DIY: A World Map Dress And Traveling Tips!

Ciao, bellas! I'm so thrilled that today my mama and I am heading out to Italy. This trip has been in the works for months and yet I still cannot believe that the big day is here. My mom has never traveled out of the country so I am thrilled to experience her very first European vacation...to none other than Italy! 

Now y'all know I had to sew a dress for the occasion. I've had three yards of this world map fabric in my stash for some time and I thought that this trip would be the perfect occasion to frock it up. So I present to you my World Map Dress!

I used a combination of a circle skirt pattern (currently my fave) and a 1950's boat neck design. To be perfectly honest, I think that high neck might be a little hot on those 90 degree days they are projecting. But that's okay. I'll be in Italy! Bring on the endless scoops of gelato! That should be enough to cool a girl down. 

Despite the fact that it's my mama's first time aboard, I've actually been out of the good ole USA many times. I did my student teaching in Ireland where I caught the travel bug. While there, I meandered to Amsterdam, Belgium and Florence. Several years into my teaching career, I traveled to Japan via the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund (which I highly recommend to my all teacher friends!). When my husband started working for a German company, we began traveling to Germany quite a bit. Those trips often included visits to Amsterdam and Paris which you can see here and here. 

Through my travels, I've learned a couple things along the way. So I thought I'd share them here in what I've dubbed Tips for the Traveling Art Teacher! 

Tip #1: Use a Carry On Only. 

When I travel overseas, I like to travel super light, believe it or not. This means I don't check luggage. Instead, I use a pull-behind carryon and a travel bag as my two carryon pieces. Why? A couple of reasons, the first one being that I've had my checked bags lost before. Trust me, when you are in a foreign country, there's nothing worse than losing a suitcase full of essentials (a tip I learned from my husband: if you are going to check a bag, be sure and include your essentials and a day's worth of clothing in your carryon in case your luggage is lost). Another advantage to only using two carryon's: you won't have as much luggage to lug around. Mom and I are going to travel to a couple of cities. Limiting our luggage will make our lives a whole lot easier. So carryon's only it is!

Tip #2: Take Care of Bidness

When you are traveling out of the country, you really outta let your credit card company know. This will make it so they don't flag your card for fraudulent activity when they see you buying cappuccinos out the wa-freakin'-zoo. 

You also should check in with your cell service carrier. Let them know that you'll be traveling aboard and inquire how to set up your phone. Also, check your rates. It turns out the rates for using my phone are bananas while my mom's service has a much better deal. It's good to know before your go. If the rates for using your phone are cray like mine, consider installing the app WhatsApp on your phone. This app works via wifi and lets you call, text or video chat for free with the use of wifi. 

Tip #3: Safety First

On my first trip overseas, I stayed in youth hostels and I loved it. The rates where cheap, I met all sorts of folks and it really was a great way to immerse myself into the culture. However, with the good, there's always the not-so-good which, on a trip to Amsterdam, came in the form of bed bugs. I remember waking up and seeing my skin covered in what looked like hot pink highlighter pen markings. The "concierge" at the hostel recommended I walk myself down to the local convenience store, buy some Raid and spray my mattress...which I promptly, and in retrospect, foolishly, did. It indeed killed the bugs (and probably many braincells) and inspired me to put more focus on safety first. 

So, let's talk safety: when it comes to travel, your passport is the Golden Ticket that you just don't want to lose. Anything else that gets lost: your clothing, your souvenirs, your "priceless" Bump-Its, they can all be replaced. But that passport, among other things like la cashola and your phone, are pretty stinkin' important. So keep them on you at all times. And be smart when you do. I plan to take an entirely unattractive, grandma-esque, cross-body purse with enough zippers to confuse Houdini. Not what you expected? Remember: safety first. 

Tip #5: Don't Overbook Yourself

So, I'm an over-booker. I do it on a daily basis. In fact, you should see my To Do list. It's all "paint the Mona Lisa, climb Mount Everest, clean the fridge (what?! no.), mow the lawn, trim shrugs into the shape of a pack of llamas", you get the idea. It's pretty ridiculous. The same can easily happen when planning a trip. When digging into my travel books to Italy, I became determined that mom and I would see and do it all. I hopped onto TripAdvisor (dangerous territory) and started looking into food tours, wine adventures, bike trips, museum escorts (wait, what?!), you name it, I started booking it. 

Then I stopped. And I thought. For a second. 

If el mommo and I do all of the things, will we ever truly enjoy even a little of the things?

Probably not, y'all. And when I realized that, I stepped away from my travel books, websites and apps and just thought: we'll explore. And see where our adventure takes us. Where it does, I'll be sure and share with you!

Now, I'll be gone for several days but...y'all make sure to pop by here and visit. I've got many blog posts with fun announcements lined up just for you. Ciao, y'all! 

Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 37 GLAZE!

If you have a kiln, then you probably have glaze...and you are more than likely well aware of how freakishly expensive glaze is. I swear, it eats about a quarter of my budget. But I just can't give the stuff up: glaze really does give my students the ultimate ceramic experience. So today, I thought I'd share my very favorite glaze brand as well as how I distribute glaze and conserve it...so that I don't waste a single precious (read: pricey!) drop. Here you go:

My dog dishes, ice cube trays and just about everything else were purchased at the Dollar Tree. I love the Dollar Tree, y'all. If I could marry it, I totally would. Cassie Lane Dollar Tree. Has a nice ring to it, no?

Once our glazing days were done, I tossed the press and seal I was using to keep the glaze fresh and let them dry out. Just a crack of the tray works to pop them out. Then put them in the glaze bottles, add water and shake. Clean trays + conserved glaze = happy art teacher!

This is a messy task...and one that you will only want to do once. So get all your glaze bottles and trays out and knock it out in one fell swoop. 

You'll be happy you did. Clean (ish) glaze/ice cube trays and fresh glaze for the win, kids! 

An Art Teacherin' Book Club!

Most of y'all know that I host a Facebook LIVE chat (nearly) every Wednesday night at 8pm CST. I host it on my "official" Facebook page, not my personal one as I assume my non-art teacherin' friends would not be interested in hearing me chat about #artlife. If you've never joined one of our chats, it's a lot of fun. We art teacherin' types commiserate, celebrate and create. No kidding! The month of April, we felted, all through May we worked with clay and now...we're going to have an Art Teacherin' Book Club!

In last night's chat, which you can find archived here along with previous ones,  I shared my favorite art teacherin' books. Many folks who joined the chat shared their favorite books as well. There were so many that I've decided to dedicate them for a future blog post so stay tuned!

The book we settled on (okay, the book I strongly suggested and didn't give anyone a choice on the matter) is this one:

I absolutely love the idea of growth mindsets and the little reading that I've done has lead me to believe that this book will be a great one for us to explore. I love that it's divided up by months of the school year. Within each month, the authors Annie Brock and Heather Hundley share lessons, books and even film clips that emphasis the growth mindset being featured. As a group, I thought we art teachers could brainstorm ways to make this possible in our art rooms. Together, we can inspire our students to grow into the creative, compassionate and kind artists we know they have the capability to become. 

So, how to join the fun? First, get you a copy of the book! I won't be active on Facebook LIVE until July (taking a vacation with the mama AND hosting Art Scouts!). Stay tuned right here. As we get closer to July, I'll share just what we'll be chatting about each Wednesday night.

Until then, throw a good trashy novel into your online shopping cart when you order our book club book. After all, it's summer and you've earned it!

Art Scouts 2017 FAQ's

Hey, y'all! Now that it's June, we Art Scout troop leaders are getting super stoked to meet our Troops. We've had a lot of questions about Art Scouts lately and I thought it would be best to compile them all and answer them in this here FAQ's about Art Scouts!

Of course, if I've left any questions unanswered, please leave them in the comments. Also, be sure to join that Art Scouts Facebook page to connect with other Scouts. Questions there are welcomed as well! 

One question I failed to address was "Will you be repeating lessons and projects from last year?" Nope! We are rolling out all new projects as we like to keep it fresh, y'all. Not to mention, we have a lot of folks returning for the fun...and I never did like reruns. So get ready for new projects for felting, clay, weaving, paining and more. 

In case you'd like more details on just what Art Scouts is and the location it will be held this year, you might wanna watch this:

We strongly recommend you make a little vacation out of this adventure. Not only is the park beautiful but it is 45 minutes away from Nashville! There are so many things to do in Nashville...it's the perfect place for a one to two day adventure. If you are traveling from out of town, build in some extra time to take in our awesome city!

Our conference center and inn is right on Lake Acorn. The views are just beautiful! Expect lush and green foliage as we've had a ton of rain so far this spring. Definitely pack some bug spray if you plan to hike. 

 We have two separate sessions that you can sign up for:

The cost for the two day camp is $275. This includes the following:

I can't even tell you how stoked we are about Campfire Crafts!

We are so looking forward to spending time with you all in this beautiful setting. Pack light, Tennessee summers are pretty hot!

Come prepared to make a lot of art teacherin' buddies. Looking forward to seeing you all real soon!

In the Art Room: Salt Dough Sunflowers!

Here's a way to introduce your kiddos to clay even if you don't have a kiln: Salt Dough Clay! Last summer, when I was writing my book Clay Lab for Kids, I had to come up with kid-friendly clay recipes. You see, the book is divided into three parts: projects created with air dry clays available at craft stores; polymer clay projects and clay projects created with homemade clays. There are several clay recipes in my book (including an edible clay!) and this salt dough clay is one of my favorites. Here's how to make it and create a Salt Dough Sunflower (a project not found in my book, just for you!):

Here's the recipe which would be enough clay to create a half dozen flowers:
(Allergy warning! If you are allergic to gluten, this is not the project for you.)

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup salt
* 3/4 cup water

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Dump out ingredients onto wax paper or plastic and continue to knead until a soft dough forms. When creating, be sure to work on a plastic covered surface as this stuff is sticky! Also, when making this flower, use a styrofoam bowl or a bowl covered in plastic wrap so that the flower pops out easily when dry. 

Also, any clay not used, simply wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for later use. 

I placed my flower in front of a fan to dry overnight. Just so you know: this is a dough so it will rise a bit! Don't be surprised if your flower looks a little fluffy once dry. 

Salt dough can also be cured by baking in the oven at 200. Keep an eye on it as the goal is simply to dry it out, not burn it. I have cooked mine for 15-30 minutes depending on the dampness of the clay. 

I painted my flower with acrylic paint but tempra could also be used. Be sure to cover with a coat of ModPodge to insure that it will not break. 

If you don't subscribe already, I update my YouTube channel with videos like this and all things art teachery pretty frequently. You are always welcome to use my videos and lessons...I just always appreciate a shout out. 

In other news, I'll be presenting at Art Ed NOW on August 3rd on...you guessed it, all things clay! I'll be sharing a TON of no-kiln clay projects for the elementary and middle school set. 

And if you've picked up my clay book and you have a spare moment, a review here would be so very much appreciated. Thank you so much, y'all!

Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 35

 As an art teacher and a human, I find that there are many things I struggle with: consistency, finishing projects before starting new ones and, most of all, organization. I like to think that my decent art teacherin' qualities outweigh the bad but there is no denying this...I'm an Art Teacher Hoarder. And one of these days, my cold and colorfully dressed body is probably going to be found under a mountain of toilet paper tubes, bottle caps, yogurt lids, wire hangers and gently used popsicle sticks ("Why was she saving THOSE?!"). They say the first step is admitting you have a problem, y'all. There, I've said it. Now what?

Like a tour of my space, would you? Here you go! Just watch your step...I've just about boobytrapped the entire space. One of two things inevitably happens when I walk into my storage closet: I get injured by one of the art supply landmines I've haphazardly thrown on the floor or I find some amazing treasure, get a fun idea for a project and completely forget why I entered the storage closet in the first place. 

 I had a group of fourth grade girls who decided to make my art room their hang out place every morning the last month of school. It was fun, like our own secret art club. They'd come in, take out whatever they felt like working on (sewing pillows, painting a poster, you name it) and create for a solid 20 minutes before the bell would ring. I didn't mind, I was just making coffee and enjoying their company and love for creating. One day I opened my closet in front of them and it was like the door to Narnia opened before their eyes: they were amazed. Not only by the mess but by the sheer volume of stuff. I let them raid the closet for fabric several times...not that you can even tell. They hardly put a dent in the place. 

 With so many art teachers lacking supplies and space, I'm embarrassed to show just how much I've got and the large space I have to store it. I am super fortunate for the donations that I receive and the closets I have to store them in. I'm telling you, my art room (along with the closets) is what got me so determined to land the job at my school. I literally stalked the former art teacher for two years to get the job (she's a friend who was retiring). I'm not even kidding: I went to her art shows, helped in her art room, observed her. When it came time for my interview, the principal and staff already knew who I was (probably because of the restraining order). All that to say, I know I'm spoiled rotten. And I'm every bit of that spoiled kid who has the messiest toy box on the planet. All this I know. 

This is why it's part of my summer routine to pop in to my art room for a couple of hours once or twice a week to start chipping away. I really and truly do want to start my new school year feeling organized and ready to roll...not chaotic like I usually do. I'll keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime, can I interest any of you all in a 5 lbs box of chopsticks that may or may not be used?