Modern-Day Adinkra Cloth

Last time I taught a lesson on African textiles I did the traditional woven paper Kente cloth. This time I wanted the children to explore a type of stamped textile that comes from Ghana: Adinkra. "Adinkra" means "goodbye" and his beautiful fabric was traditionally part of funeral preparations.

To make Adinkra cloth, long strips of cloth are pegged to the ground, then an artisan uses ink and a broad-toothed comb to divide the cloth into sections. Each section is then printed with stamps carved from the calabash gourd. These symbols are sacred and many of the symbols are inspired by nature or from important parables. Many have been used for generations, but some are new such as the Mercedes-Benz emblem, which appears on some cloths and seems to symbolize wealth. The ink used to make Adinkra cloth comes from boiling the bark of the Badee plant.

When the strips of cloth have been stamped and are dry, they are joined with decorative embroidery. I have tried lacing the sections together with yarn, but it was very frustrating for the children. I was recently looking through the book, "Kid Made Modern," by Todd Oldham and he made a screen of little circles joined by paper clips--that's when I knew I had found a way to link the sections of our Adinkra cloths. I found 1000 colored paper clips on sale at Staples for $3--what a bargain!

Modern-Day Adinkra Cloths

Supplies Needed:

• 4 5" squares of white poster board
• 6" piece of corrugated cardboard
• Bits of craft foam for stamps
• A few wine corks
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Tempera paint, assorted colors (we used green, red, blue, yellow, brown and black)
• Paper plate for palette
• A pushpin
• 9 paper clips, assorted colors

Directions:

1. Make your stamps. I made a few of four common symbols: heart which means love, paddle (looks like a plus sign) which means strength, drum (looks kind of like an uppercase letter "I") which means rhythm, and a crescent moon which means patience. I cut the symbols out of craft foam and hot glued them to wine corks. These are pretty permanent, but you could just cut them from a new kitchen sponge.

2. Put some black paint on the palette and dip the 6" end of the corrugated cardboard into the paint. Use the cardboard to make borders on your 5" squares of poster board.

3. Put some colored paint onto your palette and use the stamps you made to fill the center of the squares with symbols. You can probably get about three rows of three symbols in each square. Check out the photos for inspiration. Stamp all of your squares. Let dry.

4. Decide on the order you want to have your squares in. Use the pushpin to create three holes on the bottom and top edge of each of your squares. The holes should be about 1/4" from the edge and be evenly spaced.

5. Insert paper clips into the holes on the bottom edges of the squares. Rotate through the hole two times. Connect all the squares together (this takes a bit of fiddling, but it is easier than it sounds!)

Detail view of the paper clips joining the squares. 

A few examples of Adinkra cloth from my home school class.

Wild Valentine Puppets

Yet another craft idea for your Valentine's Day card-giving needs OR for a classroom project: "Wild About You" Puppets! 

Research shows that 9 out of 10 people people prefer to be bitten
 with pom pom teeth vs. real dinosaur teeth.

I recently was killing time between my sons' basketball games and needed to keep my 4-year-old occupied. I dug into my totebag, folded a scrap piece of paper and "ta-da!" instant puppet. It sure kept him busy, but then I had two teams of boys crowded around me wanting them! Here's a version fancied up a bit for giving:

Easy Paper Puppets

Supplies Needed:

• Colored piece of paper (your choice) for the puppet head
• Scrap pieces of paper, optional
• Embellishments such as googly eyes, pom poms, etc.
• Tacky glue and glue stick

Directions:

1. Fold the piece of paper you are using for the puppet in thirds lengthwise. Secure the top flap with glue stick. You now have a sort of flat tube. This will make it easier for little hands to know where to put their fingers in the finished puppet.

2. Fold the tube in half and then fold each of the ends back to make an "M" shape. This is the puppet's head.

A detail of the "M" shape that you are creating.

3. Use tacky glue to attach embellishments such as googly eyes and pom pom teeth. If you would like to make features out of paper, the glue stick should work fine to attach them. 

4. Write your message such as: "I'm WILD About You!" or "You're DINO-mite!" on a strip of pink or red paper and glue it in the mouth like a tongue.

5. You can write the "To:" and "From:" info on the underside of the puppet, if desired.

This shows one of the puppets with its mouth opened wide
so you can see how the entire piece is decorated.

ENJOY your WILD puppet!

Easy Valentine's Cards: Stamping with Wine Corks

I love homemade cards! This year, I used a wine cork and acrylic paints to churn out a few simple cards for my hubby and kids. This is a fun way to learn about basic printmaking and the options are endless!

I TOAD-ally Love You!
(OK, so it's actually a frog...)

Easy Wine Cork Valentine's Cards

Supplies Needed:

• A wine cork
• Acrylic paints (assorted colors, a pea size amount)
• Paper plate for palette
• Cardstock or a blank card
• A fine point marker (I used a Sharpie)
• Embellishments such as googly eyes or antenna are optional (the antenna I used are flower stamens from the cake decorating aisle of the craft store)

Directions:

1. Practice different designs on scrap paper before you move on to the cardstock. I found it helped to have a few sayings before doing the stamping. Here are a few to get you started:

• HIPPO Valentine's Day!
• I'm WILD For You!
• You're DINO-mite!
• HOGS and Kisses!
• You're My Sweet-Pea!
• You're My ALL-STAR! 
• I think you're TOAD-ally Awesome!

2. Dip the cork into a bit of paint (you don't need much) and then stamp it onto the cardstock. 

3. When dry, use a fine point marker to add details and wording to your card. The sky's the limit! Have fun!

Detail of the card for my daughter--my Sweet Pea!

Here are the Valentines for the kids. I thought of things they liked
and then made a card to reflect that interest. These would also make nice bookmarks.

St. Valentine's Day Craft: Pom Pom Critters

One of my sons loves stuffed animals and any funky little critters with googly eyes! One year we made a ton of these to give away to his classmates. They are fast and easy to make (and easy to love)!

The Usual Suspects...

Pom Pom Critters

Supplies Needed:

• Small piece of felt for base (feet). I use a stiff piece of felt for the base.
• Large pom pom (for body), ours were about 2" in diameter
• 2 googly eyes (or one if you are making a cyclops!)
• Cardstock for mouth (an index card works great)
• Markers
• Scissors
• Embellishments such as hearts, antennas (mine are flower stamens sold in the cake decorating aisle at the craft store), bows made from bits of ribbon, etc.
• Tacky glue
• Tape
• Construction paper for the card, optional

Directions:

1. Cut out a heart shape large enough so that it sticks out from under your pom pom like little feet.

2. Use tacky glue to glue the pom pom to the heart-shaped base.

3. Add eyes and embellishments. Have fun and be silly! My son knew what he wanted to do and I just let him go!

4. Use tape to secure your critter to a rectangle of construction paper. Write a silly message such as "I'm Wild For You" or "I've got my EYE on you Valentine!" (if you are doing the cyclops) and the To/From Information. ENJOY!