Laminated Snowy Day Calendar

YAY! I got a laminator! For those of you who work in a school, it may seem like no big deal, but I work a mish-mash of part-time gigs right now, so when I want to laminate something, I have to go to the office supply store.  Since I'm often pressed for time (and money), I usually use Contact paper or I slip the paper into a sheet protector.

I love the Cardinal--what a bright bit of color!

I probably would have kept doing the sheet-protector-thing, but I saw this great image online and thought it would make a lovely image for my Gifts From The Art Class that is coming up soon. I read that the artist used the ultra-thin tissue paper that shoes come wrapped in. How clever ! I loved the look of the image--I couldn't tell if it was a spring or winter picture--it seems like it could be either--perfect to go with a year-at-a-glance calendar. My challenge was to see how I could recreate the piece for my students and have it hold together to make it gift-worthy. That's when I thought of the laminator! My friend had one and she sold it to me for $1, and here I am.

Snowy Day Calendar

Supplies Needed:

• One 8 1/2" x 11" piece of medium blue card stock (I used scrapbooking paper)
• One 8 1/2" x 11" (or so) piece of dry wax paper (or tracing paper or thin tissue paper); dry wax paper is sold at restaurant supply places and it has less wax on it than regular wax paper--it is used to wrap sandwiches
• White paper scraps
• Scissors
• White glue stick (not the purple ones)
• A year-at-a-glance calendar trimmed to fit on the page, allowing enough space for the image, I got mine at www.believingboldly.com, she has a few free printable year-at-a-glance calendars to choose from. I printed it out at 75%
• Tiny scrap of red card stock
• Laminator & laminating film

Directions:

1. Draw a very faint line halfway down the blue paper, this will be a guide for the bottom edge of your tree image. Use your glue stick to make a line of glue in the ground area and make four circles of glue where each of your trees will be. Don't worry about getting the glue perfect--you are just putting the glue where you want the confetti to go.

2. Cut the white paper into strips about 1/8" wide. Then hold a couple of strips together and cut the strips into 1/8" squares, over your blue paper, so that the little confetti squares fall onto the areas that have glue on them. Shake the excess confetti off the paper.

3. Crumple the dry wax paper slightly. Rip the paper into circles, ovals, squares and/or strips and apply them to create layered areas on the ground, leaf area of the trees and for the trunks of the trees. When we got to this tissue paper part, I had my students gently dab the dry wax paper on the glue stick instead of using the glue stick on the blue paper (which moves the confetti around). You don't have to goop on the glue--you just need the dry wax paper to stay still until you've laminated the piece.

4. Once you have the leaf areas, trunks, and ground done, you can add a cardinal cut from red card stock. If you had a bit of tan card stock, you could make a female cardinal, too.

5. Use a glue stick to attach the calendar printout to the piece. Trim any excess tissue paper and have the artist sign the piece.

6. Laminate and enjoy your artwork all year long!

Calendar Design #3: Snowy Day Calendar (REPOST)

OK, this is the LAST calendar idea I'll post in the series--I promise. Well, I *think* it will be! This is a repost of an idea I used with a group of art students way back in 2012. Oh, it seems like so long ago :-)

You can read the original post here, but I got the idea for the image from Pinterest back when I was new to pinning. I just loved the image which (through the use of Google Translate) I found was made using the tissue paper the crafter received in a pair of shoes she had purchased. How creative to see potential in something most of us just throw away!

ENJOY!

And another calendar idea! Ripped Paper Winter Landscape

It's not too late to celebrate the New Year!

Here's a quick idea for a calendar you can make with scraps of paper. It's a nice way to use up scraps and practice ripping paper. I made this project with a variety of kiddos from pre-K to 4th grade and they all enjoyed it. I think they especially enjoyed adding the splatter-paint snow at the end!

Here's a close-up of a couple of the calendars. As you can see, some of
the older students added a few details to their scenes.
These were done as part of my "Gifts from the heART" class.

Ripped Paper Winter Landscape Calendar

Supplies Needed:

• A black or dark blue piece of paper for the night sky (ours was 4 1/2" x 8 1/2")
• Various white and blue pieces of paper for the snow
• Small scraps of various green paper for the trees
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Gold star stickers
• White tempera paint
• Stiff bristled brush
• Paper plate palette
• One 2015 Year-at-a-glance calendar printed on the bottom half of an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of white paper
• Laminator and 8 1/2" x 11" laminating pouch

Directions:

1. Rip some strips of white and light blue papers and layer them together onto the black paper to create the illusion of snowy hills. When you like the arrangement you have, glue the layers onto the black background using the glue stick. This part is where younger kids may need a bit of assistance, but they usually catch on fast. :-)

2. Cut some little triangles for trees out of the green papers. Glue them onto the hills you've made. Trees in the way back of your landscape may appear smaller than the ones in the foreground of your landscape. 

3. Add sparkly star stickers to the tops of your trees or in the sky or both. Don't forget to sign your work at this time.

4. Place your completed landscape into a box to reduce splatters. Dip your stiff bristled brush into white paint and use your finger to flick the bristles to splatter paint "snow" onto your landscape. A grown-up may choose to do this, but kids do really enjoy it (yeah, it makes a little mess).  Add the desired amount of snow to your landscape and let dry.

5. Once your landscape is dry, use the glue stick to glue it to the 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper that has the calendar printed on it. 

6. Run the entire piece through a laminator to seal it and protect it for  a year's worth of use.

ENJOY! Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year--A Calendar Idea For You!

Every year I teach a couple of art classes after school where the students create gifts for giving. I try to have them create projects based on common giftable items such as jewelry, mugs, homemade games, and calendars. This year's calendar took the origami quilt idea and used the same samurai helmet motifs around a year-at-a-glance calendar.

My students busily created their projects in a day-long workshop, but these calendars were saved for last, just in case they couldn't finish them in class, they could take them home and do them on their own. So here's how to make them:

Origami Calendar

Supplies Needed:

• 12 pieces of 6" square origami paper (6 prints and 6 solids)
• A (size) year at a glance calendar (ours was from: www.yourmomhatesthis.com)
• Glue stick
• One 12" x 12" piece of paper for the background (we used scrapbook paper)
• One 12" x 12" sheet protector (the size used in scrapbooking)

Directions:

1. Use the origami paper to make 12 samurai hats. If you need directions for this, go to the links in my Origami Quilts post (about halfway down the post).

2. If the little flaps of your finished samurai helmets aren't laying flat, use the glue stick to tack them down. This isn't necessary, but it looks neater if the flaps are flat.

3. Glue the calendar to the center of the 12" x 12" background using the glue stick.

4. Arrange the samurai hats around the calendar in a pleasing pattern. Use the image for reference, if desired. Glue the samurai helmets to the background using the glue stick.

5. Slide the finished calendar into the sheet protector with the ring holes of the sheet protector at the top of the calendar, so that you can hang it up. This calendar can also be placed in a 12" x 12" frame for a more finished and permanent display (12" square frames can be found at craft stores for a few dollars).

Enjoy! And HAPPY NEW YEAR!