In the Art Room: Bobble Head Pets UPDATE!

BRACE YOURSELF FOR THE CUTE. This is just a handful of the Bobble Head Pets that my fourth graders created and each one is so stinkin' adorable! If I had any patience at all, I would have waited until the next crop of cute was unloaded from the kiln before blogging but I just couldn't wait (one being fired now has a monocle and a top hat while another has a spiked collar...I'll just have to do a follow up post to this here follow up post)! The kids loved this project...and the results from each are just precious. 

We learned some things along the way: keep the point at the top of the body very pointy as that helps the head rotate and bobble better. Glazing both the inside of the head and the top of the point also makes for a better bobble. 

These creations took us three one-hour art classes to create. On the first day, we made the body. MANY of the bodies were so thick that I just KNEW they were going to explode in the kiln...but none of them did! Stay tuned for a long overdue Art Teacherin' 101 this week on my fave clay tips and I'll share with you how I prevented explosions. 

On the second day, we made the head. With extra time and extra clay we made doggie dishes, toys, mice for our cats, you name it, they created it. On our final day, after a bisque firing, we glazed! Here's the demo video I created and used. Feel free to use in your art teacherin' adventures! 

This lesson was also shared in my book! You'll have to buy the book to see just what animal I made bobble.

You can pick up your book here...keep in mind that the release date isn't until June. A fun summer surprise in your mailbox, ha! 

All the projects in my book were created with air dry, oven bake or homemade clay...but many of them could be done with kiln fired clay, like this project! I'll be exploring all kinds of clay projects next month during my LIVE craft nights! You should join the fun, you can create with ANY clay. But I'll be exploring a variety of air dry, plaster and homemade clay...

Pick up your clay kit here and get ready to craft with me LIVE on Facebook at 8 pm CST next week! 

So, true facts: not all of the heads bobble freely. Many of them are pretty stationary. BUT...the kids are having so much fun gently rotating the heads and getting them to tilt just like a real pup or kitten. Just moving them a little totally changes the look of the sculpture!

 Many of the kids created their beloved pets. 

 We use Mayco's Stroke and Coat. I give the kids EVERY color in the rainbow because, well, who doesn't want to have a lot of options. I picked up tons of ice cube trays from the Dollar Tree and put a different color in each slot. I labeled each slot on the tray so that the kids would know what color they were using since the colors can change so drastically in the kiln. I encourage at least three coats of glaze for just the right amount of shine. We also have our dog dishes (ha!) of water and sponge for cleaning brushes. I recently had a teacher ask how I teach the kids not to mix colors. I usually do something like this: DON'T MIX THE COLORS! And that works. 

Seriously, my kids have been painting since kindergarten. They know that we always keep our paint brushes pointy by painting with just the tip; we always clean our brush in the water and dry on the sponge before changing colors. It's rare that I have kids mix colors...especially my older students. I encourage pride in artwork and I think they know that taking care of art supplies will create a beautiful masterpiece. 

And, again, I say: DON'T MIX THE COLORS! Usually one talking to and explanation as to why we don't do that does the trick. And, if all else fails, take the paint away. If you can't use the supplies correctly, so sorry, you are done for the day. 

 Rant over! Back to the cute.

As y'all know, we are having a pet shop theme for our art show. These guys are in charge of the cats and dogs. Now we just have to work on transforming the art room into a pet shop! We have some ideas cooking about how to make that happen. 

These kids have made so many 3-D works this year: bobble heads, candy hearts, sewn monsters! They are going to dominate at the art show. 

 I swear their eyes follow me around the art room!

 Have y'all done bobble heads before? What did you do differently?

Until next time! 

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In the Art Room: I WROTE A BOOK!

I know I've mentioned this before...but now I can finally make it official because IT'S FINISHED! Guyz, I WROTE A BOOK! 

I still cannot believe it. In fact, I don't think I'll actually believe it until I have a hard copy in my hands. The book is not due to come out until mid-May but it is available for preorder on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, and Indigo. It is so surreal to see my name pop up on these sites!

What will you find in this book? 52 CLAY PROJECTS, Y'ALL. Clay that does not require kiln fire. The purpose of this book is to give kids the opportunity to explore creating homemade clays, store-bought air dry clay, paper clay, oven baked clays...you name it, I tried it out in this book. Writing this book, I approached it from an art teacher standpoint: would my students enjoy these clay projects? If you recall my 1950's diner-themed art show last year, then you actually got a glimpse of several projects in the book. For our art show, we used kiln-fired clay which means that the projects in the book are versatile enough to be used with just about any kind of clay you have available. It's a book for those who wish to explore clay with children regardless as to whether or not one has a kiln!

So, how did writing this book come to be? It all started last November. A lovely editor at Quarry books reached out to me and simply asked me if I'd be interested in writing a book. She had seen this Sculpey creation and this paper clay pumpkin and was curious to know if I had more up my sleeve. I'm not even gonna lie: I was so flattered to be asked to write a book that I immediately agreed before discovering that I'd be dreaming up, writing about and taking step-by-step photos of 52 clay projects. 

It wasn't until last February that the paperwork was signed and I was on the hook to write a book. And that's when reality set in. True Confession: I'm a BIG TIME procrastinator. And there ain't no procrastinating when it comes to book writing. There were several deadlines throughout that I had to meet which was a good thing as it kept me working...but it was tough because I had to give up precious time to do so. I spent weekends and nearly the entire month of June in my pj's from morning til night sculpting in clay, snapping a picture, sculpting a little more and snapping another picture. That part was fun. It was the writing the steps out that was more tedious. I mean, I write all the time on this here blog but I write in a very casual tone. I had to sound all legit and professional and yet kid-friendly and such for the book. Thankfully, I was working with wonderful editors who helped tremendously.

June 30th was my final deadline. I made it...and might I add on June 29th. Whew! Snapping hundreds of photos and editing them, writing endless pages of copy and doing rewrites...it all made me seriously consider my life's choices. My husband's favorite question was, "Well, do you regret saying yes?" that answer varied from day to day during the course of the creating. But now I can say Nope! I don't regret it a bit! His next question is usually, "Would you write another book?" Well, I've not been asked...so I don't know my answer. 

Thank you so much for letting me share my exciting news with you. It's so nice to see all that hard work, long hours and pj'ed weekends become something tangible. You'll have to let me know if you get a copy and what you think! 

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