Toothbrush Painting

Materials

Construction paper
Scissors
Kitchen strainer or plastic basket
Toothbrushes
Poster paint or water color paint
Masking tape
Spoon

1. Draw and cut out shapes from construction paper. You can also print and cut out any of our printable shapes and stencils or reuse shape cut-outs you've made from previous art projects.



2. Put masking tape at the back of each shape.



3. Arrange the shapes on sketch paper and press firmly on each one.



4. Cover your work area with a mat or with newspapers. Prepare different colors of paint on your palette. Thin down the paint with some water.



5. Place a kitchen strainer or plastic basket on top of the sketch paper. You can either position it upright or upside-down, as long as it doesn't touch the paper directly.



6. Dip a toothbrush onto one color of paint. Shake off the excess paint.



7. Start brushing across the strainer so that the paint is sprayed around the shapes.



8. Repeat using other colors of paint until all the shapes have been painted. Rinse the toothbrush in water when changing colors or you may assign one toothbrush for each color.



9. Remove the strainer and the shape cut-outs to reveal your toothbrush-painted shapes.

Potato stamped baby towel

Lovely present to give for a newborn or just let the siblings make it to welcome the new baby!

You can use it as a swaddle, nursing cover, sheet, towel,….

What you'll need:
*cotton muslin towel/swaddle/wrap
*fabric paint
*foam paint brush or roller
*plate
*potato
*knife



Step 1:Make sure your swaddle lays flat on your table. Use a tablecloth, place mat or paper to make sure the fabric paint won’t make marks on your table.

Step 2:
Think about the design you want to make. I’ve chosen a moon/half circle design in 3 different sizes.
Carve the design in your potato and cut it out with a sharp knife.
It’s easier to use the two ends of your potato because they are easier to hold during stamping. Make sure the depth of the stamp is big enough so you don’t get an imprint of the outline of the potato on your fabric.

Step 3:
Apply your paint on the potato stamp by using a foam paint brush. Try to apply the colour as evenly as possible on the stamp.
After each row, I wiped of the paint of the stamp if there was too much.

Step 4:
Follow the instructions of the manufacturer. I had to do the following:
Let the towels dry for 24 hours. When dry, iron them to ensure the paint will stay put. Make sure you place a piece of spare fabric or paper between your printed design and the iron to prevent direct contact.

Welcome to the family little one!

Potato_present

CD Case fimo Labyrinth

My girls and I often draw mazes for each other. So when I was purging some old cd's, the idea came instantly to make 3- dimensional mazes. I recalled those beautiful and large wooden labyrinth toys I've seen many times. This proved to be a great project for adults and kids alike!

Materials needed:
*Fimo/sculpey bakeable clay
*Wax covered string called Bendaroos (found in craft stores)
*Recyled cd jewel cases
*Scissors & paper



step 1
Find a old unwanted CD case and remove the center CD holder.
step 2
Now you can take your bendaroos (wax covered strings) and cut and bend and create your maze The wax will stick to the plastic by pressing firmly.
step 3
You can then make tiny little round balls by rolling in your fingers. Then bake to harden. (follow instructions on the package)
step 4
I taped colored paper to back of the CD HOLDER.

Twirly Toy

A little experimentation with wire, one of my favorite mediums, had my children in awe. I've made a number of things for them, but this simple toy impresses them most because it is set in motion by a little nudge. This twirly toy is quite simple, but so magical for young kids to watch. I hope you and yours enjoy it as much as we did!

The materials you need are:
*wire (18 gauge is best but 19 gauge is easier for kids to work with because it is easier to bend)
*pencil
*wire cutter/plyers
*cork
*paper
(nail and hammer)



Step 1
Wrap wire around a pencil. Two inches around the pencil is sufficient.
Step 2
After you remove the spiral wire from the pencil, you can start to pull and stretch the wire so that each coil is about 1 cm apart. Although it is necessary to experiment with the distance in order to make it work for you.
Step 3
Cut a piece of wire (approximately 3 1/2 inches long) and loop ends into small circles, then bend wire into a semicircle.
Step 4
Insert the spiral into the looped ends of the newly formed semi-circle.
Step 5
Insert one end of the spiral into a cork base. Tip: Create a pilot hole in cork with hammer and nail first.
Step 6
Now you can create a little character out of paper to twirl around the spiral. I also thought of monkeys, acrobats or spacemen for this project. And then you use a glue gun to sandwich the semi-circle with your paper character.
Step 7
Bring the character to the very top, give it a little nudge and watch it twirl down!
Final tip: If character does not twirl down, slightly spread coils apart. If character slips down without twirling, slightly squeeze coils together

The Long-Reach Gizmo

This is a fairly easy project with household materials. And little engineers can get hands on experience with the concept of leverage and fulcrum...have fun.

What you will need:
*Cardboard
*Brads
*Scissors or x-acto knife
*Paint



Step one:
I cut cardboard into 8”x2” strips and poked 3 holes in each strip. For hole placements, put one in the center and the other 2 on each outer side.
Step two:
To spark ideas for how to transform our extendable arm into something fantastic, we started brainstorming toothy animal, robotic arm, and animal claws.
Step three:
We ultimately turned our “gizmo” into a crocodile and an angler fish by re-fashioning the upper and lower strips into the animal’s head. To do this, I sketched the upper and lower jaws on paper and cut them out first.

I had to refine the design until the upper jaw and lower jaw fit together nicely when you pivot the two pieces from the center fulcrum. The final drawing of the animal’s head was traced onto cardboard and then cut with the x-acto knife.
Step four:
Next, I painted on both sides of the cardboard. Finally, I assembled “x” shapes together and fastened each cardboard strip with metal brad

Potato print gift wrap

Making a stamp from a potato is a fun and inexpensive way of turning plain paper into something special. Why not try personalising your next gift with potato stamp gift wrap?

What you'll need:
*Potatoes
*Water based paints
*Pencil
*Plain paper



Step one:
Cut the potato in half. Draw your desired shape on the surface of the potato using a marker pen. Cut around your shape with a kitchen knife, leaving the design raised on the surface of the potato. Note: An adult should cut potatoes for young children.
Step two:
our a small amount of paint onto a saucer then rub the potato in the paint. For the best results make sure the surface is evenly coated.
Step three:
Stamp the potato onto paper. You may be able to use the stamp several times before dipping in ink again. If you wish to use another colour, wash the potato clean,dry and repeat step two.
Step four:
Allow your print to dry before wrapping your present.

Alphabet Puzzle Print

I used an inexpensive foam alphabet puzzle to make letter stamps. Then I made a poster with a line from one of my daughter's favorite bedtime books*. Sweet for Valentine's Day!


What you'll need:
*foam alphabet puzzle like this one* or this one*
*wooden blocks
*double-sided tape
*ink pad (one color or multi-colored)
*ruler (preferably L-square)
*sheet of card stock or other nice heavy paper



Step one:
Choose a phrase or line from one of your child's favorite story books.
Step two:
Use double-sided tape to temporarily attach the letters that you will need for your phrase to wooden toy blocks. Don't forget to reverse the letters when you tape them on.
Step three:
Plan how you will layout the phrase on the paper. You may want to practice on scrap paper. I originally tried to use an 8.5" x 11" paper but found that the letters looked too squished, so I went for an 11" x 17" sheet.
Step four:
Use your stamps and ink pads to carefully stamp out the phrase. Use an L-square ruler to make sure you are stamping the letters in a straight line.
Note:
I originally tried to use the textured front side of the foam letters when I could, but found that the front side wouldn't absorb the ink as well as the back. It might be best to use the reverse side of the all of the letters.

Sticker Art

I originally had another more complicated craft planned for this week, but on Sunday I put together a little project for my son so that I could buy 15 minutes to make dinner. He was so pleased with the results that we thought we'd share it with you today. My son loves these dimensional stickers, but I am always reluctant to buy him for them, because they are rather expensive. One sheet of them is about $3.99 if you don't have a Michael's coupon, which is a lot to spend for your young child to stick them to a piece of paper that you will likely throw away a few days later. I purchased a set of canvas covered boards for another project, so I decided to let him use one of those, which would make his "artwork" seem a little more special.

3_stickerart_mix



Step one
Have your child draw a "setting" for the dimensional stickers on the canvas board using the pastels.
Step two
Have your child place the stickers on the board where he would like them to be glued (the adhesive on the stickers doesn't work on the waxy pastels).
Step three
Heat up your glue gun and fasten all of the stickers to the canvas board. (tip: regular school glue such as Elmer's would work as well, but would take longer to dry)
Step four
Place your child's artwork on a shelf or pop it in a shadowbox frame, and enjoy. Alternatively, you could use my son's idea, and "send it to the museum."
Variations:
One nice thing about this project is that you can adjust the degree of difficulty depending on the age of the child. The very young child could simply scribble on the board and stick the stickers in random places. This is likely what my 2 1/2 year old daughter would do. My nearly 6 year old son drew a more detailed drawing and placed the stickers in appropriate places. An older child could draw a very detailed background, or work with other mediums such as paint or decoupaged fabric, adding the stickers when the background is dry. Because the canvas board is rigid, it would work well on a shelf as a part of a seasonal display.

Texture collage

This is part craft project and a treasure hunt – this is a fun project to get your child to find textures all around the house and outside

What you will need:
*7 sheets of bond paper 8.5 x 11 in.
*crayons various colours
*scissors, gluestick
*heavy stock paper 9 x 12 in.



Step one:
..take the bond paper and crayons and hunt around the house for surfaces with
interesting textures and rub on the paper with the crayon over the texture
surface. Do as many as you can and in a variety of colours
Step two:
..once your done rubbing – decide on an image you want to create. We did a
flower with a butterfly.
..Cut out the different shapes – you can tear the paper as an option.
Step three:
..glue down all the different shapes.

Stencil shapes on wood venee

...this project is a fun way to practice your shapes and playing with colour on the nice contrast of the wood veneer

What you will need:
*stencil brush (medium size)
*mylar or acetate paper to cut out stencils (paper tends to get soggy)
*silk screen ink (or paint of any kind)
*wood veneer (or found wood-if you don’t have any wood coloured
construction paper would also work)
*pencil, exacto knife, cutting matte, plate and spatula



step one:
..For my pattern I decided on abstract and geometric shapes. You can draw out the shapes on the mylar and cut out with an exacto knife (mylar is also easy enough to cut with scissors). Take the paint or ink and spread out on a plate and use your stencil brush to even out the ink/paint and make it an
even consistency. I find it works best when your ink/paint is a bit thinned out and not too thick.
step two:
..Lay your stencil on the spot you want it and dab with your stencil brush on the entire space of your cut out (It’s good to do a test on paper to get the feel of the dabbing) It’s great to use mylar paper because it allows you to wash the ink/paint and also you can see what’s underneath – helping with the placement of your sencil.
..Continue this process and layer different shapes and colours on top of each
other till you get the desired effect.
..It’s important to let the ink/paint dry in between – you can use a hair
dryer to speed up the process.

Wood veneer collage

…creating a Marquetry-like image by collaging different types of wood veneer

What you will need:
*8 x 10 wood panel
*different wood veneers, like maple, pine, cherry or oak
(if you don't have any veneer quickly available, maybe you can ask the local timbershop for some left-overs)
*white glue and brush
*scissors and pencil
*sand paper no. 250
13_woodveneercollagedet



step one:
..firstly decide what image you want to create – I decided on a tree with a bird
..take the wood veneer and draw out your shapes – or you can just start cutting.
*keep in mind the wood veneer cuts very well – but you need to be aware of the wood grain – it can break off easily – not to worry you can attach them together when you glue it down
step two:
..once you cut out your shapes start gluing – put glue on the wood panel in the spot you want the shape to be – then put glue on top of the cut out shape. You need to be very generous with the glue – if you don’t put enough glue it will curl as it dries.
step three:
..keep doing step one and two till you get the desired effect and once your image is done brush the white glue over the entire surface and let it stand to dry – once dried as an

Pattern print book cover

.this project is exploring pattern with lino printing – you can use this project to make a wall hanging, wrapping paper, cards etc. – we will use this method to make a book cover

What you will need:
*1 sheet of brown kraft paper approx.11 x 14 in”
*1 piece of soft lino approx. 3x3 in.
*scissors, pencil and ruler
*lino cutter, plexi to roll ink, roller and spatula
*white block printing ink



step one:
..take your book and trace around with a pencil – add an extra 4 in. on either side. Cut your book cover out.
step two:
..first decide on a image for your repeated pattern – try to do an image that goes right to the edge of the lino and do some thumbnail sketches if you want to see how it will repeat. Try to draw an image that won’t look like an image merely repeated, but rather an image that will become part of a larger pattern when repeated
..after you draw your design – colour in the areas you want to keep and leave blank the area you want to carve out
step three:
..carve out the areas left blank on your line block. You can ink the block and test how it looks on some scrap paper if you like to make sure its how you want it
step four:
..start printing the book cover by rolling ink on the lino block and pressing firmly on the kraft paper – start in the far left hand corner and work outwards
step five:
..once the entire surface is covered let dry
step six:
..place the cover over the book and fold in the inside flap.

Extended landscape

sources:




..this project will help with colour, composition and perspective.

What you will need:
Old magazines
Glue stick and scissors
Pencil and pencil crayons
8 _ x 11 in. bond paper or your sketchbook



step one:
..choose a landscape image from a magazine – choose an image that has a bit of perspective and has a good amount of sky and ground
..cut out the image and glue it down on a piece of paper – I did the drawing in my sketchbook – it helps to keep the paper from moving
step two:
..if you like you can start the drawing by using a pencil – try adding objects and creatures in the landscape – maybe a dragon flying in the sky or a mermaid swimming in the ocean
..you don’t need to match the colours perfectly – I also find if you layer multiple colours on top of each other it creates nice textures.
..When your done you can frame it or scan it in your computer and print multiple copies to give to friends and family.

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