In the Art Room: First Grade Fiber Arts

Every year I do paper weaving with my first grade artists...and every year, when the weavings are complete, I think, "well, now what?"

This year, my first graders FLEW through weaving without much help or reteaching from me. I was so excited that I decided to throw some simple stitching into the mix and I'm so glad I did. The kids nailed it and created a beautiful heart-tastic quilt to boot.

Day 1: If you've never done paper weaving with kids before, here is how I teach them to cut their looms. We used painted paper for our looms. Cutting our looms and weaving a couple of strips took us one 30 minute class. 

Day 2: On our second day, we reviewed the weaving process. We sit in a circle and weave together. I like to use peer tutoring for those who understand weaving to help others. I find the kids do an excellent job teaching one another!

Our Love Quilt now hangs outside my art room! This is the work of two classes. My next two classes will have a different color scheme. I'll be sure to share when they are complete. 

Day 3: The next art class, students chose a 12" square piece of construction paper. We learned all about symmetry as well as positive and negative shapes and how to cut out a heart! This was then glued over our weavings. We saved the positive shape hearts for our next project. As a wrap up, we had a drawing sheet full of symmetrical and asymmetrical images for the kids to draw.

Day 4: I had to do some prep work for this day, not even gonna lie. I hot glued another square paper on the back of the artwork to anchor the weaving (see below) and I hole punched the sides. For two classes, that took about 20 minutes. Then I cut the yarn to about 18" strips and had pieces of tape on hand for the kids.

To begin, each child anchored their yarn with tape on the back. I showed them out to do a whip stitch and they went to town. To end the stitch, they added another piece of tape on the back. 

Early finishers helped those those who needed assistance. Everyone finished in under 20 minutes. This gave us time to add our names with silver Sharpie!

Once the kids were done, I laid the pieces out on the floor and decided to display the artwork quilt-style. 

For that, I simply hole punched the tops and bottoms of the weavings and tied them together with two pieces of yarn. This created long pieces of art that I hung next to each other to create the illusion of a blanket. That took a mere 30 minutes! 

I was so excited that with 4 30 minute art classes, the kids learned about weaving, symmetry and stitching...all while having a blast! I am so glad to have this beautiful masterpiece outside my art room. 

Love to hear about your favorite projects that involve paper weaving!

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In the Art Room: Candy Heart Sculptures!

Hello, Cutie Pies and Love Bugs, won't you Be Mine on this Candy Heart Sculpture adventure? I'm so excited (and maybe a pinch sugar'ed up from one too many candy hearts) about this project I've got planned for my fourth graders. I've been kicking this idea around for sometime...but there were some issues I thought the kids might struggle with. After finding solutions that will make their sculpture making adventure a little easier, I put it all together in this here video.

To make your own Candy Heart Sculpture, you'll need the following: 

* Tag or poster board, one 2" X 24" and two 8" squares
* Scissors
* Stapler
* Tape
* Rigid Wrap Plaster Cloth from Activa Products 
Approximately 24" of wrap per student. The wrap comes in a width of 6" so I cut it in half for this project. My plan is to have the kids do the cutting when they finish their armature.
* Tempra paint

 I played around with a couple dimensions with the heart and decided that the 2" edge would be the best. It's the most accurate appearing ratio and it requires a lot less plaster wrap. Having the kids create those tabs of tape and fill in the gaps with excess tape will really help when they are creating their armature.

 I also played with several ideas for putting the wording on the heart. I first toyed with the idea of just letting them write on their hearts but my students do not have the best of handwriting, not even gonna candy coat it for ya (pun intended). Giving them a guide like the sheet which will ultimately become their carbon copy paper seemed like the best solution. 

I will definitely keep y'all posted on how my fourth graders do. While their projects dry, they'll be working on another sweet project that I'll be certain to share with you soon. Check ya later, Love Bugs!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #155 and a Video Sub Plan!

 Monday, You Ain't Right: I have a super hilarious coworker who loves to tell me, "Stephens, you ain't right!". To give her credit, this was after I explained to her that, no, my stockings were not purchased this way but created with a little creative tucking. It's no wonder that I usually get a side-eye and a head-shake from my work budz. crayon hair clip: made by me, DIY here; crazy sweater: vintage; dotted dress and tights: Target; flats: Payless; shoe clips: made by me, DIY here

So a while back, I got a big thick envelope in the mail. The return address looked boring and official so I threw it on the dining room table where it sat for more days than I'm willing to admit. "You better open that letter soon," el hubbo warned, "It looks pretty important." 

Turns out it was. I've been summoned for el jury duty-o. 

Looks like I'll be outta the art room for five days spread across two weeks. Now, I've slapped together I'm-so-sick/night-before/please-don't-vomit-on-these sub plans before but that was when I was in a pinch and knew I'd prolly only be out for a day. However, knowing that I'd be missing this much time with the kids, I really didn't want to deprive them of a fun and art-ucational experience. So, my Friday afternoon looked a lil like this: 

If you follow me on Instagrammerz, you already know that I decided to create a video'ed sub plan! I've been showing my students videos of myself lately which has been super awesome because 1. it allows me time to prep; 2. it allows me not to forget anything that I'm supposed to say; 3. [truth be told] it allows me to kick back and drink my fourth cup of coffee. There. Cat's outs the bag. After sharing this photo, I had a lotta questions about what the lesson entailed, which, fingers crossed, will be a Romero Britto-inspired Pattern-tastic Heart Mural Collaborative! So I thought I'd share it with y'all! PLEASE keep in mind that this is me addressing my first through fourth grade students. I promise I don't talk to adults this way (well, okay. I do. And, for that, I apologize). 

Now. I've never done this before. I do plan to go in every morning of my JD to prep the technology. Thankfully, the courthouse is just a couple blocks away from my school so I have the luxury of popping in and doing a little prep. I also created a two minute video of myself chatting with the sub so he/she knows what our routines are and some housekeeping biz. I'll be sure to keep y'all posted on how it goes. Until then, back to the What the Art Teacher Wore (or shoved in her hair) show! 

 When I shared this DIY with y'all a while back, my sweater got more interest than my hair clips! It was quite the conversation starer with the kids as well. One said, "it's like you have crayon worms crawling all over you!" Yikes, kid. That's the stuff of nightmares. 

 I actually have a wee shoe clip problem. And a love for making stuff outta Sculpey. You can see this DIY here. 

 Thank You for Being a Friend, Tuesday: Thank y'all so much for the very positive feedback on my art teacherin' videos! My goal is to share more videos weekly so if you wanna stay in the loop, you might wanna subscribe to my channel as my videos go up before they appear here. Smooches! sweater: thrifted; eyeball top: Urban Outfitters; scissor skirt: Modcloth; tights: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina

 #OnWednesdaysWeWearArt: Y'all check out my awesome "I like to ARTY hard" shirt? It was created by artist My Friend Court (Courtney Pilgrim). Court is a former art teacher turned full time artist. Her work is as happy, bright and colorful as she is (if you don't believe me, just scroll thru this Instagram account, kids). Each Wednesday, Courtney does a lil #OnWednesdaysWeWearArt where we can dress with an artist in mind, snap a photo and use that hashtag on ole Insta. I decided that Court was my muse by wearing her shirt! top: My Friend Court; skirt and belt: PinUp Girl Clothing; dotted tights: Target?; shoes: Sofft

 But What Will You Wear?! Thursday: So, I've been letting my classes know about my upcoming absences. Which led to a nice chat about jury duty and civic duties. I could tell I was making real headway when I was asked, "But what if they find you guilty?!" Once that issue was resolved, ahem, this convo went down: 

Kid: What will you wear?

Me: what do you mean?

Kid: uh. Like. Will you be dressing like how you always do? Like (with a wave of the hand) that?!

Kid 2: She only has crazy clothes, what do you think?!

Couldn't have said it better. sweater and dress: thrifted and vintage

Gone Cuckoo Friday: Anytime I've procrastinated the daylights outta my life, which always means my Fridays are a mess, I go a lil cuckoo. So what better day to wear this number, eh? sweater and tights: Target; boots: Anthro; belt and crinoline: Amazon; cuckoo dress: made by me, DIY here

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In the Art Room: School-Wide Collaborative Series, Our School has Heart, Part II and A Giveaway!

 Hi, kidz! Welcome to the second installment of postings from my school-wide collaborative series (btw, I've decided "school-wide collaborative" is just too much work for my mouth. Hence forth, it will go by it's abbreviated and funner name: scollab. Pronounced skoal-lab, not school-lab. Cuz art class in a school lab is just bound to end in 'splosions and flames. Which actually sounds super funner-er.) In this here post, Ima share with you one of the happiest scollabs we did this year: Our School has Heart Mural!

If this looks vaguely familiar to you, that's because I blerged about the first phase of this project here. This lovely scollab masterpiece hangs happily in the front office of my school. Previously, the front office was referred to as the DMV for it's warm and welcoming wall color (what is that, Sherwin William's "Institution White"? "Padded Room Gray"? "The Last Color I See Before My Date with the Principal Blue"?). It was mentioned that some art might cheer the place up and that's all it took for my ears to prick up. ART?! Did somebody say...art?!

We started this project way back at the start of February so love was in the air. Which explains the smell. I decided that each kiddo was gonna contribute and each grade level would do a little something different. I'll give you the quickie version here but you can visit this post for the full story. 

The kindergarteners were given a paper heart template to trace in black oil pastel. Then they doodled in warm or cool colors and then proceeded to water color the daylights outta that thing in either warm or cool. 

The first graders were given 3" square pieces of felt in whatever color they liked. Then they traced that same hear template in chalk and painted with tempera. Painting on felt is really rad cuz it gives the piece this almost oil painted appearance. If the kids painted the hear with warm colors, they were to reverse that color scheme for the background. Puffy paint was added because why not?! Puffy paint is the jam.

Second grade town created these pipe cleaner hearts that they yarn bombed and bead attacked. I had the pleasure of hot gluing them to the felt of their choosing. 

Third grade thought that Christmas came early when I showed them how to embroider. Every last one of them enjoyed this so much and was able to complete their stitching (and button sewing!) in one hour long class. 

 Needle felting was introduced to my fourth grade students. We really enjoyed this and only had one bleeder (those needle felting tools are both sharp and serrated, y'all. They ain't for sissies). 

As the students completed their work, I started to lay them out on two pieces of foam core. I happened to have two 3' X 6' pieces of foam core to my name because, well, why not? I originally thought of doing a value gradation but rainbow order ended up looking the best. 

Hot gluing over 400 hearts wasn't exactly my idea of a good time. The upside is I no longer have finger prints and the cops will never find me! Take that, coppers! 

Once all the gluing was complete, I took the two boards to the office and my super awesome bookkeeper buddy and my radical rockstar custodian friend hung them up for all to see. 

Don't miss! I'll be presenting on school-wide collaboratives at the AOE conference this summer! 

And now, let's talk GIVEAWAY! Last week's winner is Lil! When asked what her fave collaborative project was, she wrote:

This year my third grader class created large, beautiful, textured and patterned frogs. Then each table created their own scene on huge mural paper. There was an outdoor birthday party, with an airplane toting a birthday wish sign. One group made a water theme park setting with a lazy river - one frog was definitely relaxin' on his tube!! Another group made a nail salon - now who doesn't like a good froggie pedi??! Oh my gosh, the kids absolutely loved working together on such a huge creation. Do you think it was because they got to spread out on the floor to paint and cut and create??!!!!

Congrats, Lil! I hope you enjoy the artsy t-shirts!

Now, I know most of y'all are enjoying your summer days. How 'bout you spend some time creating with a good book? To enter this giveaway, just do the following:

* Tell me what dream scollab you would create with your students. A permanent mural? A tile project? I'd love to hear! Maybe if we start dreaming big now, we'll have the energy to make it happen come this fall!

* Leave your email address in your comments so I can contact you.

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DIY: A Needle Felted Tribute to Jim Dine

Well, hey there, love birds. Lemme be the first to wish you Happy Valentine's Day! Or, as it should truly be known, Happy-Hallmark-Marketing-Scheme Day, amiright? I mean, if I gotta hear the chic on NPR try to sell me another 50 Shades of Gray teddy bear (seriously, NPR? You can't go from StoryCorps to PornTeddy in a matter of minutes, it ain't right.) or the radio talk show host tell me that "buying her roses will warm her heart and clear your conscious" (like, ew, jerk face) Ima gonna scream. I'm totes over the commercialism of what's otherwise a beautiful thing: love. After all, tis the inspo for this here DIY.

So last Saturday I was puttering around, stitching a couple of dresses, working on a little painting project, completely avoiding housework; you know, the ushe. It was then I suddenly realized that V-Day was rapidly approaching and I needed a new dress for the occasion. I immediately thought of the artist Jim Dine and was inspired to needle felt a dress dedicated to him! So I promptly set about googling Jim Dine's hearts and found this lovely: 

 I loved it straight away mostly cuz it looked so art teacher-y. Splatters, splats and splashes of color? Say no more, Dine. You had me at splatter (wait, that don't sound right.)

And here's my tribute. I was excited to use some new gold tinsel-y stuff I'd picked up at a fibers shop. I used it in place of the black outline seen in Dine's heart.

Now, like I said, I got this idea on a Saturday and didn't actually start until late that night. Since time was limited, I knew I couldn't spend forever on this here project. So just one heart was to go in the center of this lil thrifted number. 

Whenever I start my felted numbers, I always sketch in chalk. It's the perfect thang because you can just wipe it off with the sleeve of your sweater (ahem. You should see my yellow-y sweater sleeves). And, don't forget, you can needle felt on just about any surface. I've worked on wool, jersey knit and whatever this dress is. Sweatshirt? I dunno. It's needle felt-able. 

 I started by placing my needle felting cushion inside the dress and shaping the heart before I commenced stabbing it. If you've no clue how needle felting works, friend, don't you sweat it. I've got you covered. You can watch these super vintage vid clips where I annoyingly explain the process. My apologies in advance. 

See? Like, insanely simple. If I can do it, well, drunk monkeys dancing on rooftops can do it. So you should be safe. 

 After the white background was complete, the layers of colors were added. I stared with the biggest and lightest swathes of color first.

Then layered smaller and brighter colors on top of that. The gold tinsel was a weird thing to needle felt cuz it wasn't as cooperative as wool. 

 And that was pretty much it. Three episodes of Project Runway All-Stars and I was el finito.

And ready to introduce my students to Jim Dine and needle felting! I hinted that I introduced our new heart-themed mural with an artist and that was, of course, Mr. Dine. I created this prezi for the kids that you are welcome to borrow and change to your liking. I'm really digging Dine's drawings of tools and totally using that theme in a drawing unit. Have any of y'all done that? 

When I introduced my fourth graders to needle felting, they really loved seeing my dress and knowing that I'd used the same technique. For this fourth grade project, I had enough needle felting tools, roving and a foam cushion for each student. They really enjoyed this process and proved that they could handle using a super sharp tool with only a little blood and finger poking. 

 So sweet, right? You can read more about the "Our School has Heart" mural here. 

Until next time, I do hope you and your 50 Shades of Awkward Teddy Bear have a super heart-filled Valentine's Day! xox!

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