Fall Cleaning the Craft Box

I used the excuse of moving to get rid of a lot of stuff, including in the craft box. All of our on-its-last-legs art supplies -- worn down crayons, half-empty paints, semi-dry dot markers, glue dregs, foam sheet scraps -- came out for one last hurrah before I threw them in the trash. I put everything on the table in front of Anouk with a stack of junk mail (catalogs that won't stop coming no matter how many times I cancel are my pet peeve) and let her get to work.



The result were these mixed media collages that I think are very colorful and fun. It was hilarious and really interesting to sit back and watch A. make them, exploring her newfound creative freedom over what was basically the whole craft box. Trying to get in there and experiment with everything all at once is basically her life's mission right now. This was her chance and she took it with gusto.





Now I have some art for the fridge at the new house and my craft bins are about 5 pounds lighter. I don't think of it as throwing stuff away, I think of it as Strunk-and-White-ing my art supplies (Omit needless pom-poms).

Happy Monday! Have you been fall cleaning this year? Any creative ways of getting rid of excess junk?

Making Murals

Ever since our Norfolk murals post -- and since we got to see some of AlchemyNFK's amazing artists working at First Friday a few weeks ago -- Anouk and I have been really into murals and thinking we'd like to try to make one of our own. So we asked our playgroup if they would like to pitch in. Molly generously offered her house to get all paintified -- we taped craft paper to the wall -- then we poured water-soluble paint into trays and let the kids get to it. The results were kind of awesome.

I think one of my favorite things was seeing how the kids worked together to build on each others' handiwork. One would use markers to scatter dots across the paper, then the next would come through and draw a line of finger paint between them. It was truly a collaborative process. I especially like how little Z. saw the other kids making handprints and then decided to add a border of his own all along the top of the mural.

This project is perfect for a group because you can pool your craft supplies -- the more types of paints/markers/brushes/stamps/crayons you have, the more you can put the little ones' creativity to work.

I think it looks so so cool. I'm really proud of our guys and I think they had a lot of fun. Plus, the finished product makes an awesome photo backdrop.

Tissue Paper Bowls

I saw this craft on Design Mom a few weeks ago -- she used balloons to shape tissue paper into beautiful paper mache bowls. We didn't have any balloons in the house, so Anouk and I adapted the craft a bit by using kitchen bowls of various shapes and sizes for our designs.

First, we coated the outsides of the bowls with cooking oil and covered them in plastic wrap. Then A. and I got to work tearing strips of tissue paper into small pieces, and pasting them to the plastic wrap with a thin coat of watered down Elmer's glue. After about three or four layers the bowls seemed pretty completely covered, so we set them outside and let them dry. An hour later, we (read: I) gently turned the tissue paper bowls out and sat back to admire the pretty stained glass effect of the light coming through the paper.

We trimmed the edges of the biggest and smallest bowls, but I thought the ragged edge on the purple bowl (which A. did all by herself) was kind of cool so we left it. Currently, our bowls are scattered around the house holding small things like loose change and pins (I like to throw them in there as I sew, so much quicker than poking them into a cushion) and the random stuff A. collects on her travels around the house and yard.

We really enjoyed this project -- it doesn't take a lot of finesse and there is something therapeutic about turning your mind off and just piling the colors on. I'm currently thinking about ways to adapt this project for the holidays, so stay tuned. This craft will surely pop up again in the coming months.

Fun with tangrams

Have you ever heard of tangrams? I hadn't until I came across the concept during a late-night Pinterest session a few days ago but now I am obsessed. Tangrams, which are puzzles made up of seven different shapes that form a square, have been around for thousands of years and used for everything from entertainment in the trenches during WWI to modern day intelligence tests. The gist of the tangram is to look at a silhouetted outline -- of a bird or tree or building, for example -- and to recreate it from the tans, the shapes that make up the tangram.

The pin I found was for making a tangram out of wood, but instead, I used a pack of foam sheets from our craft box. Everybody in the house has taken turns playing with the tangram pieces but I think A. likes them best of all. I'll park her at the front door with a bowl of water (water makes the foam stick to the glass) and she'll play for the better part of an hour, using the tans to freestyle a little art while I do laundry or get dinner on the table. I really love how the tangram forces her how to use an unfamiliar set of shapes to idealize familiar concepts (and some of the designs look pretty cool, too).

(The photos above are, according to A., a daddy, an airplane, and a sailboat.)

Who knew geometry could be so fun? (Besides my h.s. geometry teacher who promised me it would be if I could just give it a chance...)

Happy weekend!

Sand Clay

I've had a bag of sand hanging out in the garage since I planted my raspberry bushes a few months ago (they like a mix of sand and soil for good drainage). The hardware store where I bought my bag only carried sand in 50 lb increments, and I only used about 2 lbs in my planting, which means I have 48 left to use up somehow. Enter sand clay.

The texture of this clay is just like a grainy play-dough, but the real fun of it is that it will dry hard, meaning that you can use it to make summer treasures to keep.

Ingredients:

2 cups sand
1 cup cornstarch
1.5 cups water
2 tsps alum (found in the spice aisle)

Directions:

Combine the ingredients over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Within a few minutes, the dough will begin to thicken up like playdough. Turn out onto a surface, kneading smooth when cool enough to touch. Shape and let dry overnight (or longer) to set. The clay can be stored in an airtight container for three or four days or so.

We made a sand castle, of course, and used our beach toys to cut out shapes and some shells from a recent beach trip to decorate them with. About halfway through I realized I could make Christmas tree ornaments and so I worked on that while A. made a few extremely scary sand snakes. We set our shapes outside in the sun to dry (it took about 12 hours) and put the rest away to play with over the next few days (by the end of day four it was gummy and pretty much finished). And only one piece broke, which is a higher success rate than we've had with either salt clay or baking soda clay.

I think this would be a great craft for when you want a little beachy fun but can't get to the beach, or a creative way to use up some of that sand you might bring back from a special beach vacation. I have a jar of sand somewhere that J. and I brought back from the red sand beaches of Prince Edward Island a few years ago -- if I can find it, I'm going to pull it out and make of ornaments out of it.

That last picture makes me think of this. Snake! A snaaaaake!

Chrysler Museum Glass Studio

I love creative playdates! A week or so ago, Anouk and I joined friends to go and see visiting artist Gianni Toso work live in the Chrysler Museum's glass studio. And it was probably my favorite of our adventures around town to date -- such an inspiring, educational, and colorful experience. I've never seen anything like it before (not even in all my poking around for things to do).

I'm not sure what I expected -- maybe something like the glassblowers at Jamestown? Sort of campy and fun? While this was definitely fun, there was far less of a boisterous vibe. Things were quieter, more focused, as the artist worked and the people sitting in rows of chairs around the workspace watched intently. Occasionally, a staffer with a microphone would step up to narrate what Toso was doing as he switched tools, or melded two different colored glass rods and stretched them into a delicately twisting ribbon. Classical music was playing while he worked and there were also large monitors hanging around the room so that even the people in the back could see. Toso comes from a family line of glass makers spanning back 700 years (that's not a typo), and he himself has been doing this for six decades, so you really want to be able to watch him closely, and luckily, you can.

Anne and her friend C. really enjoyed strolling around the perimeter of the room and looking at all of the work done by glass studio resident and visiting artists -- the more colorful or intricate it was, the better. To be completely honest, though, this was probably one of those outings that was more exciting the parents than the kids, at least in our case. S. and I were fascinated by the whole experience, but I think they were just too young to appreciate it fully. However, there were many older children in the audience -- ages 6 to 8 or so and then some older tweens and teens -- who seemed as into it as we were. So that's probably the best age group for this event.

The next nearest museum-affiliated glass studio in the U.S. is in Toledo, Ohio (there are only five in the whole country), so we are very lucky to have this one so close to home. And there are many opportunities to visit. The Chrysler's glass studio presents free daily demonstrations at noon, every Wednesday through Saturday, and regularly offer classes, workshops, and Third Wednesday parties with booze, music, and glass art demonstrations. You can find out more on the studio's website, and you can see more of what these remarkably talented artists do on the studio's YouTube channel.

Washer Necklaces

We have been having really bad luck with Pinterest finds lately. The Listerine manicure and pedicure soak did nothing more than turn my hands and feet slightly green. The vegetable oil I put on a vintage bowl to remove the sales sticker ended up taking off a good chunk of paint (but left sticker remnants behind). And the baking soda clay that we tried last week crumbled apart and cracked as it dried.

Luckily, this washer necklace project went well enough to get the memory of the other failed projects out of our heads. Probably because it was so so simple. We picked up different-sized washers from the hardware store and painted them with nail polish. When they dried, we added a coat of clear polish, and then strung them on some bakers twine and pretty crochet thread. It all worked just as it should, hurrah!

I am a big fan of vintage enameled jewelry, so I love how the nail polish gives the washers an enameled look. We used clear glitter polish to go over some of our designs for added sparkle, and then A. and I made coordinating beads with Sculpy to enhance our designs.

We've been doing so many jewelry crafts lately that the next thing we DIY is going to have to be something to put it all in. Any ideas?

Hammered leaf and flower prints

I photographed this project while we were doing it, but looking at the photos after, was kind of like, "Eh, maybe not" about posting it. However, when Anouk was still talking about our leaf prints the next day, and demanded we do it again the day after that, I reconsidered. I've never seen an art project hold her attention for this long.

It's a very simple concept: you line up a bunch of leaves and flowers on white paper, cover them with a paper towel, give your kid a hammer, or a mallet, or a wood block, and let them whack to their heart's content. After a good hammering, the pigments in the leaves transfer to the paper, and you've got yourself a nice, nature-inspired print.

A few tips: dark-colored flowers and needle-y plants (pine needles, rosemary) make the most striking designs. We had the best results when we placed the underside of the leaf against the paper, facing up. We also noticed that after a few hours, some of the colors faded or turned brown -- any suggestions for things that might keep them bright and fresh are appreciated! (Lemon juice? Fixiative spray?)

Our designs turned out a little muddier and less crisp than the examples that we found online, but some of them were really pretty in spite of (because of?) the softer effect. And we had a really fun (and noisy -- sorry neighbors) time making them.

We're going to try this again in the fall, with some bright autumn leaves. Happy Monday!

A midsummer night's lanterns

Today is the Summer Solstice -- the first day of summer and traditionally, the longest day of the year. In ancient times, it was celebrated with bonfires, as a gesture of gratitude for the sun's warmth and a way to mark the beginning of the dying of the year. Tonight, we'll celebrate the Solstice by throwing some steaks on the grill, and lighting a fire in the fire pit to make s'mores (a modern addition to the ritual.)

Earlier in the week, Anouk and I made some colorful lanterns to add to our festivities. We've been setting them out on the deck at night and enjoying them since.

The stained glass technique is one we found on The Artful Parent. It involves rubbing watercolor paintings with cooking oil, which makes them translucent when they dry. Then we took it another step by shaping our oiled paintings into cylinders and gluing them into place (tape doesn't stand a chance on the slick paper). We slid mason jars into them to stabilize them, and dropped flameless candles inside to light up our designs.

Such a simple project -- but one that we've really enjoyed.

Happy weekend! And happy Solstice.