Last Minute FREE Printable Pop-up Valentine's Day Card

My 6-year-old came home from school and was making a neat pop-up heart card he learned in art class.  I created a file that has a candy conversation heart look to it and two of my boys are giving these away tomorrow at their Valentine's Day parties.

They are easy to make and fun--and great if it is the day before Valentine's Day and you are snowed in like we are!

You can find the files here on my GoogleDocs Page.

I also created a little tutorial using Educreations that shows how to make the card. The video isn't great, but I wanted to start using technology a bit more, so here it is!

Father's Day: Recycled Ship in a Bottle

Father's Day is on the way! This week, in my Recycled Art class, I'm having the children create a project that they can give to Dad--A Ship in a Bottle! Many of the kids had never seen a real ship in a bottle--and they had fun trying to figure out how I got the ship inside the bottle (like countless generations have done with real ships-in-bottles!). But it was simple, here goes...

Hey, how'd ya do that??

By the way, I apologize for the awful pictures, my camera is challenging me today (grrrrr....)....

Recycled Ship in a Bottle

Supplies Needed:

• A small, clear plastic bottle (I used a bunch of bottles from juice I had bought from Cosco so they were all the same size for my students)
• Corrugated cardboard (cheap, thick sheets work best)
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Tacky glue
• Hot glue with glue sticks
• Toothpicks
• A pointy nail
• Paper scraps--card stock has the best color (blue, white, brown, red, etc.)
• Yarn or string, optional
• Clear tape
• 6 popsicle sticks

Directions:

1. This may take a bit of fiddling--you'll need to adjust these instructions to fit the dimensions of your bottle, but here's what we did. Cut a rectangle from the bottle of the plastic bottle. I did this for the kids because I didn't want anyone to poke themselves with the scissors. Make sure the piece you are cutting doesn't come up the side of the bottle too much, because then you'll see it when you put the bottle back together. We were fortunate since our bottles were square-shaped. You'll be reattaching this piece of plastic to the bottle, so you'll want to plan your ship so that it doesn't extend beyond this piece (or you won't be able to fit it in the hole you created in the bottom of your bottle!).

We used 10 ounce Naked juice bottles

2. Create some water for your boat to sit on. Cut a piece of blue paper for water and glue it to the rectangular piece of plastic you cut from the bottle using hot glue or tacky glue. Make sure your water doesn't extend beyond the edges of the plastic rectangle.

3. Create your ship (you only need one per bottle, unless you have a really big bottle):

To create a sailboat: Cut a boat-shape from corrugated cardboard that is pointy at one end and flat at the other end. Depending on the size of your bottle, your boat might be pretty small. Our sailboats were about 1 1/2"-1 3/4" long. Trace this shape on corrugated cardboard three more times and cut out so you have four layers of corrugated cardboard, making the hull of your boat about 1/2" tall (thick). Stack and glue the layers of your ship together.

Cut a strip of paper 1/2" tall and wrap it around the outside of your sailboat. securing with glue. This will finish off your sailboat--you can make the sailboat any color you wish.

Use the nail (or something equally "pokey") to poke a hole in the center of your sailboat. through the layers of corrugated, for the mast. Insert a toothpick into the hole and cut it down so that it fits the height of your bottle.

Cut a triangular-shaped piece of white card stock for a sail. Use the nail to poke a holes in the sail, insert the sail onto the mast and then secure to the mast with glue, if necessary. Hold the sail in place until the glue is set.

Sailboat in the background and multi-sailed ship in foreground.

To create a many-sailed ship (pirate ship, the Mayflower, etc.): Cut a boat-shape from corrugated cardboard that is pointy at both ends. Depending on the size of your bottle, your boat might be pretty small. Our many-sailed ship was about 2" long. Trace this shape on corrugated cardboard three more times and cut out so you have four layers of corrugated cardboard, making the hull of your boat about 1/2" tall (thick). Stack and glue the layers of your ship together.

Cut a strip of paper 1/2" tall and wrap it around the outside of your ship. securing with glue. This will finish off the hull of your ship--I used brown for my example to make a traditional-looking ship, but you can make your ship any color you wish.

Use the nail (or something equally "pokey" to poke two holes in the top of the hull of your boat. through the layers of corrugated, for the masts. Insert a toothpick into each of the holes and cut them down so that they fit the height of your bottle.

Cut three square-shaped pieces of white card stock for sails. Use the nail to poke a holes in the sails, insert onto the masts and then secure to the mast with glue, if necessary. Use the photos as a guide. Hold the sail in place until the glue is set.

Add a bit of string or yarn, as rigging, to your ship for detail, securing it with glue.

4. Glue the ship onto the water, and let everything dry completely. This is important since you'll be fiddling with it to get the whole thing back in the bottle--you'll want your ship to be secure!

5. Insert the boat into the ship and use the clear tape to secure the plastic rectangle base back in place. Tape all four side of the rectangle.

6. Stack and glue popsicle sticks together to make two legs to use as a display "base" for the bottle. Glue the popsicle stick legs to the bottom of the plastic bottle, covering the seams of the piece you had originally removed.

7. The finished ship in a bottle can be attached to (or inserted in to) a piece of card stock decorated with a message for Dad on his big day! 

Poster board "card" decorated and with slits cut
to accommodate the finished piece.

Anchors Away! Enjoy!!

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.

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

----------------------------

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.

Artist Trading Cards

Ahhhh...the internet. I need to set limits because there are just WAY too many good sites out there with WAY too many great art ideas and I get lost in a world of links! But, on the bright side, I get so many wonderful ideas and learn so much! One thing I see that intrigued me is something called Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs).

Some of the ATCs made by my boys (the "Make More Art" one is by me).

Artist Trading Cards are awesome! Started in 1997 by an artist in Munich, they are a great way for artists to showcase their style or ideas, but they aren't just for professional artists! Anyone can create ATCs--children, teens, or grown-ups! There are very few rules for ATCs: 1. They must be 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" and, 2. You cannot sell them--they must be given away or traded. This is a wonderful way for children (and grown-ups) to learn new art techniques and express themselves! It is also a wonderful way to spend time together as a family--grab some art supplies and sit down and let your creativity go!

For Me: Personally, I am embracing the ATC idea! I'm an artist but I am also a mother of four and an art teacher trying to grow my business--I don't get to do huge masterpieces right now. I'm OK with it, but sometimes I get an art idea and need to explore that. ATCs are just right for me!

For my children: I am also encouraging my children to do ATCs. My children love to collect and trade things, but I seriously WILL NOT pay lots of money for cheap trading cards whose sole purpose in life is to get children to spend money (oops, getting off the soapbox now...). Anyhow, ATCs allow children to create & explore and gives them something they are excited to trade and are actually connected to. Learning and fun--I'm all in!

Supplies Needed:

ATCs are easy and require no special supplies, unless you want to try different techniques. Here are some supplies to begin with:

• Posterboard cut to 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" to use as "blanks"
• Glue sticks
• Scissors
• Pencil and eraser
• Markers, colored pencils, crayons, etc.
• Stickers
• Stamping materials
• Neat papers (I have a scrap paper bin I brought out and I save neat papers from junk mail, etc).
• Old magazines
• Paint (tempura or watercolor) & paintbrushes
• Old photos
• Needle & embroidery thread
• The list is truly endless!

Instructions:

1. Cut a whole bunch of blanks from posterboard. You'll need about 8 or so per person to get started. Once you get going--it is hard to stop!

2. Start creating! Think about the different ways you can create:

Drawing
Painting
Collage
Stamping
Ripped paper
Sewing (by hand or machine)

There is no right or wrong way to do these. Relax and have fun. Send me pictures of your ATCs--I'd love to see your creations! ENJOY!

Need more inspiration? Here are a couple of links to check out:
This month's Family Fun Magazine
A great mini tutorial on ATCs from http://www.cedarseed.com/ 

My disclaimer: While I do look at all references before sharing, I cannot look at every page of every reference. Please check out these references before sharing with your children, to verify that the content and images are appropriate for your child's age level and the content is acceptable for your family.

Creativity Break: Cat Cards

I just got back from a camping vacation with the hubby and kiddos, and now I'm finalizing the curriculum "stuff" for this coming year (right before vacation, I was told I'm going to be teaching two more classes-YAY!!). So with all of this art stuff a-swirling in my head, I needed a break. I also needed two thank you cards to thank the two people who took care of our cat (and our bird and sea-monkeys). I knew I had some artsy papers so I did a bit of tearing and pasting and added a couple of stitches, and "ta-da!" instant thank you cards.

Torn Paper Cards

Supplies Needed:

• Cardstock or greeting card blank
• Envelope
• Various papers (I used a good quality black paper, white rice paper and pink tissue paper)
• Glue stick
• Crayons, colored pencils or markers (optional)
• Embroidery floss (I used two strands of burgundy)
• Needle, needle threader
• Scotch tape
• Scissors
• White construction paper for inside of the card

Directions:

Don't get too fussy with torn paper--it is meant to be fun and easy!

1. Cut the card stock to the size you want and fold in half. Decide if you want your card to be horizontal or vertical--this will help you plan your image on the front of the card.

2. Use the crayons, colored pencils or markers to create some texture on the front on the card, if you want. I used three different crayon colors and just did some light scribbling.

3. Rip the papers, a bit at a time, to create the image you want on the card. I started with the black and created the body of the cat. Then I ripped some white paper to make the white parts of his fur. I glued all of that to the card with glue stick. I took a bit of pink tissue paper and used that for his nose.

4. Once all of the torn paper portion was done, I threaded a sewing needle with two strands of embroidery floss (a piece of embroidery floss is made up of 6 strands, but that would be too thick for this project). I then sewed the eyes, mouth and whiskers of the kitties. Once done, I taped the floss from behind to secure it.

5. To hide the backside of my sewing, I applied glue stick to the backside of the sewing and attached a piece of white construction paper. I then refolded the card and trimmed the white construction paper even with the cardstock.

My cat-sitters are sure to enjoy these quick little images of their furry friend! ENJOY!