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!

Fall-inspired Shoji Screens

The art from the 1500's-1700's is so wonderful and we really do begin to see the art of so many cultures starting to emerge since many nations were exploring the globe. I wanted to introduce my students to panel paintings and altarpieces this week. A couple of years ago I had my students create multi-paneled images of the saints and we used gold tissue paper to "gild" the images. The pieces were fantastic! But I felt that that was more of an advent-type of lesson, so I was hesitant to re-do that lesson (even though we had snow about 10 days ago!).

Is it a triptych? Is it a Shoji screen? Wait, it's both! And pretty, if I may say so!

This time, I wanted to get the concept of altarpieces across, but I wanted to do something a bit more Fall-inspired. I had a bucket of tissue paper squares I've been using for the past few years (I swear those pieces multiply in there by themselves!). So I thought about having students create a fall landscape, sort of like stained glass. I usually use Contact paper for my stained glass projects with the children, but didn't have any & experimented with waxed paper instead. The result was a muted Japanese-screen-looking creation. So, I was able to introduce the children to that art form as well.

This craft is inexpensive and little ones can do it with help from a grown-up and older students can customize the piece in their own way. I hope you try this craft with your family. Enjoy!

Fall Shoji Screens


Supplies Needed:

• Black Construction Paper (Ours was 12"x18")
• Pencils
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Construction paper for trees (we used 9"x12" pieces in black, brown and white)
• Crayons and/or colored pencils
• 2 12"x18" pieces of waxed paper
• Tissue paper squares (1" squares in whatever colors you wish)
• Iron & Pressing cloth

Directions:

1. Create the frame for your triptych (3 paneled piece of artwork). Mine took up the entire 12'x18" piece of paper and had a 1" frame all around it.

2. Use the scissors to remove the "window" portions of the triptych, taking care to leave the frame intact.

3. Create your "trees." Rip black, brown and white construction paper into 1/2" strips. If you are having trouble ripping the paper, try ripping it in the other direction. Flip your frame over and use the glue sticks to attach the trees to the back of the frame. I suggested the children put a couple of trees in each of the three "windows." We used black for trees that were far away and then brown for pine trees and white for birch trees.

4. Once you are done glueing on the "trees," flip the frame over and add details to the front of your trees with the crayons and/or colored pencils. We discussed how tree bark can be bumpy or smooth and have knots on them, etc. I also reminded the students that tree trunks have shadows on them and explained that the shadows would be on the same side of all the trees.

5. Flip the frame over, so the back of the piece is facing up. Apply glue to the back of the frame and trees. Press a 12"x18" sheet of waxed paper onto the frame.

6. Working in one section at a time, apply a few lines of glue stick to the waxed paper and attach the tissue paper squares. You don't need to use a lot of glue, once you iron the waxed paper together, the tissue paper will be fused in place. Cover all of the spaces between your "trees" with the tissue paper squares.

7. Once all of your tissue paper squares are in place, place a piece of waxed paper on top of them. Using an iron set to the "polyester" setting (medium heat) and using a pressing cloth to protect your iron, gently press the piece so that the two pieces of waxed paper fuse together with the tissue paper squares in between them.

8. Use scissors to trim the excess waxed paper from around the frame. This piece looks nice in a window or with a battery-operated candle behind it. Keep it out of direct light so that the piece stays intact longer and the colors don't fade. ENJOY your fall scene!

Leaves are "FALL"-ing Picture

In honor of the first day of Fall which is tomorrow, I have this super craft. I saw it on display at a local library and had to try it at home with my preschooler who is four. It was a bit challenging for him, so I worked with him to do the tissue paper "puffs" so he didn't get too frustrated with them. My 9 yo was saying he just had to make one as well!

This project is a good way to explore a few different kinds of media and practice fine motor control. It also uses many items you may have on hand. I liked spending time with my little one and we had a wonderful discussion about fall and leaves. ENJOY!

Supplies Needed:

• 8 1/2x11" piece of white card stock
• pencil and eraser
• scissors
• black marker
• crayons, colored pencils or markers to color in the tree trunks
• tissue paper, various colors, cut into 1" squares
• Elmer's glue in a little tray
• zip-top plastic baggie
• tape
• hole punch
• various paper scraps in leaf colors

Directions:

1. Fold the card stock about 4" up from the bottom. On the larger portion of the cardstock, draw two trees in a way that creates a frame. You can keep it simple. Make sure the area that is in the center of the trees (that you will be cutting away) is smaller than your zip-top bag, so that the edges of the baggie don't show. 

2. Once you have the drawing the way you want, outline the trees, trucks, roots, ground, etc. with a black marker, if desired.

3. Using the scissors, cut away the center portion of the drawing. 

4. Talk about the color of bark and grass. Have your child look outside for inspiration. My son noticed that bark is kind of gray sometimes, so he colored his tree trunks grey. Have your child color those in (a side note: I don't ever say something HAS to be a certain color. We may look at something in nature & talk about the colors we see, but the artist gets to choose what color s/he wants).

5. Pour a bit of Elmer's glue (white school glue) in a tray. Take a square of tissue paper and cover the end of a pencil eraser with it. Dip the tissue-covered end of the pencil into the glue and then touch it to the paper in the leaf section. Pull the pencil away and the tissue "puff" will be left behind. Continue doing this until the entire leaf section is full of puffs.

Working on his tissue paper "leaves," he says "Mom, I'm excited about this picture!"

6. Now, to make the falling leaves: use a hole punch to punch different colors of paper. Gather all of the little dots you've punched out and add them to the zip-top bag. Seal the baggie and attach the baggie to the back of your frame with clear tape. We folded the bottom portion of the card stock around and stapled the layers together at the edges.

Once the piece is dry, your child can shake the picture and show the autumn leaves falling to the ground! ENJOY!