Mexican Folk Art Trinket Boxes

The final project that I did with my after school art class, Art Around the World 2, needed to be quick and easy since they were also finishing up their Oaxacan snakes. I had such wonderful success at Christmastime having students make Mexican Folk Art Tooled Metal Ornaments, so I had them use that process to make metalwork tops for wooden trinket boxes. They came out great! The boys in the class had just as much fun creating these as the girls did.

Mexican Folk Art Trinket Boxes:

Supplies Needed:

• Tooling aluminum from www.dickblick.com
• Newspapers
• Dull pencil
• Sharpies or other permanent markers
• Wooden box (I bought ours at AC Moore for $1.00 each, I think)
• Acrylic paints, assorted colors
• Paintbrush
• Paper plate for palette, water & paper towels
• Hot glue & glue gun
• Mod Podge (glossy) or spray varnish, optional

Directions:

1. Cut a circle from tooling aluminum slightly smaller that the top of the wooden box.

2. Place the aluminum onto a stack of newspapers and use the dull pencil to press the design into the aluminum.

3. Flip the aluminum over and use the Sharpies to add color to the raised design. Set aside.

4. Choose a color for your wooden box. Put a bit of paint onto the palette and add a couple of drops of water to it to thin the paint slightly. Use your paintbrush to work quickly and paint the outside & inside of the box. While the paint is still wet, use a paper towel to wipe off the excess. This technique creates a stained effect on the wood of the box, allowing the wood grain to show through. You may need to work in sections to be able to wipe the paint off while it is still wet. Let the box dry completely.

5. You can now add a decorative pattern to the box. Choose 1-2 colors that coordinate with your design and squeeze a bit of each color onto your palette (about a pea-sized amount of each). Dip the wooden end if the paintbrush into the paint and touch it to the surface of the box to make a dot. Continue around the edge of the cover or around the base of the box, as you like.

6. Once all the paint is dry, you can seal the wood with 1-2 coats of Mod Podge, if desired.

7. Once the sealant is dry, attach the tooled metal piece to the top of the box using hot glue (a grown-ups job). 

Oaxacan Papier Maché Snakes

I love papier maché, even though it is messy! Many children seem to love it as well (although there are a few who don't like the goopy paste on their hands!). In my Art Around the World 2 Class, we studied the art of Mexico and I had the children make snakes from papier maché and decorate them in the style of Oaxacan woodcarvings. So beautiful!

Beautiful colors and patterning!

About traditional Oaxacan carvings:
The folk art carvings from the state Oaxaca (pronounced wa-HAH-ka) in Mexico are colorful and unique and steeped in generations of tradition. Carved entirely by hand from copal wood, each piece is then uniquely painted with bright colors and patterns. Carvings can include figures such as mermaids, saints and everyday people or any sort of animal, both real or imaginary.

While this art form is centuries old, it is thought that one carver, Manuel Jiminez popularized the style that we see today. There are many great artists in Oaxaca and their carvings have become so popular they can be seen in museums and private collections from around the world!

This project idea came from the book "A Survival Kit for Elementary & Middle School Teachers," by Helen D. Hume. I have mentioned this book before. The projects are for upper elementary school students and each project has a "teacher page" and a "student page." The original lesson encouraged students to make whatever animal they wanted (there were size parameters), but I wanted to keep the lesson somewhat under control since this was the first time my students would be doing papier maché.

I was able to show them images from two wonderful books: "Oaxacan Woodcarving: The Magic in the Trees," by Shepard Barbash and the children's book, "Dream Carver" by Diana Cohn. Both of these books are wonderful and full of a variety of images that will get student's creative juices flowing! The book by Barbash does contain figures with some cartoon nudity so may not be appropriate for all ages.

Oaxacan Snakes

Supplies Needed:

• Aluminum foil
• Ripped up pieces of newspaper
• Papier maché paste (recipe to follow)
• Waxed paper sheets
• White tempera paint
• Elmer's glue
• Paint brushes
• Water containers & paper towels
• Acrylic paints

Directions:

1. Mix up a batch of papier maché paste:

Papier Maché Paste

(from the book "The Little Hands Art Book" by Judy Press)

3 cups cold water

1 1/2 cups flour

oil of peppermint (optional)

In a heavy saucepan combine the flour and water.

Cook over low heat until the mixture thickens to

a creamy paste. Cool and then stir in a couple

drops of oil of peppermint to act as a preservative.

(I didn't, but I used the paste right away).

2. I gave each child two pieces of aluminum foil about 3 feet long. I had them lay their pieces on top of one another, so that there was a double thickness of foil 3" long. I then had them twist and bend the foil into the shape of a snake. We discussed different positions a snake could be in: straight, zig zig, ready to strike, curled up in its nest, etc.

3. Take a newspaper piece and dip it into the paste. Use your fingers to squeegie the excess paste from the newspaper and then lay it onto the foil snake form. Repeat until the entire snake form is covered with a nice layer of newspaper. Let dry on waxed paper (this can take a day or so).

4. Apply another layer of newspaper and paste. Let dry on waxed paper (this can take another day or so).

5. When your second layer of newspaper and paste is completely dry, mix one part Elmer's glue with one part white tempera paint to make a gesso or base coat that will cover the ink on the newspaper and make a nice surface for you to paint on. Paint on a coat of the homemade gesso and let dry thoroughly (a couple hours).

*If you don't want to use homemade gesso, you could paint a coat of white acrylic paint or just paint on a couple coats of whatever paint you are using.

6. Decide how you want to paint your snake and begin by dividing it into sections and painting the base coat of each section.

7. When the main colors of your sections are dry, you can add a second coat if needed. Then use Q-tips, small paint brushes and/or the wooden end of a paintbrush to dab dots and paint lines and patterns onto your snake in true Oaxacan style! The sky is the limit with your designs. Have fun and be creative!

FOUND! Antique Mexican Metal Ornaments

Wow! Look what a good friend of mine brought me today: three beautiful little metal ornaments from Mexico! Ornaments like these are the inspiration for my Mexican Folk Art Ornaments I posted in December. My friend found them in an antique shop in Massachusetts. Two have the tags on them and say "House of Openheim, C. Juarez, Mexico" and are priced for 25 cents and 39 cents. The other is stamped with "Mexico." All of them are colorful and have some amount of tooling. How great!

I love to have real examples of artwork for the children to touch and examine and these are perfect! I'm sure they will inspire my students the next time I present this project. Thanks to my friend Karen for thinking of me and my students!

Bell, Angel & Star Mexican Folk Art Metal Ornaments

And...the ornaments made by my students!

Mexican Folk Art Ornaments

Ooooh, I have a special treat for you today! Tooled metal ornaments inspired by Mexican folk art! They are so bright and shiny, the children just loved making them!

Mexican Folk Art Ornament

When I am looking for inspiration for art projects, I look pretty much everywhere: my Art History books, gift catalogs, and magazines to name a few of my sources. My grandmother loves to bring me magazines that she's done with. No matter how old the magazine is, I love to look through them for techniques and inspiration. This craft was originally published in "Crafts" magazine in 1984. I loved the look of these ornaments and thought my art kids would love to make them. I was right! They LOVED making these. I had them make little cards to put them in so they could give them to a loved one as a gift.

The tooling aluminum needed to be ordered online from www.dickblick.com, but it was so worth it! I ordered a roll for just under $6 and combined with a couple of other things, shipping was only $7. I know that seems like a bit much, but I did have a few things in my order and the tooling aluminum is a roll of 15' or so, enough for plenty of ornaments! Plus, it is a medium that is unusual for the children to work in. I highly recommend it! So, let's get started!

Supplies Needed:

• Tooling aluminum, available from www.dickblick.com
• Newspaper
• Dull pencil or blunt stick for tooling the design
• Sharpie markers or other permanent felt tipped markers in a variety of colors (I had an eight color assortment available, but so many beautiful colors are available!)
• Hole punch
• 8" piece of ribbon for hanging

If you would like to make this as part of a card, see the end of this post.

Directions:

1. Choose a design for your ornament, we used the full size ornament patterns that were published in "Crafts" magazine, but I also had a few blank ornament shapes available for children to design their own. I encouraged the children to design bold designs with clear, large shapes. I also told them to fill up the entire ornament shape and add some details to their design (tons of little details may get lost, but I didn't want them to just draw one little shape in the middle of the ornament and say they were done). Just to be sure they created designs that would work, I had them show me their drawings "for approval" before they started tooling.

2. Using scissors, cut a piece of the aluminum roughly the size of your ornament. We used 4 1/2" x 6" rectangles. Tape the paper with your ornament design to the aluminum to hold it in place while you work.

3. Place the aluminum onto a pad of newspaper. This will create a soft surface for the metal. Using a dull pencil and firm pressure, trace over all of the lines of your design.

4. Once your design is done, use scissors to cut out the shape of the ornament. I found that younger children had trouble with this part and sometimes the ornament would get all bent up or the outer shape would become distorted. So if you are working with younger children, you may want to cut the ornaments out yourself.

5. Flip the ornament over and gently color the raised surfaces with permanent markers. The children can create large areas of color and then add details with a darker color on top. Encourage doing one's best work, taking one's time and adding details and pattern.

6. Once done, have the child add his/her name and date to the back.

7. Use a hole punch to create a hole for hanging and add ribbon to hang the ornament.

8. Attach to a card if desired. See my card directions, below. Feliz Navidad (Merry Christmas)!

Some of the ornaments done my my students

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To make this project into a card:

Additional Supplies Needed: you'll need construction paper for the card, an envelope, tape to adhere the ornament to the card and the optional information for inside the card (see the info later on in the post).

Cut a piece of construction paper so that it fits inside the envelope you have. Inside the card, glue the greeting and the information about the project. Have the child sign the card.

The greeting I used was:

Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad!

(Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness)

 May the Spirit of the season bring you joy and peace.

I also included this information on the card: 

Tooled Metal Ornaments

Congratulations! You are the proud recipient of a hand-tooled and hand-colored metal ornament. These ornaments are done in the style of Mexican folk art with markers standing in for the traditional paint. The children used tooling aluminum from www.dickblick.com, pressing their designs into the metal with a dull pencil, then added color with permanent Sharpie markers.

Care of your ornament: the tin is bendable, so care should be taken to keep it from being crushed. It should also be hung up away from little ones since the marker could come off if the ornament is chewed on and the edges are a bit sharp for delicate fingers.

Use tape to attach the ornament to the front of the card and draw a "frame" around the ornament with a felt tip marker to fancy up the front of the card. Done!

Note: if you are going to write a name on the front of the envelope, do so before you put the ornament in the envelope or you will ruin the ornament. Also, take care not to fold or bend the ornament--the metal is pretty thin and will crush and/or bend easily. If you want to mail this card, you'll have to put it in a crush- and bend- proof package.