Have I got something for you, y'all! Check this out: Finish the Drawing! I explain it real quick in this video but more details on the supplies used and how it works below...
I got this idea because of the following:
* I got lots of paper scraps. Like, LOTS. So this helps me not waste any of that paper!
* I got lots of kids who wanna do Free Draw but LOOK HERE: my art classes are 30 minutes long! And we all know how they be treatin' that paper that they draw on for a minute and then toss in the trash.
* I got the desire to have kids create...with each other! BUT lack the time to make it happen. This, THIS can make my art teacherin' dreams come true, y'all!
Supplies:
* The pencil is from Chris Uphues. I added the wording to it with my Cricut. BUT you don't need a fancy sign! You're an art teacher, you can make it yourself!
* The frames came from the thrift store, Dollar Tree and my storage closet.
* The clips I picked up from Amazon.
* Paper from the scrap bin!
The premise is simple: pick a piece of paper and draw on it for as long or as short as you'd like! Then, sign it and hang it back up.
OR...pick an unfinished drawing that you'd like to add to. Be kind, considerate and do your best. It is someone's drawing, afterall. Then, of course, sign it. Hang it back up!
Finished pieces get hung in our Masterpiece Gallery or we just keep the fun going by having the work returned to the wall for more artists to add to it!
I hope you give it a shot! You and your kids will love it!
I've been redecorating my art room so much that I've started to feel the itch here at home. Last summer, over on the blog A Beautiful Mess, the author Elsie shared a show stopper of a gallery wall. As soon as I saw that post, I knew I wanted one of my own. We have a very large wall at the top of our stairs between our bedroom and a spare bedroom (that I use as a closet...don't judge). It's been home to these two paintings I created a couple years ago. While I still love those paintings, I wanted something new, big and impactful...like a gallery wall!
I actually purchased the frames way back when I first saw Elsie's post. So for those of you that think I do things overnight...don't be fooled! These frames have been stacked in my bonus room collecting dust for MONTHS. I did wait until they went on sale for $10...you can find the frames I used here.
I then spent a part of my spring break pouring over boxes of photos. I knew I wanted to get photos that meant a lot to me and Mitch so I really took my time. However, I keep telling myself that when I tire of these photos, I can simply print more!
I took the photos to CVS where I scanned them and printed them in black and white. Not all of my photos were originally black and white but that didn't matter, they could still be printed that way!
Then I came home, framed em all up in 30 minutes flat. That was on Monday of spring break and I was feeling mighty accomplished. Knowing that hanging them would take math and measuring, I totally procrastinated until SUNDAY, the last day of my spring break. It was then that I decided "It's now or NEVER" and set about hanging this wall.
I have no idea why I put it off. I mean, it was a COMPLETE pain in the butt but once I had a system, it went pretty quickly. In fact, in the video, you'll see I manage to get that last row up without much effort. I did use my favorite Martha Stewart trick of hanging paper the size of the frames first...this really helped with placement. Also, in the video, you'll see me stop and talk to someone...that someone was my husband offering all sorts of measuring advice. Did he actually help to hang anything? HECK NAW! He just talked to me about math and measuring and y'all already know how I feel about that. I can easily say, after 2 hours, I DID IT MY WAAAAAAAY. (YES, 2 hours. And, YES, that would have taken less time had I done it HIS WAAAAAY...but that would be admitting defeat, y'all!)
I was going to hang another row at the bottom...but in the end, I decided that would be too low. I was going for a museum/gallery vibe and I just didn't think that would look right. ALSO I was so over hanging pictures at that point!
Some of my faves: my maternal grandparents and my mom and her siblings. My mama is the one with the glasses and the big mouth. Pretty sure you figured that out.
My paternal grandma and I with fish that were caught on a fishing trip. My grandpa Hobe LOVED to fish and my grandma did all of the cleaning and frying. We ate a lot of deep fried bass growing up!
Mitch went on an epic Boy Scout adventure when he was 12 and it's one of his favorite memories.
Each photo makes me so super happy!
And now I can say I got at least one of my home decorating To Do's off my spring break list.
Stay tuned because tomorrow I'll be sharing my other big project. I'm so happy to scratch these things off my list!
Thanks for letting me share a little piece of my home with you!
Hey, y'all! I am so excited with how these kid-created portraits of the faculty and staff at my school are turning out, I thought I'd share. This is just Part 1 of the Gallery of Gratitude posts...I'll be sure and post again once these are on display. In case you missed the first post about our Gallery of Gratitude, you can check it out here. This idea is not a new one at my school...you can see our Gallery of Gratitude from a couple years ago here.
Two of my fourth grade classes got their portraits complete. They did such a great job and I have so much left over modeling clay that I think I'm going to have them create self portraits next week. They've become pros at this and have really loved creating them. Here's the lesson video I created and used:
Here are the supplies we are using: * Modeling or plasticine clay. No one brand is better than another. I have just been purchasing whatever is cheap at the craft store. * Model Magic Glaze. Here's the thing: modeling clay always stays soft. These portraits will be on display for a while in my school...so I knew I'd want them to be protected with a hard varnish. This "glaze" works really well at becoming super hard. I think ModPodge might work pretty good...but this stuff is a lot harder than that. * Plates from Hobby Lobby. So our "frames" are actually plates from Hobby Lobby! You can probably find them online. * Matte board. I cut ours down into 4" squares.
Day #1: It took us some time to cover the entire background, create a skin color and add the head, ears, neck and nose. That took us an hour, believe it or not. Chatting about the project and watching the video took some of the time too.
Day #2: We really made progress. Almost all of the kids finished their portraits...some were super close! I thought I'd share what their works in progress look like.
Biggest bit of advice: HAVE PHOTOS! The kids really studied the photos, matching outfits, hairstyles, glasses and more. My sweet buddy the bookkeeper printed off yearbook photos and each student was able to use one as a reference. I plan to hang these photos near the clay creations when on display.
And now, forgive me while I share a ton of these cute clay portraits!
When we take these down, they'll be gifted to the teachers, faculty and staff. The kids will also write a message of gratitude about that person to be hung with their portrait. I'll post about that in Part 2!
In the background, the kids were asked to add something that "said" something about that person. Here's a portrait of a kindergarten teacher.
Those are books behind our library assistant!
And music notes behind our music teacher!
I am loving the giant earrings and the cherries in this portrait.
This teacher plays guitar in his class. The glaze was just put on so it will dry clear, not milky like you see.
One of our custodians is also our school D.J. Here he is, outside on field day with his baseball cap on backwards spinning records.
This background, love!
Incredible attention to detail! This one makes me so happy!
Artistic license was taken with hair color here and I'm loving it. More to come, y'all! I had to share our amazing progress!
