DIY: How to Create a Gallery Wall

 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!

DIY: One Skein Rainbow Cowl

 Hi. My name is Cassie. I have crafts and will travel. 

(okay, I contemplated erasing that last sentence as I kept reading it as "I have crabs and will travel"...it's CRAFTS, people. Not crabs.)

If you follow me here, then you know that I'm fresh off the plane from Seattle. I loved Seattle (my two faves were Chihuly and THE FOOD! I've never had better food in my life, y'all!) but that is one heck of a flight. Heading to Seattle, I traveled with my good buddy David which was great as we had all the time in the world to chat and figure out what we were going to explore and do while in town. However, knowing that I'd be flying solo home, I decided that I'd need something to occupy my time and my hands. So, while on Capitol Hill in Seattle, I popped into a sewing shop and picked up a skein of rainbow yarn.

Now...I know what you are thinking: Cassie, don't you already have a RAINBOW SCARF?! Yes, I'm the proud knitter of a 24' (we measured!) scarf of rainbows. However, that thing is a BEAST. It's heavy, super warm and INSANELY HUGE. So I thought for these less-chilly spring temps, a cowl would be nice...and the rainbow yarn totally sold me. The sweet woman working at the shop gave me some tips on how to make a cowl and I got about this much accomplished on the flight home. Side note: I also watched 3 Billboards while knitting...if you have not seen that movie, DO IT, it's fantastic. I also attempted to watch Happy Death Day. DON'T DO IT. It's no bueno.

Because I've been sharing knitting projects lately, I've been asked by several of y'all to do a knitting tutorial or video. I hesitate because I'm THE WORST KNITTER. You don't want to learn from me! I can strongly recommend this book, it's my knitting bible. Yes, it's for kids...but it's the most clear book on knitting for beginners that I've ever found. Buy it used, you don't need to get the kit. Just purchase the supplies they recommend. 

So, if you do decide to knit a one-skein cowl, I'll tell you how I did it:

I started by casting on 40 stitches. In the end, I think I could have cast on less and had a wider cowl. So I would recommend casting on 30. It will seem small but I think it will be fine (again, not a knitter!). Also, I like size 10 needles for a more hole-y knit (not to be confused with holy). Then I simply knit until I ran out of yarn. From there, I used yarn, a tapestry needle and a whip stitch to connect the ends of the scarf. This tube thing is what I ended up with. 

Look, maw! I made a tube top!

Putting on a cowl is just as glamorous as one might imagine. 

 What I loved the best about this knitting project is that it was short! Way faster to knit than a scarf...especially a 24' rainbow scarf!

And quite cozy too. 

Perfect for these kinda-chilly/kinda-springy days ahead!

In the Art Room: More Art Room Decor!

Well, hey there, strangers! It's been a beat since I last chatted with you here. I've been away in Seattle at the art teacherin' conference and took a short hiatus from blogging. BUT now I'm back. You're welcome.

As y'all know, I've been on an Art Room Redecorating Bender since the start of this school year. And I've not slowed down. I realized the other day that I'd crafted and hung a bunch of new things in my room and I'd failed to post 'em here. Of course, I OVERSHARE here...in case you need more crazy in your life. 

 Let's start here, shall we? This is the main entrance/exit to my art room (I also have an exterior door, an office door and a side door. I'm very door-y) and this here is a view from the inside. That fuzzy thing you see thru the window is the Rainbow Wreath that hangs on my door and beyond that is our giant It's Okay to be Different mural. I've long since had this saying on my door but the original was simply hand written on a piece of laminated poster. It was started to look sad and faded. And, while I loved the message, I hated the sign. So I painted a version and it's now on my door. The mermaid was one I found at the Nashville Flea Market (a must go to if you are ever in town...last weekend of every month!). Originally she had a blue tail and blond hair. I was going to hang her in my house but she never seemed to look right anywhere. One night I painted her all rainbow-y and now she loves above my doorway! 

Right next to my Rainbow Mermaid and my door, I hung this chalkboard and my heart sculpture.

 I found this chalkboard on the cheap at my local craft store. I've always wanted a chalkboard but was afraid the kids would wipe off what I had written...so I picked up some chalkboard markers! My plan is to change the sign up every now and then...but my money is on me leaving this up until the end of the year. 

 Every since making this heart, inspired by artist Chris Uphues, I've wanted to hang it up. You can find a complete video tutorial on how to make a heart with wings right here. 

 Now, I know what you are thinking...how are you getting these things to stay on your walls/doors?! Okay, my secret is: Command Velcro Strips. Y'all, they are THE BEST. I use them for nearly everything on my walls and nothing ever falls. I go for the 16 lbs Velcro just to make sure everything stays anchored. 

 This canvas was one that I had previously painted some other nonsense on and decided to paint over it. I added chalkboard paint to the middle so that I could change up the signage. Again, my money is that my lazy butt never gets to it. I hung it one Storage Closet of Horrors #1. My painting was inspired by Rifle Paper Company. 

 You can also find a PDF of my ART sign here, if you'd like! I painted those right before the school year started. 

 K, so I actually HAVE been cleaning out my closets and pitching MOUNTAINS of junk...but I still have so much to do. Being in a space for 12 years AND being a natural born slob/hoarder means you acquire some stuff. One fun find was a huge bin of magnetic letters. I've been leaving messages for the kids above every door. Info on my tints and shades sign can be found here. 

 Speaking of finding stuff...I discovered that I had several of these blank wooden plaques. One night I painted a Matisse-esque background for a SMILE sign. I hung it on the small sliver of wall space that I have left near my Roy G. Biv paintbrush wall. 

 This area of my art room, I call The Store as that's where the kids go to gather their art supplies. You can learn more about Art Teachers in Training here (we no longer use badges but aprons) and more about The Store here. 

 Some seriously sweet artists have gifted me amazing artwork. I want to look at it all the time...so I decided to hang it in a prominate place in my art room. 

 It makes me all kinds of happy. Let me share who made what because each is a seller of their work. The Tennessee sign is from @artroomantics and she can paint any state you like. Chris Uphues, who I mentioned early, sent me the poster of a rainbow from an exhibit of his. Joy makes all kinds of amazing things from customized stationary to my Broken Crayons Still Color sign! My INSANELY motivated buddy Jennifer has been creating a painting EVERY DAY for the last several years...and painted that portrait of me as a super woman. My buddy Stephanie stitched the Small World. 

And my friend Ashley, who is INSANELY talented, made this caricature of me. You can commission her to make one of you too, my buddy Virginia just had one made and it is amazing! 

 One night I slapped some paint on more of those wooden plaque thingies and made this...

One of my favorite books and one of my favorite messages. Right now, it's sitting here but I do think I'll hang it properly soon. As soon as I find some wall space. 

Remember that flea market I told you about? Well, I found this amazing work of art there. The artist sold it to me for $5! I added orange to the frame so that it would pop as the original color matched my walls. 

Also at the flea market, I found these! They actually open and close and I've been using them to talk to the kids about scissor safety. It's pretty hilarious. I did punch them up a bit with some silver and red spray paint. 

I attached them to the wall with some velcro strips so that I can take them down easily. Also new: I spray painted my magazine rack to look like a rainbow! That was gifted to me when another teacher moved away. Not sure what they'll hold. Also, I spray painted my storage bins by grade level...just need to get the teacher names on them. The big clipboard was a thrift store find. My idea is that it can be a drawing center for my early finishers. 

Whew! So, that's all that's new. Thank you for letting me share a tour!

In the Art Room: Heather Galler Inspired Bouquets with Second Grade

 As we draw toward the end of the school year (okay, I know I'm early BUT in "art teacher years" a couple of months means time for just a handful of projects until the end!), I am thinking about ART.SHOW. Like, 24/7. And my art show isn't until MAY 15TH! I'm trying my hardest NOT to be my usual procrastinating self. So I've been pulling out grade level artwork and seeing what masterpieces we have to hang (we hang everything...if you search "art show" in that search bar on the right, you'll get a taste of our art shows). In doing so, I noticed that my second graders didn't have that one BIG masterpiece. So I pulled out the bingo daubers (yet again) and some huge tagboard and we created these! We did the drawing portion in the first 30 minute art class and we are slowly adding color. These are not finished yet...but the lesson has been so fun that I thought I'd share it with you as we make progress. Here's the lesson video:

For this lesson, we are using our bingo daubers filled with slightly diluted India ink, oil pastels and liquid watercolor. To finish, we'll simply be painting the flowers and the backgrounds...with the option to add color to the vase and table. I rather like the black and white because I find it to be a beautiful balance with all of the color but I'll let the artists decide.

 After our first 30 minutes. It wasn't really a guided drawing...more of a "here's how you can draw some flowers and here's how you can draw some vases and patterns...go to town." We never use pencils first, we just go for it. If they painted something they didn't love, they had to wait until next art class to try again on the back of the paper. This tag board was thick enough for them to do that. The reason I have them wait is because they usually forget about it as they move on. Also...if one kiddo starts over, THEY ALL WANNA START OVER. So, I nip that in the bud.

 Today we began adding color with oil pastels and watercolor paint. It's a big task as the papers are huge. We literally spread all out over the room because only two to three kids can work at a table at a time due to the size. 

 I don't have a favorite liquid watercolor, do you? I find that they are all pretty fantastic. Except the fluorescent ones. They universally stick. 

 I don't dilute my liquid watercolors much...I love how vibrant they are!

I got the great idea from Katie Allain (@mrsallainart on IG) to put my watercolor paint in these color coded cupcake liners to eliminate the guesswork! 

 I'll be sure to do a follow up post on these once complete. I'm so excited! They make my heart happy. 

 Also...this is now my fourth bingo dauber project! The only grade who has not worked with them is fourth and I totally have a project lined up for them using these bad boys. They my fave this year!

 

Are you a bingo-dauber-aholic like me?! I wanna know what you and your young artists have created!