DIY // In the Art Room: Making Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins Outfit details: bag, skirt and ruffly blouse: vintage, thrifted; sweater and boots: Buffalo Exchange; gloves and hat: vintage, gift from a friend; umbrella and red necktie: made by me

Why, hello thar! 'Tis I, wannabe Mary Poppins, practically (im)perfect in every way! Like many schools, mine celebrated Read Across America week with a "dress like a storybook character" day. Because we are currently learning about all things United Kingdom and I'm reading Mary Poppins to my second and fourth graders, deciding who I would dress like was as easy as taking my meds with a spoonful of sugar. Even if I did wanna dress as Sherlock Holmes for a could coupla days. But I didn't think my pipe-puffing would go over well with those party-poopin' principals in my building. So Mary 'twas!

Whilst dressed as Mary, I tried my very best to keep my faux-British accent going as long as I could. We do this little routine in my room where the kids repeat the art directions after me. For kicks we tried out our best Brit accents and the kids loved it. I'm sure that if any actual British folk heard our southern accents attempting to copy theirs, they'd spit up their tea and biscuits.

 Fave Mary moment...and how I foresee my classroom evaluation going when my aforementioned non-pipe-smoking principal drops in to witness kids -n- clay:

Mr. Banks: Just a moment, Mary Poppins. What is the meaning of this outrage?

Mary Poppins: I beg your pardon?

Mr. Banks: Will you be good enough to explain all this?

Mary Poppins: First of all, I would like to make one thing quite clear.

Mr. Banks: Yes?

Mary Poppins: I never explain anything.

The thing my outfit was lacking was the famous parrot-headed brolly. You just can't be Mary Poppins without it. But where to find such a thing? I decided that I'd just have to make my own. I sent out an umbrella email request to the fabulous teachers at my school and within minutes I had my mitts on a lovely wooden handled umbrella.

As soon as I got home, I busted out the tin foil and started sculpting the parrots head. I was too impatient to mess with the masking tape portion of 'mache'ing so I hopped straight to the covering-in-sticky-newspaper part. I'd later come to regret this (like so many things in my life) as it prevented me from having a smooth surface for my bird.

After taking what seemed like days to dry, I painted him with acrylic paints and used an image from pinterest as my inspiration. Laziness prevented me from giving him a coat of Modge Podge. Someday, when my laziness takes a holiday, I'll get to that step.

Ack! Giant parrot eye! In some photos, the tip of the parrots beak is white so I painted mine as such. One of my principal ladies said it looked like his nose was chipped. Some people just don't know.

More from the best movie on the planet...Parrot Umbrella: Awk, that's gratitude for you. Didn't even say goodbye? Mary Poppins: No, they didn't. Parrot Umbrella: Look at them! You know, they think more of their father than they do of you! Mary Poppins: That's as it should be. Parrot Umbrella: Well, don't you care? Mary Poppins: Practically perfect people never permit sentiment to muddle their thinking. Parrot Umbrella: Is that so? Well, I'll tell you one thing, Mary Poppins: you don't fool me a bit! Mary Poppins: Oh, really? Parrot Umbrella: Yes, really. I know exactly how you feel about these children, and if you think I'm going to keep my mouth shut any longer, I'll...
[she clamps his mouth shut] Mary Poppins: That will be quite enough of that, thank you.

Time for tea! Anyone for a cuppa?

All week, leading up to the arrival of Mary Poppins, my classes enjoyed a spot of tea and biscuits. I brought in some of my vintage table clothes and fancified one small area of my otherwise disastrous art room. I brewed each class a pot of tea (apple, peach and mint) and picked up some shortbread cookies and tea biscuits from the store. One kind UK blogger (thanks, Jerra!) informed me that I needed to serve my tea with "lumps" (sugar cubes) and I'd have to say, the kids liked that the best.

Pinkies out, dearies!

Of course, I just had to bring in my small collections of Mary Poppins records. Thankfully our librarian still had one of these ancient bad boys on hand.

Most of my students had never seen a record player before (shoot, they find the tape player on my CD player fascinating) and I found several of them with their noses right up to the spinning record like this young dude.

In my crazy closet, I had almost the perfect coat and scarf to complete my Poppins look. I thrifted the brown coat a while ago and the scarf is an old number from the Gap.

And, would you believe, the most magical thing happened! This weekend, hubs and I took a short trip to Walt Disney World and Epcot in Orlando. On our final day there, while walking through the Great Britain portion of Epcot, I ran into none other than Mary Poppins herself. Here she is asking me if I keep my students in "spit spot shape". Please don't ask me what's going on with my hair.

An even rarer occurrence: Me, in jeans!

From Mary and I, we wish you a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious week. So put that in your pipe and smoke it, Sherlock!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #57

Crazy Hat Day: Where it just wouldn't be the same unless you had a Crazy Outfit to match. Go outlandish and tacky or go home, says me. hat and skirt: a DIY that I know you are dying to try, here; shoes: yet another Sunday afternoon project for you; blouse: gift from a friend; belt: Anthro; tights: Target

Greetings, kids! I come to you fresh outta Read Across America Week. The teachers and parents at my school put together all sorts of fun reading goodness including a book fair, a reading night and, my personal fave, thematic dress days. You can catch what I wore for last year's RAAW here, if you want a good laugh and sigh of relief that you don't have to appear in public looking as ridiculous.

And speaking of reading, I thought I'd share with you just a few of my fave reads this week as well. See how thematic I am? It's almost like I should be a teacher or something. Got a favorite book of your own? I'd love any recommendations of good reads. Muchas gracias and enjoy your week!

Are you familiar with this Canadian author? Apparently Robert Munsch started his career by just doing some improv story telling at his local library. His tales were so silly and strange that his young listeners soon were soon hooked. I am in love with all of his stories, but this tale of a young artist that colors herself "almost entirely all over" with "super indelible never-come-off markers" is a favorite with all of my students. I highly recommend it.

Show Your College Spirit Day: Why I'd love to as I do believe I went to the best college in all the land: Indiana University. I have so many wonderful memories of my 5-ish (ahem) years there that I try to make an annual reenactment with my buddies. And while I never acquired a t-shirt, I do have plenty of that Hoosier red and white in my wardrobe. sweater: vintage, thrifted; dress: from Germany; tights: Target; shoes: Fluevog

I have almost all of these Mike Venezia "Getting to the World's Greatest Artist" books because they are awesome. They are full of visuals with just the perfect amount of funny and factual. When reading them, I read the artist's first name (for example, "Claude") and have the students say the last name ("Monet"). By the end of the story, the kids know the artist's name as well as his/her life and work.

Words on a Shirt, er, Skirt Day: Since I wore my one and only shirt with words last year, I opted for words on a skirt this year. Although I did have to use the force all day long: (student) "Hey! You don't have words on a shirt!," (me) "That's right. Because it's actually words on a skirt day. Now move along, move along. This isn't the art teacher you're looking for." dress: created for last year's trip to Star Wars Weekends, diy here; tights: Target; boots: Anthro; blouse: thrifted

Did anyone else grow up loving Shel Silverstein's work? I have the world's worst memory but I can vividly recall my second grade teacher animatedly reading her copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends. It was one of my favorite things. As a kid, I was inspired to write poems and short stories thanks to Shel Silverstein.

Awesome.

Show Your School Spirit Day: Also known as Where This to Starbucks and Receive Bizarre Looks Day. When I told the hipster teen workin' on my soy-tea-latte that I was a teacher, he just looked at me with a "duh-lady" expression and said, "yeah, I thought so." t-shirt: designed by one of our fourth graders, tie-dyed and bow-dazzled by me; tiger tights: amazon. Yes, seriously; skirt: J.Crew, gift; shoes: Clarks

Another fave when I was growing up. I do believe I've read this book more than a dozen times. The illustrations are the best. Harriet's penchant for those black and white composition books is why I carry one myself. What? If you've read the book, you'd understand.

Dress Like a Storybook Character Day: I'm most definitely not "practically perfect in every way" but I do love me some Mary Poppins. Especially since she ties in so well with our study of the United Kingdom. I actually began reading Mary Poppins to my second and fourth grade students a couple of weeks ago while they were weaving. Little did they know there was a reason behind my madness. I'll share with you more details of that and the making of this lil outfit later this week. Until then...ruffly shirt, bag and black skirt: vintage, thrifted; sweater and boots: Buffalo Exchange; hat and gloves: vintage, gift from a friend; parrot umbrella: DIY by me

This summer I met Richard Sherman who, along with his brother Robert, wrote all the songs in Disney's version of Mary Poppins. He told us how Walt Disney had a very hard time convincing  P.L. Travers to allow him to turn her book into a movie. We are actually at the magical world of Walt Disney World this weekend on a little pre-birthday trip/any-excuse-to-get-outta-town vacay. And while I haven't seen Mary (yet!) I did manage to score a Poppins Pin! I'll be sure to share our trip with you in a future post.

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What the Art Teacher Wore #25

Geez, Guess Who's Excited Monday: One of my favorite things about summer is being a helper (ahem, a facilitator) at Tennessee Arts Academy. If you dunno about the 'Academy and you are an arts teacher, you must check it out. It is by far the best professional development around. dress: vintage, picked up on my trip to Amsterdam; belt: made by me; sandals: old, Target

 Hi, friends! I hope your week has been Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I have spent the last seven days with the most incredible artists and arts teachers around. I cannot wait to share with you all of the art lesson ideas I've gathered over the last couple of days. I feel so energized (well, after a big fat hairy nap) and excited about the new school year. If you are an arts teacher, please don't pass up the opportunity to attend the Tennessee Arts Academy next summer. And don't let the name throw you, anyone from anywhere can attend. Registration begins in the fall, so visit their website often to secure your spot (okay, unpaid advertisement over).

The biggest highlight was having the opportunity to meet, listen to and hear the singing voice of one of America's greatest song writers. Richard Sherman and his brother Robert started their song writing career by writing the top 10 hit Tall Paul for the Mouseketeer Annette Funicello (this youtube link is a must see!). This lead to them being approached by the great Walt Disney to write some songs for a little movie project he was working on. But more that later...

Recognize this ride? It's one of my Disney favorites, from the design by Mary Blair to that little ditty that resides in one's head long after the trip around a Small World. Image found here.

 First lemme introduce you to the brothers that wrote one of the world's most recognizable Sherman Brother's tunes, It's a Small World. Richard Sherman shared with us the amazing story of how this song came to be: back in 1964, Walt Disney created this ride for the New York World's Fair UNICEF Children of the World pavilion...a mouthful, right? The Sherman Brothers thought so too.

Finally the Rain Comes Tuesday: dress: vintage with Naughty Nautical Girls embroidered by me; belt and hair flower clip: made by me; anchor sandals: Sperry, last summer

The design of It's a Small World is by one of my favorite Disney artists, Mary Blair. I think I need this image in my classroom this year since we are traveling the world in art.

They asked Disney if they could possibly shorten the name of the song and he agreed. He told them, 'it just needs to be about small children around the world and I need it yesterday!' The brothers set to work in a panic. Thankfully, they seemed to work well under pressure. While Richard sat at the piano, he and his brother bounced back and fourth: 

"Small Children..."

"Children of the World..."

"Small World..."

"It's a Small World!"

Tall Cassie Wednesday: The combination of 4" wedges and 3" hair had me leering over my good friend Debbie all day. We had quite a laugh and I enjoyed that I could easily put her in a choke hold when necessary. dress: vintage, thrifted; shoes: Anthro, sale; belt: gift from a friend with flower added by me

The opening of the ride in 1966. Image found here.

 Now when the brothers wrote "It's a Small World", they wrote it as a song. It was Walt Disney that put the song to that tempo that causes the song to stay with your for days, weeks and months. A pleasant reminder of a sweet song, says me.

Thursday, Darling: Every morning I was in a hurry to get to the Academy so my photos this week are a bit rushed. Notice I'm wearing my name tag in this photo, oops! dress: vintage, gift from a sweet friend; owl sandals: Anthro, last year; belt: Pinkyotto; sweater: ebay; headband:  from the best hair accessory maker around Peachy Tuesday

From left to right, Robert Sherman, Richard Sherman and Walt Disney. Awesome.

 Mr. Sherman also shared with us the story behind the songs of Mary Poppins: when Walt Disney first approached the brothers it was to work on these songs. Walt discovered the stories about the magical nanny through his daughters who adored reading the books of  P.L. Travers. Apparently, Ms. Travers was not an easy one to work with and obtaining the rights proved to be no small feat. But, as you know, Walt was able to and the rest is history.

From left to right: Richard Sherman, Julie Andrews, Dick van Dyke, Robert Sherman

 Mr. Sherman told us a little back story about the casting of Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins. Apparently, Julie Andrews almost didn't take the gig. She had her sights set on the role of Eliza Doolittle in the movie production of My Fair Lady which she'd performed on Broadway for many years. Hollywood decided that she was too much of an unknown and went with Audrey Hepburn instead. The moment Audrey got the role in My Fair Lady, Julie called Walt and said, "okay, when do we begin Mary Poppins?" Julie Andrews went on win an Academy Award for her role. Take that, Hollywood.

And Now It's Time to Say Goodbye: The last day of the Arts Academy is always a toughie. I make so many new friends and reunite with old ones, it's bummer to bid adieu. dress: Okay, don't hate me but I found this ANTHRO dress at GOODWILL (yes, this is worth shouting over). The original $298 dollar price tag was still on the dress and I got it for...$7.99. shoes: Anthro, sale

This photo makes me so incredibly happy! It is a Small World, after all!

After hearing Richard Sherman share these stories and sing his songs from Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Chitty Chitty Bang, Winnie the Pooh and, of course, It's A Small World, I was just completely star struck. Sadly, the stars were not aligned for me to meet him as the chance never came up. Until this afternoon at the final reception when I found him sitting at the table next to mine. He graciously agreed to a photo ("Well, sure, sweetie!") after I gushed on and on about how much I loved his songs. What an incredible song writer and gentleman.

Have the loveliest of weekends, friends! I hope you make it Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

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