Wacky dioramas

I love giving kids unusual materials to work with.  They often become very careful and meticulous, and conscious of the special-ness of what they are being allowed to do.  For this project, I armed a few helpful adults with hot glue and lay out a table full of bunch of small fun stuff- recycled scraps, classroom leftovers, old toys that tend to go un-played-with, feathers, beads, fabric, magnetic poetry, buttons, etc.  Each child was allowed to take several turns through the supply table so that everyone had a chance to get some "good stuff."  These are some of the things kids made.  I think they're really interesting!

Self Portraits

There are lots of cool ways to make self portraits with kids.  Often detaching the goal of realism helps kids feel more comfortable experimenting with shapes, colors, techniques, etc.  Here are a few different ideas to try:  (A lot of these are mine instead of the kids', for privacy)

Scratch art portraits

See how to make your own scratch art paper here!

Masks using fabric scraps, pipe cleaners, beads, and paper cone cups

It is VERY important to bring in good fabric scissors or else this will be a very frustrating project for the kids- most kids art room scissors are much too dull to cut effectively.  MAKE SURE TO PUT AWAY PIPE CLEANERS BEFORE YOU BRING OUT THE GOOD SCISSORS.  One snip can ruin a good pair!

These were so fun I'm putting in a bunch.  These are simpy tempera paint on black construction paper.

I think they look so cool!!

We tried to leave black space between paint sections to keep the colors looking vibrant.  

As I've mentioned before, adding in some element of an unusual or unfamiliar art supply can really inspire kids.  Here, I had them choose one word from a magnetic poetry set that they felt described them.  Then they drew the feelings that word game them and glued on the piece.

Last but not least, one of my favorites- Andy Warhol-inspired portraits!

Oh my. 

The kids LOVED these.  Take a picture of each child making a silly face.  Then print out 4 side-by-side copies of it in black and white on plain printer paper.  Then color over them with colored pencils!

The frame here is made out of scraps of discarded art.  We did this a lot, and it helped us remember to get as many uses out of a single sheet of paper as we could!  (We also read The Lorax at the beginning of each week to help us remember to conserve and recycle resources!)

Satin Flowers

These things were all over pinterest and I was dying to try them.  Turns out they're super fun and easy and kind of addictive, especially if you're the kind of person who likes to play with candles in ways that would make your mom unhappy.

Using any weight polyester satin, cut a few circles of varying diameters.  You can use sheers too, but be aware that they melt faster than the other fabrics.  Hold the edges of your circles above a flame and they'll crinkle and curl.  That's it!

It took us a few tries to make them not scorchy and I still wound up with some black spots along the edges, but I'm a super impatient crafter and it didn't really bother me.  If you're worried, dark colors help, or you can just be more careful and hover higher above the flame.

When you're done, stack a few petals on top of each other and sew through the middle with a bead or button.  Here I used pearl beads from the fabric store.

I sewed hair clips on the back.  I've seen people do snaps instead so they can change them on hair clips or clothing.

This poppy-looking one has a fancy button in the middle.  To make these petal shapes, just cut slits (don't remove any fabric) around the edges of the circle, about halfway from the outer edge to the middle.  They're a little trickier to melt, but they'll form into cool petal shapes.  I didn't find a need to round the petals at all- they kind of did it on their own. 

 

This last one is my favorite.  I like how flipping the same fabric from right side to wrong side can yield 2 different textures- kind of adds interest. 

I wore one of these in my hair to go to the Barber of Seville with Nutty.  It looked pretty cute:

He took one of the reject ones and pinned it on his coat so we would match:

What

A

Goof!

Baby Quilt

My mom and I made this baby quilt for my friends Jamie and Mithra and their baby girl who is due in about a month.  It's 100% cotton, machine-washable, etc.  Hopefully the busy colors will hide all sorts of spills and last through lots of adventures!

It was made from lots of bits both from my mom's stash and quilts passed.  We pieced it together when I was home for Christmas and then she quilted it like a pro.  The pattern is kind of a free-form Chinese Coins pattern.

We wanted to find a poppy design because Mithra loves poppies, so we kind of adapted a few quilting designs into these, and then sewed the purple strips in between with a vine with hearts.

Made with oodles of love!