn't really rock those windows. You can see it here. I'm IN LOVE with the designs on her buildings. Second grade, y'all! I've also done a lesson similar but more advanced with my fourth grade kiddos. You can check that out here. Every time I see one of these, I laugh...they are so stinkin' cute. Especially when you know the artist behind the masterpiece! Taking that color coordinated thing super seriously...you know I like that! In all, this is not a quickie project...but one that really teaches so much and creates something that each kiddo is proud of!
An elementary art teacher blog with art projects and lessons, DIY projects and outfit photos as well as clothing I have made myself.
An elementary art teacher blog with art projects and lessons, DIY projects and outfit photos as well as clothing I have made myself.
Please note, this pattern has been tested, but the testing process occurred before I got started on Ravelry! See photos for some of my testers’ versions. Make Myself Flowers Vest is inspired by the Grammy-winning song, ‘Flowers,’ by Miley Cyrus. We are all capable of making our own flowers with a little bit of inspiration! The vest is designed with 3-5 inches (8-14 cm) of positive ease so it can be layered over anything and everything for year-round wear. Constructed from the bottom up in two halves worked back-and-forth, the front and back panels are seamed at the shoulders and sides to form the body. The ribbed collar and sleeve edges are picked up in the round to finish off the vest. This pattern is written for intermediate knitters and was designed using a single strand of Wool and the Gang Shiny Happy Cotton (100g/142m) held together with one strand of mohair (25g/210m), which is optional. Substitutions are welcome, but be sure to check gauge before starting! Sizing: Sizes include US XS-5XL and are denoted as A(B)C(D)E(F)G(H)I. Approximate bust circumferences for each size in inches are as follows: <30(30-34)34-38(38-42)42-46(46-50)50-54(54-58)58-62 inches. Approximate vest widths for each size in inches are as follows: 18(20)22(24)26(28)30(32)34 inches. Materials: 4mm circular needles with at least 24-inch (60-cm) cord (optional) 4mm circular needles with 8-inch (20-cm) cord for the sleeve openings 4.5mm circular needles with at least 24-inch (60-cm) cord yarn A (white in photo): 150(175)200(225)250(275)300(325)350g light worsted-weight yarn (100 g/142 m) yarn B (blue in photo): 150(175)200(225)250(275)300(325)350g light worsted-weight yarn (100 g/142 m) yarn C (black flower center yarn): 5(10)15(20)25g light worsted-weight yarn (100 g/142 m) 75(75)100(100)125(125)150(150)175g mohair (25 g/210 m) tapestry needle stitch marker Gauge: 4x4” (10x10cm) 15 stitches x 20 rows (in stockinette)
Are ya'll familiar with the Japanese holiday called Children's Day? I think sometimes my students are convinced that everyday is Children's Day which is why nearly every night is Grape-Flavored Grown-Up Drink Day for this art teacher. But I digress. The real Children's Day is celebrated in Japan on the 5th day of May which, in case you didn't know, is the 5th month. It's a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness. Which, seriously, that part should be everyday in an art room, don't you think? On this day, all children fly a carp kite called a koinobori on a flag pole, along with the koinobori of those in their family. The father's koinobori is usually at the top, followed by the mother with the children's kites, from oldest to youngest, flown below. I had big visions of flying the kids' koinobori outside of our school for the occasion and for our upcoming art show (which is in 10 days, people! Not that I'm freaking out at all). However, we had some pretty Big, Bad and Ugly weather at the start of last week that lead me to believe that keeping these lovelies inside would be a better bet. The last time I hung something in these windows, it was a pretty big hit so I thought I'd do it again with our koinobori. Along with a sign, of course. Otherwise everyone just thought they were super cool fish kites. Which they are but there's also a super cool story behind them as well. So just how did my friends in First Grade Land create these awesome koinobori? Dude, it was so super easy and, like, the World's Fastest Art Project (which for me is a total rarity). Here's a list of the supplies we used: Roylco's Japanese Carp Wind Sock Kit For about $8, you can get your kitten mittens on a set of 24 die-cut fish with tag board strips that get glued into the mouths (if you look at the orange fish above, you'll see the tag board propping open the mouth.) Sharpies. This is optional. I had the kids use these to add details that they wanted to remain permanent. Watercolor Paint. Boy, talk about an End-of-the-School-Year-We-Are-Almost-Outta-Supplies Limited Palette, ya'll. But, we're artists, kids! We can make do! Or something like that. A Spray Bottle Full of Water. Yarn. Hole Punch. How the lesson went down: My kids have been learning about Asia, with an emphasis on Japan, all year. In fact, we'd just finished off this sushi lesson not long ago and had just completed making a ceramic koi fish. I needed a short and quick tie-in lesson while our clay projects dried and fired. These koinobori were just the perfect thing. After chatting about Children's Day, the kids were given a tray of warm and cold colored Sharpie markers. We chatted about the parts of a fish (fins, gills, scales, tail, etc.) and how we might emphasize those with either warm or cool colored Sharpies. That took up our first 30 minute session. For the next 30 minute session, we reviewed correct use of water color paint (which obviously doesn't include cleaning the tray, ew!). I also told the kids that they were again to use warm or cool colors but that they didn't have to stick with the same color family as they used last art class. Once the kids had collected their supplies (a paint brush and two ziplock bags -- the two things I forgot to mention in that above supply list, doh!), they were to raise their hand and I came over and squirted their fish with water. Because the paper is made from the same stuff as coffee filters, a wee spritz of water really helps the water color paint to spread out. The kids thought that was pretty rad. Once the kids had painted their entire fish, they were given the option of splatter painting. I don't think a single kid opted out of that one. To dry, the kids gingerly carried their zip locked fish to the floor. The reason I kept the bags on the bottom was that I found that the color will often run off the paper and on to the surface that it is sitting on. However, if the paper is allowed to "sit in it's own juices" so to speak, it dries much more vibrant. Now, normally, I woulda had the kids add the tag board and attempt to tie the string. But I was in a bit of a time crunch. So I set aside about 15 minutes every afternoon to hot glue the tag board at the top, hot glue it into a tube, hole punch the top and add the yarn. By the end of the week, I had all of my classes finished. To hang, I bent a paper clip so that it looked like some sort of scary prison shank and stuck it into the foamy ceiling tie. I added the top fish to that paper clip. Then I hole punched the bottom of that fish and added a bent paper clip to that hole where I attached the second fish. If I'm not making any sense it's because I'm deep into that aforementioned Grape-Flavored Grown-Up Drink Day and I simply cannot be held accountable for my incoherentness. I managed to get 'em all up and ready for Monday, May 5th on Friday. I can't wait for the kids (and the grown kids) to see them and celebrate all things children -- especially during our standardized testing week! Until next time, enjoy Children's Day! Or Grape-Flavored Grown-Up Drink Day. Your choice.
I’ve recently committed myself to a cross stitching project and there’s honestly no turning back now. The idea is to sit and stitch just one flower a day, using Carolyn Manning’s Stitch Along pattern. Despite…
Laura: I always like to challenge myself to do something fun and different for Halloween. I came across the idea of a fortune teller machine while searching the internet for costume...
Easy and inexpensive DIY door mat with Halloween stencil.
Summertime has arrived! To keep your skin safe in the sun without added chemicals and toxins, try making this basic homemade sunscreen...
