In the Art Room: School-Wide Collaborative Series, A Village of Kindness, Part II and a Giveaway (now closed)

So, just what does every art teacher on the planet think of on his/her last days of art teacherin'? What they plan on teaching next school year, that's what! For the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be sharing with you some of my favorite (and simple!) school-wide collaborative projects. These are easy and fun ways to unite your young artists as well as shine a spotlight on your program from the start of the new school year. I'll also be speaking on this topic at this summer's AOE online conference: Back to School with a Bang! School-Wide Collaborative Projects to Kick Your School Year Off Right. I hope you'll be there to join the fun!

Not only that, but with each post in this series, I'll be hosting a GIVEAWAY! 

That's right, y'all! Here's what's up for grabbies this week:

A whole buncha gently used artsy t-shirts, size large! Yay! Here's how you can enter to win:

*  Click the follow button on the right of your screen if you've not already.

*  Follow me on instagram (I'm addicted!) and on my Facebook page. 

*  Leave a comment below! I'd love to hear what collaborative projects you've done with your students to I can steal them next year! 

I'll notify you of your win this time next week when I post another School-Wide Collaborative Series post. Good luck, y'all! 

Now, let's chat the school-wide collaborative at hand, shall we? Our Village of Kindness! Each one of my students, kindergarten through third (fourth was too busy weaving up their pouches at the time) worked on creating a house for our village. If you've been hangin' around this blog for a bit (what's WRONG with you?! Get a hobby, man! I kid. Thank you.), then this might look slightly familiar as I shared with you the first stages of this project here. 

In case clicking on that link is too difficult for you right meow (I get it. I'm on summer vacay. I don't do NUTHIN I ain't gotta), lemme give you the short version of this project. My super awesome cafeteria friend saved and rinsed out a mountain of milk cartons for me. Each kid got their own, signed the bottom and spent their first day painting it with warm colors.

The following day, we used a miniature brush and added details in the cold colors. Oh! And we read that book The Big Orange Splot which a great read. If you don't own it, it's prolly like a buck on amazon. Throw that in your shopping cart along with those beach reads you've been eyeing. You've earned it!

 Then we busted out the funky monkey scissors, oil pastels and went to town on our roofs and doors.

 Now, our village is one of kindness (hence the name. duh.) so when you opened the doors of the house, it's supposed to say something nice to you. Give a warm fuzzy. A cotton candy hug. An emotional high five. You get the idea.

 The village itself was created on those last days of school. The kids worked with their friends and finished simple patterns that I started. Like trees! 

 And flowers!

 Then we collaged the papers into a landscape. I simply hot glued 'em to a piece of background paper and double-sided sticky taped it to my white board. 

Because Art Show Land was closing in on me, I took the liberty of adding the blue outline. This giant landscape looked a whole lot like the ones my fourth graders just finished. 

Extra painted sheets of paper were used as table cloths. So that the kids could easily find their houses on the night of the art show, parent volunteers divided the class "towns" up with strips of black paper as roads. 

Ohhhh, and those ceiling tiles? Another collaborative! I'll be sharing details of that soon so stay tuned!

The added bonus of that mural is that it's now up as decoration for the new school year! Oh, and that bunting you see at the bottoms of the table? The kids created that with the remnants of their large painted papers. They simply glued them to long strips of red paper. They were then adhered to the tables for the art show!

 And there you have it! A school-wide project to kick your school year off right. Teaching kindness is a full time job. I love starting the school year with that theme. 

Don't forget to enter the giveaway, kids! Good luck and we'll chat soon!

What the Art Teacher Wore #141

Mondrian Monday: Ah, the day before the art show. Always 100% white-hot panic enduring. Thankfully my library buddy (hi, Barb!) offered to take my classes so I could spend the day unloading 400 clay projects from the kiln room and transforming the art room into a miniature gallery. She was a life-saver, I tell ya! Mondrian dress DIY: blog post here; shoes: from a friend 

Oh, hey! Look who said "I'll be right back on Wednesday with an art show blog post!" and then promptly when MIA. What can I say, I succumbed to pure exhaustion (even missing the end-of-the-school year party to collapse in bed at 7:30 on Thursday night). Not to mention, I didn't say which Wednesday I'd be talkin' at ya, did I? Lemme see if I can pull together that art show post this week. There's just so much to share I almost don't know where to start (including my secret recipe for hanging artwork that will NEVER HAVE IT FALL OF THE WALL AGAIN)! I'll be giving you a sneak peak in this here blog post.

Another thing that's had me busy is my full blown attempted at declutterin' my life. I'm in it for realz this time, y'all. I'm reading this great book that I've told nearly everyone who will listen to me (which means I've told 5 people.) The book is The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. Have any of y'all read it? Her whole theory is that you should only keep stuff that brings you joy. And she says you should start by decluttering your closets first. Y'all. Do you even KNOW how much clothing I have in my closets?! It's.In.Sane. 

In an attempt to declutter, make some cashola and share my amazing vintage finds with the universe, I've been spending the weekend snapping photos and uploading lovelies into my etsy shop: vintage domestic. I'll keep y'all posted on what other goodies I add in el shoppo. 

Oh! And I toooootally forgot to mention, I'm now on summer vacay! Hurray! Which means endless days of crafting and sewing whilst soaking up the summer sun are in my future, eeeee! Chat soon, y'all!

 I have a love of vintage clothing. Much of this clothing I'm selling are pieces I've been collecting since high school. Sadly, most have never been worn due to fit issues or simply the fact that I've no place to wear them. It's very hard for me to say goodbye but I know they'll go to someone who can truly appreciate them. 

 Art Show Tuesday: My sweet mom drove 7 hours down from Indiana to attend my student's art show. She's done that a couple of times in the past, usually arriving early enough for me to put her to work. She wised up this visit...although I did have her help me bag and tag clay projects the following day. I'm one of those evil people that if you pop into my art room even for a moment, Ima put you to work, even if you are my mama! splatter paint dress: made by me, DIY here; sweater: Betsy Johnson; sandals: ooooold, Target

Our annual art show is BANANAS, y'all. It was established well before I got there and it's always a packed house. I think we had well over 450 attendees with a school population under 400. We also provide free ice cream so that's a big draw: if you feed 'em ice creams, they will come.

 The Aftermath Wednesday: I felt like I'd survived a Great Wave after all that! My mom and I spent the day bagging and tagging clay projects with the teachers as they brought their kids to my room to collect their work. In my art show post, I'll 'splain to you just how I run the Big Fat Operation that is an Art Show. Great Wave dress: blog post here; sweater: Target

The hubs was my super sweet photographer during the art show. He took a ton of snaps, can't wait to share them with you!

 More Me Made May Thursday: I really didn't think I'd have enough clothing to make it thru this month of me-mades but it turns out Ima have plenty. This little vintage hankie skirt I created ages ago after seeing on similar in Anthropologie for One.Million.Dollars. Or $100 which is pretty much the same in my checkbook. top: vintage, gift from a friend; skirt: made by me, here

We had wall-to-wall clay projects on display in the art room. My second graders created those butterflies (we were on a butterfly roll, with this and that, what can I say?) and my third grade sculpted the flowers (complete lesson here).

School's Out for the Summer Friday!: Oh, yeah, y'all. I'm ready! Although it came so fast and after so much stuff going down, it almost seems unreal. By the way, that skirt was created pre-blogging days! Twas my first (and currently last) article of clothing in which I stitched an invisible zipper! That's on my summer to-do list. top: I dunno, Target?; skirt: made by me with vintage and new fabric

What the Art Teacher Wore #140

More Me Made May-ness Monday: Could I fit any more M's into that intro? Me thinks not. blouse: vintage, thrifted; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; skirt: Made by Me, details here

Hey, friends! I hope your week was fantabulous. This coming week of mine not only includes the last week of school but also our school-wide art show (yes, I know that's crazy...no, I didn't plan it that way). I'll be certain to share all the details of the art show with y'all in a super photo heavy blog post this Wednesday. That'll prolly be the next time you hear from me as I'm certain to be buried under artwork until then.

In this here post, I'll give y'all a sneak peak into what the kids have been creating in preparation for el art showness. Also, since it's #MeMadeMay, I'm still sporting something I created daily. I'll be sharing all of these MeMades in a big fat post at the end of the month. Please, try and curb your enthusiasm. Until Wednesday, kids, fingers crossed I can pull off this art show! Toodles!

 Being MeMadeMay and all, I decided to go with a vintage tape measure as a headband and a wee lil vintage sewing machine brooch. Dude at Starbucks: "Is that caution tape in your hair?! Cool!" (insert head-banging-on-wall emoji here).

 Man, I gotta let you in on a lil secret. During these last few days of school, let the kids work on murals. Throw a big fat sheet of paper on the tables, let them work in groups of their choice, crank up the music to drown out the sound of their voices (I kid! Kinda!), give 'em a theme and watch 'em go to town.

 Granted, I did have a total of four kids completely loose their minds and paint their hands (like, two painted their hands red, y'all. Yes, they were caught "red handed". Sigh.) but for the most part, we had a great time. These will be used as the back drop for our Village of Kindness. Deets to come but a sneak peak here. 

 Back to School Dress Tuesday: I crafted this dress at the start of the school year. It seriously seems like yesterday. With all of our snow days (I think we had 10?), this year seemed to zip by! Any of you teachers out there feel the same? dress: blog post here; shoes: Anthro, gift from a friend (thanks, Rebecca!)

 A while back, a teacher buddy gave me these huge posters of white paper. The kids have been painting circle paintings on them as another part of our art show excitement. You'll notice that not only are we painting but glazing clay projects as well. Ah, the end of the school year. Nothing like that rush to get EVERY-THANG done. At the last minute. 

 Dresses Made During Snow Days Wednesday: Are really the best dresses, aren't they? I managed to bust out a ton of dresses this winter because of all those days. That was lovely. Not having enough time to finish all the art projects that I'd dreamed to doing with the kids? Not so much. dress: details here, y'all; sandals: like, ancient. Target

 I had kindergarten-land for the very last time this past week. We had a Yay-Boo moment. Yay, we'll see each other next year! Boo, this is our last art class as kindergarteners. So, we made a Kinder-Garden! We drew flowers in black oil pastel then painted them with either warm or cold colors. Then we switched the script for the background. I thought they came out just lovely. And one more thing to hang for the art show, yay!

 It's Come to This...Flip-Flops Thursday: I started the week in heels and by the middle, I was done. I scored these fun flips in NOLA. Get this, they smell like flowers! They are from a brand called Melissa that makes scented shoes. I love them! I was smelling my feet all day. Don't judge. sweater and brooches: thrifted; dress: made by me! By the way, this blog post, if you dare to read it, is INSANE...here; flips: Melissa brand

OH, this excitement happened this week! Our "Johnson Elementary has Heart" mural went up this week! If you follow me on insta-gram crackers, you have already seen this. Full blog post to come...but until then, here's the start of our process. I love how this cheers up our front office which was formally referred to as the DMV for it's lovely drabness. 

 Last Year's Back to School Dress Friday: Can I just brag and say that I've already got NEXT year's B2S dress in the werkz? Das right! Even if my sewing room did look like this just 24 hours ago (scroll downeth. Then scroll back upeth cuz I'm not done jib-jabbin' yet). sweater: Betsy Johnson, found at Buffalo Exchange; dress: blerg post here

 So. Can we have an honest chat here for a moment. I know when you come to this blog, like most, I show you the nice, clean and sunny side of my life. But I really, like really-really, struggle with packrat-itis. I recently picked up the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and I'm really enjoying it. Bottom line: get rid of anything that does not bring you joy. Now, I find that hard to apply as an artist/art teacher because, well, you never know, you know? However, this weekend, I decided to attack my sewing room (btw, welcome to my sewing room, y'all!) and, kidz, I gotta tell you, it felt so good! I'll be filling up my etsy shop with goodies next weekend, taking a truck load to Goodwill and tossing the rest. 

Ah! I can't even tell you how good this feels! My new motto is: nothing on the floor and nothing up to the ceiling (yes, it was that bad). I'll have to give you a tour soon! 

In the Art Room: Ceramic Flowers with Third Grade

Well, spring is here but I gotta tell ya, for me, it feels like my spring done sprung. I'm absolutely beat this time of year. Between putting together our school-wide art show (where I've not hung a single thing, thanks to all of my parent volunteers. I.LURVE.YOUS.) and trying to clean up after a year of bad put-stuff-away-after-you-use-it habits (I'm so bad, y'all. I've got more cabinet space then Ole Mother Hubbard and I still leave everything out all over my counters), I'm a walkin' talkin' zombie. Therefores, I have no DIY goodness to offer you this week, dears. Howeverness, I do have this super sweet ceramic flower project that my third graders just wrapped up!

 (Insert "awwww" emoji here.)

Like, that's a sculpted hummingbird created without instruction, y'all. (Insert "child prodigy" emoji here. Which I imagine looks like Doogie Howser. Or a childhood photo of me. Ahem.)

And a frog snagging his lunch. Let's face it, these sculptures are way cooler than any DIY of mine. Here's how these crafty kids created 'em. 

 We started out with some low-fire clay the size of a grapefruit. and a styro bowl. 

 We then created ping-pong ball sized spheres. 

And proceeded to squish 'em flat. We kept the thickness as thick as a cookie. Any thinner will become too fragile and too thick takes for-evah to dry. And we ain't got time for dat!

Once they were all squishied, we lined them all up and went to war with the one wee piece on the left. Actually I have no idea why I snapped this photo and then proceeded to share it here. I'm tellin' ya. The end-o-the-year has devoured that gray blob between my ears. 

Shape a couple of those flattened circles into leafy shapes if you wanna. 

 Use a pencil to draw veins. Again, if you wanna. 

 Start layering the leaves and flower petals into the bowl. For slipping and scoring, we use a toothbrush dipped in slip. We still use the terminology but this method is way easier than actually having the kids score with a pen tool. 

Why am I talking, these photos are pretty self-explanatory, right? You don't even need me, just the pics. I'm like IKEA directions but way easier and without the long hours of wrestling with particle board only to discover you've got a couple screws loose. Both figuratively and literally. 

 Oh, look! A flower donut!

 Fill it in,y'all. 

Just to make sure the center is secure and all flower petals are attached, some kids added a coil around the center of the flower.

 And viola! Finished! 

From there I went into my lil speech about how you can make anything in all of clay land if you know how to create a coil, slab and a sphere. Together we brainstormed some ideas on what we'd create and just how that could be accomplished with those three things. These ceramic pieces were created in one 60 minute class period. 

 Once they were bisque fired, we used Amaco's Teacher's Palette Glaze which I looooove. The colors were so bright and rich that I'm an instant fan. 

Today the kids were able to catch a glimpse of their projects while creating labels for the art show. They were thrilled with the transformation. Glazing with kids is truly magical.

Almost as magical as their imagination! Whutz your fave clay project?