Showing posts sorted by date for query art show. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query art show. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Let's Create Art-Themed Ornaments!

As an art teacher, I always love seeing Christmas trees with an artsy theme. So I thought I'd put all of the art-themed ornaments I've created over the years into one blog post. This way, if you want to create an art themed tree for your classroom or home...you can! And I'll show ya how. Let's start with these wee bearded gnomes made from old paintbrushes!
By the way...these projects are kid-friendly too! So if you want to have your students create these, they totally can. Here's a quick tutorial:
Now here's a project that my students LOVED...using toilet paper tubes to make paint tubes! It's an easy one and we used it as a lesson on color theory! Details here.

Now we did use Celluclay and plaster strips to create these. In a pinch, papier-mache could be used instead of plaster and air dry clay instead of Celluclay. You aren't gonna believe how easy this one is. Video here:

This video was made for you to share with your students. 
I used some ribbon found at the craft store and some old paint brushes to jazz mine up a bit. 
Using some wire, I added them to my wreath. I found the wooden pallet at Goodwill and painted it to go with the wreath.
Full blog post can be found here!
And here are the tubes my students created! Details on things I learned about creating these with my student in this blog post
Coming up with their own name for the paint was super fun!

Now...here's an art-themed ornament that even my first graders made:
This two-day art lesson used, again, toilet paper tubes and plaster! You could use foil for the ferrule. We used metal tooling. They LOVED these! Although...first grade was disappointed that they didn't 'work' ;)


Here's the video:

How cute would pencils, paint tubes, paintbrushes AND crayons be on an art room tree?! We did make these a little bigger with paper towel tubes. It may be time for you to send out that school wide email and start asking for both! Details here. 

One year, my theme for my art show was "Art Supplies" so we made all sorts of silly stuff like these spilled glue bottles! Details here.
These are made from plaster and Model Magic...with those puffy things that they use in the mail when they are shipping something fragile as the armature! Here's the how-to video:

We even made scissors and...
Glue sticks which were, honestly, the easiest of them all. It's just a plaster-wrapped tube painted in tempera! 
Now you don't have to have a funky colored tree for your art room...any ole tree will do! In fact, I see tons at Goodwill which is a great place to grab one. THEN...you can decorate with all of your (or your students!) artsy ornaments! Details on this tree can be found here. 
The most fun is in the making! So...if you are looking for messy projects as you head back to the art room after Thanksgiving, here you go! Have fun!
Just a reminder: if you'd like my books to arrive in time for a Christmas present for a teacher, a young artist, an aspiring art teacher or a gift to yourself, please consider ordering soon! I'm signing each before popping them in the mail. You can find all of my books here!

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Wednesday, November 20, 2024

DIY: Air Dry Clay Vases!

Hey there, friends! 

I'm excited to share a little something I discovered with one of my favorite art supplies: Celluclay(this link will lead you to my Amazon list of supplies). As you might know...I've created a TON of creations with my students and for myself with Celluclay. It's a paper-based air-dry clay that really lends itself to a whole lot of exploration. HOWEVER...one thing I never loved about working with the stuff is painting my creation after the fact. It's got a rough, scratch surface which is difficult to paint AND you have to wait several days for it to dry completely BEFORE you can paint it. That is...until I discovered...you can TINT the clay! Let me show you how:

In this video, I'll share with you two ways of tinting your Celluclay with acrylic paint (although I've not tried it, I'm sure tempera paint would work just fine). You can prep the clay by tinting it ahead of time, wrapping it in plastic and storing in your fridge. This is what I'm doing for a 2-hour class I'm leading today. I've got all my colorful balls stashed in the fridge (ahem). OR...at another class I lead, I had the participants mix up their own clay! I demonstrate both methods in my video. 

What I love about this method of tinting the clay is that I also don't have to struggle to paint in the small areas. For example, painting around those squiggles would have been a struggle and definitely would have had me questioning my life's choices. Now...I can just create the color of clay that I want!

I did cover each piece with a layer of satin-finish ModPodge to help further anchor the pieces in place, give the vases a finish and waterproof them a bit. ModPodge comes in so many different finishes now that it's awesome! They make a sparkle finish, and indoor/outdoor finish...you name it! In a pinch...diluted Elmer's glue also works in place of ModPodge if you can't get your kitten mittens on any.


I have worked with Celluclay with my students in the past. It's fun stuff, especially if you don't have a kiln or you have sculpture projects in mind. For a smaller scale project, my second graders created these sculpted hearts. If you tap the link, you'll find a video of the lesson for you to share with your students:
This was a lesson we did in just a few 30 minute classes! We used foil that we shaped into a heart as our armature. I pre-prepped the Celluclay which made it so much easier! Once dry, the students used acrylic to add color. We hung these in a little popsicle stick frame.
My older students created these Celluclay taxidermy heads that were a blast! You can see all the details here. 
But back to the vases...I was going to include in this post all of the things I've created with Celluclay BUT...I've made so much that I think it deserves it's own blog post. So...that will be coming soon. I also have a ton of videos on my YouTube channel if you are curious about more Celluclay exploration. Check the playlist Clay Projects for Adults and Children for more. 

I will warn you: making these vases is HIGHLY addictive! I even thought for a split second that I was going to go into the vase-making business and started day dreaming about opening a booth at a local craft fair! And then I looked around at all my other half finished art creations which were giving me the evil eye and thought....well...let's just take it one day at a time ;) 

I don't know if you can see this but...look closely at the top of this vase. When the squiggles dried, they did pull away from the vase a little bit. I assume that is because I didn't have the squiggles secured to the vase well enough and they dried, thus pulling away, before the vase itself did. So really make sure you have your bits and pieces anchored down. That seems like a good rule of thumb for all aspects of life ;)

Please do let me know if you have any questions! You can always drop me a line on my YT channel. Unfortunately, due to spam comments, I did have to turn the comments off here. So sorry! 
BTW...I know I've only shared a little of this big news on my Instagram but...did you know I wrote a Decide Your Direction art adventure book for kids? That's right!! I'm so excited and I'll be talking about this more super soon but until then...yay! I always read to my students while they work but I could never find the perfect "art" novel...so I wrote one! This book introduces 7 different artists and the reader decides which adventures to go on. It has 32 different endings and over 80 illustrations! Like I said, I'll share more here soon but if you just can't wait, you can get yourself a copy here! It's perfect for the holidays...and I'll even sign it for you!

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Sunday, January 7, 2024

My 12 Favorite Winter Art Lessons!


Need some fun winter art lessons? Here ya go!

Greetings, art teacherin' and art-lovin' friends!

I got such a wonderful response from my last blog post where I shared my 25 Favorite Lessons for Valentine's Day that I thought I'd continue to share. 

Today I'm sharing with you my very favorite WINTER lessons! Around here, we are just now experiencing the cooler temps with winter on the horizon. What better time to incorporate it into your art teacherin' world?

So I present to you my favorite winter lessons, ALL FREE! Just tap the link listed with each lesson and you'll find a kid-friendly video, handouts and lessons. Feel free to use in your art room but, please, be sure and give credit if you decide to post on social media. AND, of course, please do not repackage my lessons and sell on TPT. I know what you are thinking, "Cassie, people do that?!" 

YESSSS! All the time! SMH.

Anyway, let's get started!
If you are looking for one of those lessons that, let me be honest, takes a while (sometimes those can be a good thing!) this Snow Globes is for you! The kids do love it! Drawing buildings is their favorite part but we also do a lot of painting and, despite my custodian's protests, we do bust out the glitter. Here's the full lesson with video!
This lesson could totally be shortened with less painting! We painted these papers to draw on but you could always use colorful construction paper or copy paper to eliminate that step.
One of my most popular lessons both with teachers and students is the one inspired by Jen Aranyi! Just tap the link and you'll find a video as well as a handout! 

You'll notice we are working on cardboard circles here...one of my very favorite surfaces! You can buy cardboard circles at your local food supplier. I get mine at Gordon Food Services (GFS) where they sell them in a variety of sizes. I like the brand Circle King.
Ya know how "you live and you learn"? Well...after having done this lesson and others involving "black glue", I'm going to share with you a different and much easier way to get the effect of black glue without making it! 


So, don't make black glue. Seriously. Unless you hate yourself and have more time than you know what to do with. Because, honestly, it's the worst and there is a MUCH better way!

When doing this lesson, for example, have students draw their trees with black washable markers. I prefer Prang markers (always! Trust me!). Then, using ELMER'S GLUE ALL (never EVER School Glue), have students trace over their black lines. Overnight, the waterbased marker and the glue will mix and mingle and create...a black glue line! Don't believe me? Check out this blog post and video where I share the process. 
So I've shared with you some lessons I've done with my older kids so let's now focus on kindergarten and first. Here's a lesson I did many years in a row! I love it because it teachers value. Students create tints for the snow and shade for the sky. We also practice our cutting skills with collage. Full lesson here.
Okay, kindergarten!
Another super popular winter lesson (and one that the kids love) is this Winter Penguin lesson I did with my first graders. All the details can be found, including a video, here. 
We kick things off with a painting review as well as warm an cool colors. The first graders painted the warm color papers while the kinder did the cool for their lesson, details below. We talked A LOT about holding our paintbrush and brush control. 
Using one of my favorite art supplies: the bingo dauber; we created these penguins! Again, the lesson has all the details so be sure and check it out!
And here's some kindergarten cuteness! Same method as the first grade project except we did snowmen instead. Full lesson with video here. 
We used chalk after drawing our snowmen to add the pops of color. 
Got that one class that's ahead of the rest and you need a one day lesson for? Well, here ya go!
Looking to dip your toes into some printmaking? This one is always a hit with my second graders. No printing ink? No problem! Tap the link and I'll show you how to do printmaking with markers!
Such a fun way to create winter selfies!
Don't you love a fast and effective art lesson?!
One of my favorite all time lessons is for kids to create their own mugs and drink hot chocolate out of them! For all of THOSE details, just tap here!
Speaking of printmaking: if you have Gelli Plates and have been dying to bust them out, here's your sign. And your lesson!
Now we took ours a step further by printing on fabric and stitching the into banners but...let's be real: how many of us have sewing machines?! So you can try it with a small group or just enjoy the printmaking process!
Tis the season to remember just how important collaborations in art can be! For that reason, why not try a big ole winter collaboration on for size?!
Look how colorful and fun!

What to do with all of those paper snowflakes you teach the kids how to make? Try THIS project on for size! Faux metal tooling with fourth grade -- stunning!

Thanks for checking out this post on my very favorite winter lessons! In case you haven't heard, I've written two new books and have self-published! You can take a closer look and find them both here. 

Thank you as always for all of the support, y'all!

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