Showing posts with label clay projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clay projects. Show all posts

Monday, August 13, 2018

In the Art Room: Clay Projects for the Kiln-less!

Howdy, partners in art teacherin' crime! Today I thought I would share the video I created for The Art of Education's online conference last year. This will give you an idea of what their conferences are like if you've never been (read: they're super fun!). My presentation was all about clay projects for the kiln-less. BONUS: you can STILL do all of these projects even if you have a kiln...with some mild modifications to some. 
This video was inspired by my book Clay Lab for Kids: 52 Projects to Make, Model and Mold with Air-Dry, Polymer and Homemade Clay. That's right...I had to dream up, write up and photograph 52 clay projects so this book is PACKED with STUFF. If you buy the book, I would love a review...a glowing one, of course. 
In the video, you'll see just a snippet of some of the ideas from the book. My favorite air dry clays to use are Crayola's Air Dry (I'm not wild about Model Magic but their air dry is good) but my favorite is Amaco's Air Dry clay. I also love Sculpey and Fimo for polymer clay. Making clay is super fun...in the video and in the book, I'll walk you through some recipes. 
Now, if that clay video doesn't get you excited to share clay with your kiddos than just do a lil search on my blog. I have A TON of clay videos both here and on my YouTube channel so be sure and check 'em out!


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Sunday, July 1, 2018

DIY: Polymer Clay Snack Foods Necklace

 As you might have guessed from my last post, I'm on a bit of a polymer clay bender. I have this habit of going thru phases when working with different art supplies. When I'm needle felting, I needle felt EVERYTHING;  when I'm painting the walls of my art room, NOTHING IS SAFE; and when I decide to make miniature snack foods out of clay, watch out! 
I've got sushi, pie, popcorn, cupcakes, donuts, pizza, tacos, nachos, pretzels, lollies, pancakes, ice cream, bacon -n- eggs and more! I have to blame some of this on my friends over on Instagram who gave me a TON of ideas for what to sculpt. So many that I ended up with enough charms for not one necklace but also two charm bracelets! 
I hope this helps!
Because the grand majority of clothing in my closet is just as busy as this necklace, I decided to pair it with the dress I painted and stitched. Yes, this would be one of the more tame pieces of clothing in my closet. Surprised? I didn't think so. 
Wanna make some snack food charms of your own? You totally should! I even made a video tutorial showcasing how to make the tacos, nachos, donuts and sushi! Once you conquer those, you can take on all the snack foods. Here's a little list of supplies:
 * Sculptey Clay...or whatever your polymer clay of choice might be. I like the big ole 24 pack of the clay for a wide range of colors. Be sure and use all of the craft store coupons you can find as this stuff ain't cheap.

* Jump Rings...that's the little metal circles you'll want to add to your clay piece before popping it in the oven. I just slide mind in the back of the clay, sinking them about half way in. You'll be adding two jump rings per creation...but you'll only need to add one before baking. The other one can be added once the clay is cooled and easier to handle.

* Jeweler's Tools...or pliers. You'll need small tools to pry the second jump ring open and add it to the one that is already on the clay. Each charm will need TWO jump rings. If you only use one, then your charms will hang sideways. With the addition of the second one, your charm will hang straight on and be visible to all of your admirers. 

* Elastic...I use elastic string for my necklaces as I truly hate creating jewelry and working with tiny findings and jump rings. So being able to slide my necklace over my big ole head Candy Necklace style works best for me. 

* Modpodge...I used that to seal and protect my charms once they were out of the oven and cooled. 

* Wooden Beads...You can find a variety of wooden beads in the wood department (heh-heh) of your local craft store. I use acrylic paint to add color to mine. 
 My favorite part of making this necklace was making the charms...obviously. I made so many! I still want to make more. But do I really need ANOTHER snack food jewelry item? Probably. 
 Some tips about polymer clay: it's weird. Sometimes it can sit out forever and never harden and other times, it becomes like a rock. 
They sell a kind of polymer clay softener at the craft store for exactly one million dollars (but seriously, it's ridiculously pricey for the size of the bottle). OR you could simply add just a drop of baby oil to the hardened clay, rework and TA-DA! You are back in business. 
 Another tidbit: I used to sort and store my clay by color in styrofoam bowls and/or thin plastic containers. When I went back to reuse the clay, it had eaten holes right thru the styrofoam! I shared that on my IG and most folks said they had success keeping their clay in plastic bags or thicker plastic containers. I now store mine in a wooden drawer with dividers. WHO CAN EAT THRU STYROFOAM?! I mean, that stuff isn't even biodegradable! 
 My students LOVE making food items out of clay. In fact, one of our art shows was a 1950's diner where all of the food was sculpted from clay. I think they would so love making these tiny foods...they have tiny hands, they could handle it, right? (okay, MAYBE on a slightly larger scale!)
You can also find a ton of clay food times in my kid's clay book! Shameless plug, over and out. 
By the way, is it one MILLION TRILLION degrees where you are? I went outside to snap these photos and was dripping sweat within the first three minutes. Summer in Tennessee is no joke, y'all. 
I need to hit my sewing room and start up on my Back to School ensembles but I so wanna make more charms. I made art supply shoe clips out of this clay a couple years ago but now I think I need a art supply charm necklace too. Oh boy. The polymer clay creatin' journey continues! 
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Tuesday, May 22, 2018

In the Art Room: 2017-18 Art Show, 3D Displays, Part 2

Hi, friends! A couple of days ago, I shared with y'all Part 1 of the 3D displays at our school-wide art show...today I thought I'd share Part 2! The theme of our art show was Superheroes and so every project created by my 1st through 4th grade kiddos was superhero inspired, including the backdrop!
While I was attending NAEA, I created a sub plan for my kiddos introducing the artist James Rizzi. When it came time to create a backdrop for our superhero city, I reminded my students of this artist. Using bingo daubers filled with diluted India ink and construction paper, they created these fun cities. They made the most epic backdrop for all of our superhero projects. 
Here's a time lapse of our big night!
 I feel like I've been in go-mode every since returning from the art teacherin' conference in March. We hit the ground running with clay projects right after spring break. Normally, I create instructional videos for my clay lessons but this time around, I just didn't have the time. So...I'll be sharing the projects with you but just know that more details are to come. 
 To kick off our superhero theme, my second graders created onomatopoeia plaques. We have 30 minute art classes so on the first day, we created the background piece and painted it with glaze. 
The following day, we added the middle piece and the lettering. Once out of the kiln, we glazed the lettering and fired again. While waiting for the firing, we created Model Magic beads for the hanger of our plaques. More details on this project to come!
 My second graders also created these sweet superhero selfie statues!
 I had two classes come at once so that I could have an hour of art with my second graders. We created these in that amount of time.
 Complete details (hopefully with video!) to come, promise! We used cone 06 Amaco clay to create these. Once out of the kiln, we glazed with Amaco's Teacher's Palette glaze.
I only have three rules when glazing: do not glaze the bottom, NO WHITE SPOTS and be sure and glaze everything a minimum of three times. I love that this superhero has a sidekick!
 Third graders created superhero CARS! This was easily my favor project to teach and see come together...each one is so different and so fun. I cannot wait to share with you just how easy this project is. Every kiddo was completely excited and engaged!
 From drag race cars to sports cars, jeeps, limos and more, they came up with everything. I had originally planned for them to also create a 3D pop up city to display their cars in...but we simply ran out of time. 
One fun thing we did was add alphabet noodles to the license plates of the cars (or anywhere else the kids wanted). This was a fun way for the kids to personalize their cars. The noodles burn out in the kiln, leaving behind their impression.
Don't tell...but this AMAZING drag race car is my absolute favorite thing of all time! The imagination and invention on this kid...such a show stopper!
 My fourth graders created bobble head superheroes. We created bobble head pets last year in fourth grade. This was a variation on that project. 
 Some of us created self-portrait style bobble heads...
And some of did not. And I love both!
Every year, I love these bobble head projects more and more.
Now don't you go telling anyone, but the first grader's projects just might be my favorite. 
 And they were easily the most excited bunch. We started by creating super cities in our 30 minute classes. After they were fired, I dunked them in diluted black tempera paint and the kids added metallic paint on top. We also used clay to create a flying super selfie!
 These were painted with tempera cakes and sealed with sparkle Mod Podge.
Super shields were also created...I cannot wait to share with y'all the details of those projects. But that will have to wait. Thank you so much for letting me share our Superhero portion of the art show!
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Monday, July 10, 2017

In the Art Room: Celluclay Taxidermy Creatures!

Y'all, I know. You don't even have to tell me: these are the ugliest things I've created to date. When I showed the hubs the creation on the right, he said, "that thing is scary. Like really scary." This coming from a dude who lives for haunted attractions. Mission accomplished. 

I got the idea for this Celluclay project when I hosting my #creatingwithcassie craft nights over on Facebook live. It is similar to a project I did when writing my book except with that project, I used air dry clay and created cute little forest animal heads. With this one, I used Celluclay and made these ugly/cute bad boys. How to here:
Supplies: 

* Celluclay: To say I am obsessed with this stuff is an understatement. I love me some Celluclay every since discovering it when writing my clay book. For a grade level of 80 kiddos, I'd say you'd need 2-3 bags of the 5 lb. of clay. I always premix the clay, I never let the kids do this. It's very dusty and, with a group of kids, could get real insane, real quick. I like to mix mine up the day before, creating batches the size of a large grapefruit for every two kids. I then wrap the clay in plastic wrap and store in the fridge so as not to mold. The next day, I place in a bowl and let the kids unwrap the clay.

* Water: For mixing the clay. Don't ask me about measurements. This stuff should feel like clay. Not to soggy, not too dry. 

* Cardboard for Wall Mount: This project is geared towards kids in middle school and beyond. I'm guessing they will be able to cut through cardboard. Chipboard and mat board would work just as well. 

* Aluminum Foil: The Dollar Tree sells packs of 30 sheets of aluminum foil. I love this! The stuff is already cut for you. I will say, it's a very thin foil. You and your students may have to use more than one sheet to build a strong armature. It will need to support the weight of the clay.

* Paint: I used acrylic but tempera would work. I always cover my Celluclay pieces in a varnish like ModPodge to seal and protect. 

* Polymer Clay: Totally optional! I used this to create the eyes and the teeth. I thought the difference in texture would be fun. 
 This guy is small, only about 6.5" in height. What I love about this project and working with Celluclay:

1. You don't have to wrap your project to prevent from drying when class is over or you need to take a break. Allow your clay to dry out. You can simply work the wet clay back into the dry. YES!

2. It sticks to everything! Seriously. I've adhered this clay to plastic, cardboard, tagboard, foil and plaster and I've never had to bust out the hot glue gun. 

3. For that reason, no need to slip and score! Yippie!

4. I love the rough texture it creates. However, if that is not your bag, then good news, you can sand the clay once it's dry. Use a fine grit paper and do this either outside or wearing a cute lil paper mask thingie. 
 I always and forever, amen dry my Celluclay in front of a fan. It can dry super fast that way. Otherwise...it may take much longer to dry and mold. No one wants that. 
I've used both the white and the gray clay. Both take to paint very well...so no reason to purchase one over the other. 
Because the Celluclay sticks to everything in the universe (in the best possible way), you can use such things as air dry clay in combination. We found that out while I was leading a clay session at Art Scouts (details on that amazing adventure later this week!). The participants were adding tooth-shaped clay right into their masterpieces while it was wet...the next day, they were stuck in to place. 
 I also shared this process during my online craft nights. I LOVED seeing everyone's spin on this project. Imagine where our students could go with this idea. This amazing unicorn was created with plaster trips instead of Celluclay...which works just as well! 
 Here are just a few of the incredible creations I managed to snag a picture of at Art Scouts. Love this elephant! 
 And this dragon! At Art Scouts, I had about an hour for the participants to create an armature and make their masterpiece. Pretty impressive that they could knock it out so fast. The method I share in the video makes it a simple process. Once home, the Art Scouts started sending me photos of their finished pieces. 
 Love this one by Polly Blair. Notice she did not cover her cardboard in Celluclay. Totally optional. It really giver her piece a great contrast between the smooth wall mount and the rough texture of the dragon. 
 And this cutie from Jennifer Day. That face is a total crack up. 
Here's a peak at the other clay creations our Scouts knocked out in just two hours! These were created by my Joliet pal Nora Gleason. The heart was created with Celluclay while the wings were made with plaster trips. You can find that project here
 And these cuties created by Ryann Hawkins. LOVE them! I can't wait to share more from our Art Scouts adventures in a future post. Until then, I leave you with these faces only a mother could love...
Ah! I failed to mention that the "retainer" on the dino on the left was created with an unfolded paperclip and attached with hot glue. The cat eye glasses were some I had in my stash where I just removed the legs and attached to the bridge of the nose with hot glue. The bowtie on the dino on the right, was created from polymer clay and simply attached to the finished piece with hot glue. Now...where to hang such craziness. My art room, of course! 
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