Showing posts with label crazy art teacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crazy art teacher. Show all posts

Thursday, December 11, 2014

DIY: Christmas Tablecloth to Lady Skirt

Have you ever found yourself, late at night (and by "late" I mean 10:17pm because it's a school night and that qualifies as, like, super late) behind the wheel of a sewing machine attaching the garland you stripped from your Christmas tree to an already tacky skirt and thought to yourself, "Who am I and why am I creating what's sure to be the tackiest ensemble to date?" 

I dare say, I find myself in these types of situations, asking myself these very questions, more often than I'd like to admit. 
Although, honestly,  at the time of the creation of this skirt, I actually thought it was pretty stinking cute. Granted, that was one biggie-sized glass of grape-flavored grown-up drink into my evening so my judgement mightah been a pinch screwed, er, skewed. It wasn't until the following day when I decided my Candy Cane Cons were the perfect addition my ensemble that I was met with some criticism. In the form of a second grader. Which sounded a lil bit like this:

Second Grade Girl: Mrs. Stephens, [smiling sweetly] I really like your skirt and I really like those shoes but I don't know if I really like them together. I don't wanna hurt your feelings but I bet you would look cuter in your heels.

I took that kind commentary much better than the hubs who gave me one up/down look and said, "That is not one of my favorite outfits of yours." Or the co-worker who exclaimed, "Ohhh, that is baaaaad, Cassie." 
Yeah, well, you win some...

And, honestly, since you don't give a rat's pah-tootie what anyone else thinks, you win some more. Whilst looking like Christmas up-chucked on you. Cuz it's what you do.
Wait, whuuut? You too wanna look like some sort of Christmas-obsessed tackless maniac? Well, sister-friend, get in line. And allow me to show you how it's done. 

Start by hitting the thrift stores, ebay and etsy-town to find just the tacky Christmas tree skirt or tablecloth you might need. This shouldn't be hard. Since most people in the universe have good taste, they have a habit of avoiding the ugly. Because I'm a firm believe in Leave No Christmas Crap Behind, I always find a plethora of glittery-gaudy-goodness. Once you've gotten your kitten mittens on a tree skirt/tablecloth, find yourself a circle skirt pattern. I scored mine on etsy a while back. I simply use the waist and waistband pattern for my alterations. You can read more details about that super simple process in last year's post Tree Skirt to Lady Skirt in 60 Minutes or Less
And what's a tacky Christmas skirt without some garland gaudiness, hmmm? Not even worth the effort, says me. Garland Stitching Hazard: Your sewing room floor WILL look like you slaughtered Tinker Bell as it will be covered in glittery pixie-dust-esque goodness. Since this isn't my first trip down garland stitching lane, I've learned a thang or two: set your machine on the zigzag stitch (so it catches more of the garland) and avoid pinning as you'll never EVER be able to find those dang sparkly pins in that dang sparkly garland. Which could ultimately result in you sitting down in said skirt and sitting down on said pins. In your garland-y gluteus maximus. You can take a visit to the World's Tackiest Sweater that I garland-ized here, if you think your eyes can handle the glory. 
Dang, you want more tacky skirt sassiness? Well, here's a look-see at last years attempt...
And yet another. Cuz if it's one thing I am, it's consistently tacky. 
And, would you find this incredibly hard to believe...I have yet another tacky Christmas tree skirt to lady skirt in the works. Oh and friends, just you wait. You ain't seen nuthin' yet.

So, I gotta ask, what tackiness are you sporting this holiday season? 

AND is this really as bad as co-worker, kid and hubs say? (if the answer is "no" feel free to not comment). 
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Thursday, October 30, 2014

DIY: An El Dia de los Muertos Frock

Hola, mis amigos! I hope you all are in fine spirits this All Hallow's Eve-eve and all geared up for your el Dia de los Muertos celebrations (which takes place, in case you didn't know [cuz I certainly didn't until recently], November 1st and 2nd). If your Day of the Dead party looks anything like mine (which will include recovering from a night of binge-leftover-candy devouring) then I totes sympathize. It's just that we don't get any trick or treaters, like, everrr and when we do, I'll be doggone if I'm passin' out the Snickers for a buncha (what's certain to be) crooked-wigged Elsas. Aw, no. Everybody knows that you dole out the crap-candy like Tootsie Rolls (I'm not talking the flavored ones because those are my jam, y'all) first then dip into the good stuff if, and only if, the Tootsies run out. Meanwhile, I'm just over here eating my weight's worth in Snickers as they are Really Satisfying*. 
Despite the fact that I'll be crashing hard from my candy buzz during Day of the Dead, that ain't no reason a girl can't look good. I scored the very last two yards of this fab fabric in August (from JoAnn's y'all but it's available online too) with full intent to stitch it up and wear it throughout October for our chats about the holiday. But, you know, me being slacker-me, that didn't happen. Not until last week did I rediscover the fabric (buried under a mountain of other unfinished/never-started/long-forgotten/oh,-look-a-burrito! projects, of course) and realized I only had a matter of days to get it complete.
 Since it was crunch time, I decided to resort to a sweet little vintage pattern that I've stitched up a coupla times before. This lil McCalls pattern is perfectly precious with a sweet retro neckline and fitted, ahem very fitted (suck it in, sistah, and no more Snickers for you!) waist.
 I used this pattern a coupla summers ago to stitch up this sweet little number (follow the link for a truly epic banana bread story. I know, you wouldn't think banana bread would even make a good story but when Ima cooking it, trust me. It can.)
Oh and here's that super rad fabric I used. There's a lotta great Day of the Dead fabrics out there but this was my fave.
Personally, I totally love that the little dancing calaveras that I stitched kinda resemble those in my dress, yay-ness!

Oh, so here's a view of the dress sans sweater, belt and necklace. Here you can see just how stinking fitted that bust and waistline is. Which I love. A fitted top and a big fat puffy bottom is all I ever really look for in a man dress.

 Oh! And I added more puffy colorful balls to the bottom of the dress. Because, ya know, what's a dress without ballz, y'all? These little dangly dudes were left over from the last time I ball-ified a dress
 As for the rest of the outfit deets: sweater: ebay; belt: Amazon; tights: Target; shoes: Gah, I wear these things all the time, they're Crocs found at Goodwill; mask: Oriental Trading
Speaking of Stitching...fire up those sewing machines, kids! Our Dress-a-Girl-Around-the-World Sew-Along begins next week! Yay, I'm so excited!

And speaking of Halloween...if you dress up as a work of art or an artist, don't forget to email me photos! You can enter the Dress Up Contest and possibly be featured in SchoolArts Magazine.


Happy Halloween and el Dia de los Muertos, y'all!


 * Dear Snickers, you are welcome for the endorsement. You can send the case of Snickers to my school address so the hubs won't discover my secret stash. Pretty please and thank you much.





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Wednesday, July 2, 2014

DIY: Pee Wee's Playhouse Bibs

Well hey there, kids! Just when you thought I was done talkin' your ear off about that Pee-Wee Herman Baby Shower, I hit ya with another round of the Playhouse, this time in the form of a trifecta of Pee-Wee's Playhouse bibs!
Modeled after my three fave characters from Pee-Wee's Playhouse: Pee-Wee, Miss Yvonne and Cowboy Curtis. Look at 'em just chillin on the set. Better yet, catch all three of 'em, along with the rest of the Playhouse gang, in this montage which contains all the totally inappropriate-for-children/sexual innuendos that aired every Saturday morning for all the under-10 set to see:



Gah, so good. 
Now, I'll admit, I decided to stitch up these bad boys for Mallory in the final hours of Pee-Wee-party-preparations. When I get a crazy idea like this that I know I don't really have time to do, I immediately dive right in before that logical party-pooper part of my brain wakes up to my antics and is all, "WHAT are you doing NOW?! No time to wash your hair today but make Pee-Wee Bibs, suuuuuure!" Like I said, total party-pooper.
In making the Pee-Wee bib, I knew I needed light gray, white and red fabric. The best part about this here DIY is that I just so happened to have all the supplies on hand. Even that fringe for the Cowboy Curtis bib. Ah, the perks of being a hoarder.
I knew that I wanted to make the bib symmetrical, so I folded a piece of paper in half and transferred my drawing to the other side. Then I pinned my drawing to the white, gray and terrycloth (used for the back) fabrics and cut 'em out.
From there, I cut up my paper pattern and pinned the suit jacket portion to the gray fabric and commenced cuttin'. 
Pee-Wee's bow tie is actually the size of a child's tie, it's comically tiny. I tried to create one that little even though I knew stitching that would be a drag.
Once everything was pinned in place, I set my sewing machine to the appliqué stitch (your machine has it, it's the zig-zag setting with the width of the stitches set close together) and got to work. I decided to piece the bibs together first and then add the binding last...mostly because I had no idea how I was gonna do the binding and making the characters was just so fun I didn't wanna stop to figure it out!
A thought I never thought I'd thunk came to mind as I was working on this bib:

Is cleavage on a baby bib a bad thing?

Answer: Not if you're making a Miss Yvonne bib!
Now originally, I was just gonna make a Pee-Wee bib. But when I was finished, I realized I'd made it a pee-wee-sized Pee-Wee bib. So I decided to create a set of bibs each one slightly bigger than the last. So the next size up (so to speak) was the Miss Yvonne bib!
Oh man did I crack myself up with this bib, ya'll. Again, I started with a symmetrically drawn pattern,  pinned that to my fabrics and cut. I decided to add a wee flower to jazz up her dress some. The pearl necklace was made outta buttons that are a definite safety issue...but I'm pretty sure Baby Mama Mallory isn't gonna have her kid in a cleavage bib anytime soon. 
Well, howdy, ya'll! I think Cowboy Curtis was just the sweetest character on Pee-Wee's Playhouse. Always well-mannered and fabulously dressed. Hubs was a little ticked that I chopped up his favorite bandana but 'twas a good cause. This baby bib be pimpin Cowboy Curtis style.
I know, Cowboy Curtis. I'm just as surprised as you are!
After each bib was complete, I pinned the terry cloth to the back. Then I stitched quilt binding to the top of each bib...

And a loooong band of it around the bottom. I left the ends of the binding extra long so they could be tied in the back.
Of course each character bib had to come in it's own character package! I really couldn't resist. 
I tell ya, these bibs were just about the easiest and most fun to make. I mean, I was seriously giggling the entire time I was stitchin' em up. Course, I did have Pee-Wee's Playhouse playing in the background for inspirations so that certainly helped!

Alrightie, kids, that's the last of this Pee-Wee series...although I have a sneaky suspicion that there might be more Big Adventures to come (I so wanna Pee-Wee-ize my art room, ya'll!). Until we chat again, please be sure to cast your vote for our Artsy Book Club and have a great 4th of July weekend!
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Thursday, May 1, 2014

DIY: The Best Dressed Art Teacher Contest!

Well, folks the entries are in! Here are just some of the most crazily, er, Best Dressed Art Teachers around. I've included a super short bio (there were so many entries, I had to keep 'em brief) as well as a blog link if available. Casting your vote is easy peasy, just click on your fave in the poll on the right (it's a tough choice so you can vote for more than one!). Voting ends Thursday, May 8th with winners announced shortly thereafter. Have fun checking out these awesome characters and good luck, you crazy art teachers!

 Meet Natalie Friedl who is an elementary art teacher in Huntersville, NC (right outside of Charlotte). She says, "I love teaching art to little artists and this Halloween I decided to take a sick day to enjoy my favorite holiday. Well, I was so happy to find that Frida Kahlo herself had recently become a substitute in our system.  I quickly called her and she agreed to sub for me on Halloween!"

 You might know Don from his blog. He teachers at Zamorano Fine Arts Academy which is a K-5 Visual Arts Magnet School in San Diego. He writes, "The first look is me as a Che Guevara t-shirt. I stenciled "Viva la education!" below the portrait on the shirt. The second one is me as the one and only Bob Ross. I wore this one for our halloween parade a couple years ago. Gosh, I remember being mesmerized by him on TV when I was a kid. That voice, that fan brush, that hair..."
Kimberly Jones has a "sub" known as Ms. Paintbrush that occasionally shows up for her! Kimberly writes, "Ms. Paintbrush is my crazy cousin who, interestingly enough, looks and sounds just like me! It's been rumored that Ms. Paintbrush has actually demonstrated painting with her paintbrush hair!"

 Deyana Matt teaches art in Bloomingdale, IL  to students in 6th through 8th grade. Deyana sent me so many amazing outfit photos, I can tell she is a girl after my own heart! I wish I could have share 'em all with you. These were my faves!
Melinda Flinchum, aka Miss French Fry, writes "I am a kindergarten through fifth grade art and special education teacher. I LOVE color, my dog Mugsy and putting together theme-y outfits based on the artists we're studying.  Most of my outfits are thrifted because you never know when a Kindergartener will spill a container of red glaze on you (true story)." 
Stephanie Walton taught middle school art since 2001.  In 2013,  she made the leap to elementary school! She is now more comfortable in dressing the part as Crazy Art Teacher and does so with her adorable apron collection. She says, "They [the aprons] are a hit now and the kids worry when I don't have my aprons on in cute colors!" What a perfect way to add a little color to your art teacher wardrobe, Stephanie!

Amy Fitzpatrick teaches grades first and fourth through seventh at Duluth Edison Charter North Star Academy. She writes, "The Art Fairy was originally a Halloween costume, but she's made appearances on days when we've done art history or art appreciation." I love this idea of an art fairy, so stealing this one, ya'll!

 Debra Thomson organizes an "Art for Ed's Sake" event as a public school art fundraiser in my district. She says, "So of course I had to dress up as well.  This is my hubby and I as American Gothic.  (Once in awhile we stood the other way and said "the tornado had come through"…." So much fun! I love that hubster got involved. And what a fabulous idea for a fundraiser, Debra!
Heather Hyslop, who blogs at Art Intertwine, says that she put this look together after finding a Marilyn t-shirt. She wrote me to say, " Since no outfit is complete without accessories I also included my Andy Warhol soup cans and 25 cats which are 'hidden' throughout both pics."
Heather lives in Victoria, Canada where she teaches art as a sub to elementary, middle, and high school students.  She also runs an art program for elementary kids through community recreational center.  

 Sheryl Depp teaches elementary school art. About her outfits, she writes, "One is the typical artist "uniform" and the other is my self proclaimed Queen of Recycle costume." I personally love her typical artist outfit, especially that scarf, fantastic!
 Erin Maday is a baby to the art education game. She's a second year elementary art teacher in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. She says, "I love my job (I am 39 and left a marketing corp. America type jobs few years ago to finish up an Art Ed certificate and have never looked back! I love being an Elementary Art teacher!)." Here she is dressed as a silent film star for Halloween, highlighting the art element "value" and principle of design, "contrast." And... of course the silent film movies of yesteryear.


Patricia Brentano is an Elementary Art Teacher in Neptune, NJ. About this lovely look, she writes, "I love Hokusai's Great Wave and have a pair of leggings and a shirt with his print. As a way to introduce the artist and a project on the Great Wave to my third grade classes, I wore my leggings, origami crane earrings, and a wave bracelet. Now kids in all grades can say "Hokusai", without someone exclaiming "God bless you!" and students who are doing the Great Wave project are super excited to begin!"  


Donna Staten, most famous for her amazing art education pinterest boards (which I am so very thankful for, Donna, what a resource!) got all Suess'ed up for Read Across America week! She teaches kindergarten through fifth grade art at Gattis Elementary in Round Rock, Tx (right by Austin).

Hope Knight, the art teacher behind Mrs. Knight's Smartest Artists, sent these photos and wrote, "I am dressed as a Picasso painting, fictitiously called "Head of a Woman." I don't dress up very often - I have to admit that comedy is a huge part of my life, but for some reason I act very serious and teacherly in the classroom. I have some sort of hang-up about getting in silly mode at school, but that's just my introverted nature I suppose. So glad my partner in crime, the music teacher, is a total extrovert and we make the best team."


 Ashley Hammond is an art teacher at Munford Elementary School in Munford, TN. She says, "I love making my own costumes to surprise my students, even though I am absolutely too scared to sew a single stitch. So everything is made with my best friend, the hot glue gun! :)  

The Very Hungry Caterpillar comes from my avid love for the life and work of Eric Carle. 
The Super Art Teacher outfit greeted my students on the first day of school this year. Nothing says "Welcome back!" than to harness your inner power of creativity!" 
Michael Kantor, aka Michael van Gogh, wore this awesome ensemble for Dress Like Your Hero Day! He says that he uses this very cool ensemble all the time and writes that when he dresses this way, the kids listen to "Micahel van Gogh more than me!"
Meet Lindsey Ostafy, an elementary are teacher in Bear, DE. Her first costume was inspired by an Egyptian themed unit (I have that very same hat, Lindsey!). She writes, "Each student used their photos to make themselves into a pharaoh. It was a fabulous day, and all of the students were inspired by my costume!" Her second photo features  a super cute scissor happy skirt. perfect for a lesson on collage!
Arlene Shelton teaches ninth grade art in Aledo, Texas.  This fabulous ensemble was inspired by an SNL Dress-Up Day! She says, "I have always wanted to wear my paint pants to school but I knew I would have to get creative to be allowed to wear them.  Therefore, when SNL Dress-Up Day was announced I grabbed the chance and dressed up like Garth from Wayne's World!  My counterpart, Wayne, is our school librarian."
Jena Love is a pre-k, third through eighth art teacher whose philosophy is, "If kids can relate to it then they get excited about it!" She writes, "Kids can relate to comics so I show them examples of comics and superheroes that have primary color costumes/uniforms then we talk about that. Then I tell that that I have a secret. I put on the cape and glasses and become a superhero whose power is to make any color in the whole world!"
 Ya'll probably know Phyl who blogs over at There's a Dragon in my Art Room. After teaching for 36 years, most of that at a rural elementary school in upstate New York, Phyl is now 2 years into her retirement. Although, you'd never know it. She stays busy teaching, painting, sculpting, you name it! This ensemble was created from a large collection of free art tees that Phyl had collected from attending years of conventions. If you were at NAEA in San Diego, you probably saw Phyl wearing this dress!
And, lastly, we have the super cute Erin Mikels who teaches at the Blue Earth Area School District in Minnesota.  About her look, she writes, "I love color, but have always been "scared" of being too loud. However, after adding bits of color and loud patterns, I have had nothing but positive feedback on my wardrobe! I buy most of my clothing from thrift shops, strictly because we are "poor" due to having five people in our family!But the other reason is due to the fact that every article of clothing I own has some sort of paint stain on it." Oh, friend. I think we can ALL relate to that!

And there you have it, folks! Place your votes. I'll keep you posted on the winner shortly after May 8th!











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