DIY: Ceramic Gnome Homes

A neighborhood of gnome homes.

 My hubs and I've been married for something like a dozen years. Not sure exactly because I lost our marriage certificate long ago. It wasn't a day that stands out in my mind because it was simply a fifteen minute session with the judge at the courthouse. I don't remember much except that I wore this horrible cornflower blue two-piece suit dress from Talbots thus making me look like Barbara Bush. Hawt.

Details of adorableness. You sure you can handle this much cute?

Wait. Where was I going with this? Ah, yes, married life. In the beginning, hubs and I were never apart. And it was lovely cause we didn't wanna be. This changed over time (like six months in) and I began to kinda-sorta freakin' love my alone time. You see, hubs has to go on these occasional work trips and when he does, I likes to party. And by party I mean invite a buncha buddies over for grown-up drinks, laughs and gnome-home making. Exactly what the Beastie Boys were talkin' about during their fight for the right to party.

Textures for clay: lace, crochet bits, burlap and plastic doilies. Although texture possibilities are endless. My personal fave: the bottom of my shoe.

 Let's say you wanna indulge in your own gnome home making merriment. Well, this here clay project is so easy you can still be successful after a grown-up drink or three. Here's what you'll need:

•  clay (I use a low-fire clay like cone 04-06)
• rolling pins
• textures
• cornstarch (clay can often be too damp and stick to your rolling pin and textures. Cornstarch makes it less sticky without removing too much moisture)
• old toothbrushes and cups of water
• wooden skewers (for cutting the clay)

I swear to you my hands are not this skin-removed pink. Although maybe they are. The kids can hardly focus when I demonstrate on the elmo (not the doll, you silly, the piece of electronic equipment). My favorite kid comment of late: (whispering) ewww, did you see her hands?!

 To begin, I create the bottom of my home. Pick a texture and place it on a non-sticky surface. Place your clay on top of that. If your clay is sticky, sprinkle it with cornstarch and set to rollin' wit your pin. Not your homies. Keep you clay at a 1/4" thickness. Any thicker can cause explosions in your kiln while any thinner can be too weak. You gots to get this just right, Goldie Locks.

 Peel your clay off and viola! You've got texture. Now let's roll it up and make it into the base of your home.

 Now you could just roll it up as-is as shown on the left. Or you could cut one end of your rolled slab with an interesting line to jazz of the piece. It's up to you. Whatever you decide, use your old toothbrush to scrub one side thus gluing the connected pieces together.

 For some variety, I opted for a different texture for the roof. Crocheted bits like this can be purchased at your local craft store or pinched from your grannies house. You know, that lady who dresses like Barbara Bush.

 Roll this up waffle cone style. Again, toothbrush before you attach one side of the cone to the other. It might stick while you work but there's a chance that without using the toothbrush and water to attach it might not remain stuck for long.

 Set the roof on your house and pray you made it the right size. And if you didn't then you just messed the whole thing up. Aw, just kidding. But you did kinda mess up. Sorry. Make your waffle smaller/bigger and try to get it right this time, would ya?

My other favorite textures? Stamps! The larger stamps could also be used for the base or the roof.

I decided to use the stamps for details like this little faux wooden door. Clay loves to adhere to stamps so go all cornstarch on it and you'll be fine.

 My fave finishing touches are doors, windows, flowers and hearts. There are endless possibilities. I mean, just take a look at this cuteness:

 Aww! Add a couple hearts to the top for you and that special guy you hope goes out of town. These were done with stamps but you could also use alphabet pasta. Just leave the pasta in and let it fire off in the kiln.

 Sweet little ladder. It's always good to have a fire escape.

 It's so adorable it's burning my eyes. Seriously.

Because I knew I'd have a hard time getting all these ladies back at the same time, I opted to have them make and glaze their houses in one sitting. For that I used The Clay Lady's Clay Paint. Her "paint" is an engobe (which is dried clay with pigment added). This can be painted directly on to wet clay. Once dry, these pieces were dunked in The Clay Lady Glaze. Because I love vibrant colors, I use Mayco's Stroke and Coat with the children.

I'm thinking that the creation of these homes just might have gotten the gnome bug outta my system (as evidenced by this gnome dress, my students gnomies and my own gnome homes). In fact, I think I'll turn to my longtime fashion consultant and ask her opinion. What say you, Barb?

Hey! That's my wedding dress!

Geez, so many caption options with this photo:

"Shhh! You'll wake the gnomes!"

"Smell my finger. Does it smell like Cheetos to you?"

"I know where your marriage certificate is but I'll never tell!"

Wow, Barb. Just, wow.

Merry gnome-home making to you! Until next time, enjoy your week.

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In the Art Room: Art Show Part 2

I love this sweet interaction between the ladybug and the snail by a second grade artist.

A week ago today, I was scrambling to get the last of the clay projects fired and the art room ready for a display of well over 300 clay projects. Now, on this here last day of school (sniff!), the art room is empty. And all of those clay projects are proudly displayed on someone's mantle, nightstand, coffee table or kitchen window sill. Such a happy thought.

Thankfully, hubs was on hand during the art show as my photographer. He managed to snap these photos of the clay display in my room. I'm attaching links to my clay lessons, if you are interested. Thank you for sharing this happy art show memory with me! Next up on In the Art Room: the Walk like an Egyptian performance. Last week's In the Art Room: Art Show Part 1 can be found here.

The Egyptian entrance to the art room. So glad hubs got a photo of this as it will be coming down soon. Next year's theme is in the works.

Entering at their own risk.

This is the sight you are greeted with when you enter my room. This is usually where my drum set and gong are...but for the sake of my sanity, these things were put away during the art show. Again, this is all going away shortly. I cannot wait to begin work on my new theme.

Because all of my first through fourth grade students had ceramics to display (the kindergarten kids clay projects were Butterfly Reliefs that you can see here), I had to make room for well over 300 projects. I used every table I had as well as all of my counter space for display.

The infamous fish taco clay project. I love this lesson, it's always a hit with the kids. These fish were created by my first grade students. This lesson idea comes courtesy of The Clay Lady.

I've altered the directions a bit, so here it is: lay a texture, like lace or burlap, onto your work surface; pound to Oreo thickness and remove from texture; using a skewer, trace a circle template; fold like a taco and pinch closed with the exception of an opening for the mouth; add eyes, fins, lips and viola! You found Nemo!

My counter covered in ceramics. Because the kids have also been learning about the artist Claude Monet and his garden in Giverny, all of our clay projects are pond-themed. You can see our Mammoth Monet Mural here. In keeping with that theme, I had the kids create drawings of their clay projects, like fish, lily pads and frogs. These drawings were then cut out and used as the "table clothes" you see draped over my cabinets and tables.

Sweet Monet-inspired lily pads created by my second grade artists. You can find the complete lesson here.

To decorate my word wall cabinets, I hung up these Flower Pot Collages that my wee kindergarten friends had just completed.

The clay frogs stole the show. I love big-mouthed and bright-eyed paint-brush-holding frog created by a super sweet third grade artist. Check out the froggy lesson here.

To spice up the display a little bit, we mixed the frogs, fish and lily pads up a bit.

With my former student teacher, the fourth graders created these sculptures of fictional heroes. This was a great lesson she created...the kids were to come up with ideas of what characteristics a hero would have and create a hero based from there. Some of the heroes were glazed while others where painted copper.

A seated heroine contemplating her awesomeness.

At the time, the students were also learning about the Statue of Liberty. Because she is made from copper, some of the students painted their heroes with copper paint.

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