DIY: How to Dress Like a Kindergartener

Warning: This blog post is full of the World's Most Annoying Photos. But I have excuses! I have a head cold; it's really early in the morning; I'm all jacked-up on herbal tea and sudafed. AND I was born this annoying. So, what can you do?

Hey! Look! It's a thirty-something dressed like an over-grown 6 year old! Listen, folks, I'm just trying to keep it real for the under 10 set, 'kay? Thankfully, I teach the littles. Can you imagine what middle school kids would have to say about my look? I shudder to think.

 Okay, I know I look like I've been put in the corner (which if my parents had done more often, I'd probably be a much better person), but I'm just trying to give you a view of the heart in my dress. And my giant slinky-esque hair.

The idea for this dress came to me on my recent visit to San Francisco. I found this most incredible creme-colored dress with a heart cut out of the back. Despite the despicable number 4 size, I was determined to try it on. And. Get. It. Zipppppped! After which I couldn't breath nor feel my fingertips. Right before I passed out from lack of oxygen, I managed to break free of the dress and return the ugly ole rag to it's rusty wire hanger. I didn't really like it that much anyway. 

But who am I kidding? It was one of those dresses that haunts you. It comes to you in your sleep and whispers in your ear, "celery and water for the next thirty days and we could be together!" Hmmm...

"A grapefruit and a couple of prunes a day for a couple of weeks and I'll be all yours!" Well...that doesn't sound too bad...

"Give up chocolate for a week and that zipper will glide over your ---"

Wait, what?

Did that dress just say "give up chocolate"?! Ho, no. That ain't even in my realm of possibilities. Sorry, dress. But that's where I draw the line.

Sorry for the grainy photo...just trying to give you a closer look. I told you my hair looks like a slinky! Wiggles like one too.

So I decided to make my own version. With this sad little plaid jumper I'd picked up a Goodwill ages ago and worn just once. I had always liked it for it's vintage-y Catholic-school-girl jumper look but it was really long. Like, down to my mid-calf long. It made me feel as though I'd been swallowed up by some giant kilt. It seemed the perfect blank canvas for my dress-terpiece.

I was seriously nervous about cutting the heart out of the back but it turned out to be the easiest part. I used a paper template, cut around it, notched the heart, tucked and ironed it under, sewed around the heart and I was done. Seriously. That simple.

Another grainy number. Sorry.

And I had thought the pocket would be the easy part. Ha! Silly me. I tried to create the pocket the same way I had the opening in the back. Cut out a too-big heart, cut notches, tuck notches under and sew.  But the velvet proved to be too flimsy and my heart looked lumpy and weird.

Plan B proved to work much better. I cut out the heart in velvet, mustard yellow linen and some slightly stiff backing. I sandwiched the backing in between the two fabrics and did a tight zigzag stitch around it. Which, by the way, all sewing machines have. My ole Kenmore had this same function. From there, I sewed the pocket onto the dress.

Could I be anymore annoyingly excited? I warned you.

I also took up that hem several inches. I used the excess plaid fabric as a bow for my hair. Kinda hard to see as it blends in with my 'do. I also made the belt. I'm rather matchy-match like that.

My Peter Pan collar which was referred to thrice as a bib. Yeah...not exactly what I had in mind but whatever.

I created the Peter Pan collar after seeing a similar idea here: http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com. The tutorial there used leather for the collar but I decided to use my mustard colored linen again. Just like the pocket, I sandwiched a piece of backing in between two pieces of mustard fabric and zigzag stitched around the edges. I stitched very small button holes at the top and bottom of the collar to feed the ribbon through. Once I had the ribbon at the right length, I cut it and waved a lighter under it to seal the ribbon and keep it from fraying.

My finished kindergarten look. The best part about this dress? The always-forgiving elastic waist band. Which means I can eat as much chocolate as I like. Take that, Size 4.

In the Art Room: Hump Day

After a long chat about fore-, middle- and background, we glued our camels into our Egyptian Landscape Collages. Here's a kid that really got the concept of objects diminishing in size.

What would be more appropriate to chat about on this here Hump Day then a one-humped camel (which are called domedary in case you didn't know) and his habitat? My first grade artists finished up these Egyptian Landscape Collages last week and I thought I'd share them with you. I've been doing this landscape collage lesson for years but always with a connection to our current theme of study. With Egypt being our theme this year, a desert landscape was what we created.

Image pulled from pinterest.com.

We began our lesson with a nice long chat about sunrises and sets. We looked at photos, artist renditions, and discussed personal experiences before creating our own. Each student was given a 12" by 18" piece of paper folded in half lengthwise. On the top half of their paper, students painted their sunsets. During their second art class, we discussed the horizon line and how objects near that line appear to be smaller. With that in mind, we painted our clouds, small near the horizon, gradually growing in size as they approach the top of the paper.

Would you like one hump or two? The two-humped camels (called bactrian) are found in Central and East Asia. So apparently this one migrated to Egypt.

The following art class, we began the textured paper for the desert sands. This time we had a wee chat about creating tints of colors and textures. Each student was given a new sheet of 12" X 18" paper folded in half lengthwise. They were to create a tint of brown on each half of the paper and create a texture with the texture combs. If you don't happen to have texture combs, you can easily make them from stiff pieces of card stock with small notches cut out of the bottom.

It's just not a kid's landscape unless something is levitating. I totally dig the floating pyramids.

Once both paintings are complete, the collage process begins. Now, I've done this project many times and the first time I did it, the collage portion made me want to whack my head against the wall. So to save you some head-whacking, lemme tell you how I explain it to the kids:

1. Tear a strip of paper off of your textured and tinted paper lengthwise.
2. Put glue around the edges of that paper. Place it directly on your horizon line (this way, no white space can be seen between the sky and the horizon).
3. Continue to tear strips and glue down. Overlap the brown papers so there are no white paper gaps.
4. When you run out of paper at the bottom to glue the land to, you are finished!

This idea to create pyramids came from the book Dynamic Art Projects for Children. If you teach children, this book is a fantastic source for art project ideas.

Once the landscape was complete, we began creating objects for the land. We kept these bits and pieces in an envelope labeled with our name until we were ready to glue them down.

To create the pyramids, the kids folded a rectangle in half, cut across it diagonally, opened the paper and viola! we had a triangle. To make it look three-dimensional, we laid a piece of scrap paper over the triangle, drew a heavy brown line in oil pastel and then smeared the pastel toward the edge of the triangle. We used oil pastels gifted to us from Paul deMarrais. You must see his beautiful pastel landscapes (and pick up some of his hand crafted oil pastels!) here: http://www.pauldemarrais.com/home/index.html

The How-to-Draw sheet that I made multiple copies of and had ready at the tables.

Once our pyramids were complete, we began our study of camels. We read a book about them, looked at this amazing stuffed one that our librarian happened to have and proceeded to draw together. I firmly believe in guided drawing (meaning, I draw something on my paper, the kids attempt to replicate on their paper). Art teachers that I have met are either firmly for or against this idea. My rational is this: you wouldn't hand a kid a math worksheet and just tell them to have at it without explaining to them the concepts first, right?

I love how the little camel's legs are firmly rooted as if to say, "I'm not taking another step! This walking on three legs business is just too complicated!"

So as we are drawing the camels together, we are looking for the shapes and lines within the object, discussing what we see and drawing them. After we have created one camel together, the students were given the above How-to Draw sheet and asked to draw as many camels as they'd like in their landscape. They used the sheet as their starting point and them proceeded to draw walking legs, multiple humps, etc. Again, we kept them in our envelope.

Another beautiful Egyptian sunset. I shared similar images with the kids to help them understand the concept of a silhouette.

On our final day, students were given back their envelopes and their landscapes. We had a chat about fore-, middle- and back ground, diminishing size and silhouettes. Then the students proceeded to assemble their collages. Finally, we were finished! I have this habit of creating the World's Longest Art Projects...but I have myself convinced that it's okay. We learned: painting, color mixing, texture, collage, drawing, shading, etc. So, it's really about five projects packed into one, right?

As I said earlier, I've done this project many times before. When we were learning about Japan, the landscape was vertical and filled with origami houses. One year we learned about Medieval times and created a green landscape full of castles. The original idea came from a SchoolArts article many years ago. That teacher had created a sea scape, using blue textured papers. The possibilities are endless-ish!

DIY: Lovey Dovey

My completed yarn-wrapped heart now hangs over the mirror in my foyer. I hate that word, foyer. Makes me sound so fancy. But it sounds better than "front entrance" which is what I initially typed.

I am not, nor have I ever been, and I predict I won't ever be, sappy. When I lose my Burt's Bees, I become chappy; with a tiny amount of wine, I am slaphappy; and my middle-aged lady arms are starting to look flappy; but sappy is not a word that would describe me. Lovey-dovey, mushy, huggy-kissy sweet stuff kinda makes my skin craw, my eyes roll toward the back of my head and my finger make a gagging motion down my throat.

Supplies: Styrofoam heart and pink yarn: Hobby Lobby; baker's twine: Anthopologie, last Christmas; buttons and paper measuring tape: from my stash; vintage photos: from my mom

However, this is not all my fault. I inherited the unsappy gene from my mother. Case in point: If I tell her I lover her, more often than not, I'm greeted with a "whatever." It's just not in us to give a sap. 

So it's kinda funny that I decided to spruce up the pad for Valentine's Day. Honestly, it's because I had so much fun decorating for Christmas, that I didn't want to stop. Never mind that the floors haven't been swept in years and that the laundry is a 6' mountain of funky smells, look! I made a yarn wrapped heart!

Are they not the cutest? My mom brought me a stash of old family photos, some of people neither of us knew. Doesn't it look like he's tickling her ear and she's trying to stop him? I wonder where they are now.

And it was really easy to make. If you've been on pinterest for a millisecond, you've seen yarn-wrapped wreaths. I made one at Christmas...but this one was a wee bit trickier because of the points in the heart. If you've never tried it before, here's how I went about it: tie yarn around styro wreath and wrap yarn around it. That's it! When I came to the points in the heart, I plugged in my hot glue gun and glued in strips of yarn to fill in the gaps. It's really the easiest and most mundane craft ever. 

Another nunno-who-they-are photo from my collection. I love how she's on her tiptoes in her sweet loafers...and is he coping a feel?

When I was finished with that, the fuschia heart was rather boring. So I decided to add some blue striped  baker's twine which I double knotted in the back. I backed the photos onto matte board and hot glued the board to the frame so as not to ruin the photos. The vintage buttons were hot glued on as well. I had initially used a black ribbon to hang the heart but it seemed too domineering. I swapped it out for the paper measuring tape. In all, it looks pretty crafty, but that's okay by me. It'll do for the month of Feb.

Right under the yarn-wrapped-heart mirror in the foyer is a little table with this display. My collection of vintage children's books comes from the throw-away pile at in my school's library.

These little cupid houses have actually been up since Christmas. As if you couldn't tell. I've decided that the hearts on top of them mean I can leave them out just a pinch longer. Again, this idea was pulled from pinterest.

If you have access to clay and a kiln, here's how I created these: for the trunk, place a texture down on your table. I used a large stamp that had a wood grain design. Place the clay on top of the stamp and flatten it with a rolling pin. Remove clay from stamp and roll into a tube shape. For the roof, lay a different textured surface onto your workspace. I like to use vintage lace. Repeat the step of flattening the clay. Now, instead of forming a tube, roll clay into a waffle cone shape. Slip and score to the top. Add details and, viola! A house for cupid!

My Valentine garland. The easiest craft ever.

This is the last of my Valentine's decor, I swear. If I do anymore, my anti-sap status is sure to drop greatly. This here Valentine's garland was the easiest to make. My school has one of the Edison die cut thingies. I die cut some of my scrap booking paper (picked up a JoAnn's)  that I thought might compliment the colors of my living room. Which, as you can see, is just black and white. Easy to match.

If you've never sewn before, this is the project for you. When I got my first sewing machine about 6 years ago, I started by sewing paper. There's no fear in "messing up" and ruining expensive fabric. For this, I just pushed the heart through the machine. To make the blank space, I just continued to pull the heart so the machine would keep intertwining the two threads. Once the space was long enough, I fed the bird through the machine. Simple, right?

So, there you go. Valentine's decor for the un-Lovey Dovey set. I keep thinking to the next holiday I can decorate for...which is St. Patrick's Day, I believe. Nothing is coming to mind. Except to leave my little clay houses out just one more holiday and call 'em Leprechan Houses. That'll work, right?

What the Art Teacher Wore #3

Running on Fumes Monday: Oui. I had just arrived home from San Francisco a mere 6 hours before the school day began, hence the hair. dress: vintage, picked up in S.F. on Haight Street ; sweater: a Lily Pulitzer find at Goodwill; shoes: my ancient John Fluevog shoes. I was so thrilled to visit one of his stores in S.F. and scoop up a new pair!

Just a little peak at what I wore to work this week. I'm so glad the weekend is here. I've been on the move traveling every weekend for what seems like a month. And while I have loved every minute of it, I'm truly a homebody. I am looking forward to sleeping in, catching up on some craftasticness (almost done some Valentines-y decor I'll share with you soon) and being with hubs and kitty. Hope you have fun doing what you enjoy the best!

Bustin' Loose Tuesday: I love this dress. I got it on the cheap because it had some holes which I thought I had mended the night before. When I arrived at school, I noticed a small one near my underarm (anyone else hate the word "arm pit"?). By the end of the school day, the lil hole had grown to a new neck hole. Thankfully, I keep my sewing machine at school so I was able to do a little mending in my office. dress: The Cactus Flower, Bloomington; belt: made by me, available in my shop; shoes: anthropologie; headband: made by Jen of Peachy Tuesday

Headband close-up. I loved it so much I based Tuesday's outfit around it! These headbands are so comfortable and unique, I am constantly getting stopped and asked about them. You must check out Jen's sweet etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/PeachyTuesday

Amazon Art Teacher from the Black Lagoon Wednesday: I didn't think about it, but with the hair and the heels, I probably reach 6' hence the "yer so tall" comments. necklace and tights: Target; sweater: a Goodwill find from my college days; belt: gift from a friend; shoes: Opposites Attract; dress: my favorite vintage shop in Orlando, Paris Market. Check them out here: http://www.shopparismarket.com/

Close up of my belt buckle. It reminded the kids of Narnia.

Red Hot Thursday: I was informed by one of my second grader girls that I needed to start wearing Red Hot Lipstick. When I asked why, she said, "It will make your face look fashion-y." Er-kay. I'll have to give it a shot. sweater and skirt: Goodwill; tights and black shirt: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina

Is that you, Friday? It's me, Almost Insane: sweater: Goodwill; dress: vintage find from Orange, CA; belt: from my belt-gifting friend; boots: Seychelles; tights: lovely tights shop on etsy found here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TejaJamilla

Whoooooo's glad it's the weekend?

In the Art Room: Weird Science

The kids always know when we are going to perform a science experiment the moment I slip on the lab coat I picked up at Goodwill.
 

When we began our study of Ancient Egypt at the beginning of the school year, I stumbled upon a lesson on how to mummify an apple. Despite our short art classes (30 minutes), I decided that we would make the time for this "science experiment". So, I picked up a bag of apples, baking soda and salt from the grocery, brought in my food dehydrator, and donned my lab coat. The kids enjoyed that experiment so much that I've managed to tie in several during the course of this school year.

Lady Liberty. Did you know there are 168 steps to the top? And that she has chains under her feet to represent the stomping out of slavery? Also that one of her fingernails is as big as your lap top? Me neither. She's quite fascinating. 

Our most recent experiment ties in with our study of the Statue of Liberty. We learned that she is made of copper and that when copper oxidizes it changes from the color of a penny to a patina green. I noticed the kids where a little more than stumped by this concept. They needed to see it in action to actually grasp what in the heck I was blabbering about.

Turns out the P.E. teacher at my school is just as nuts as I am. Here we are as Lady Liberty and Frederic Bartoldhi, the sculptor behind the statue. We appeared on our school's morning sharing info on the artist and his masterpiece.

So I did a little research online and found the supplies needed for oxidizing copper could be picked up at Home Depot. When I went there, I found a couple more-than-curious employees that helped me find my supplies. I guess they don't have too many crazy art teachers coming in with requests for "just a little copper tube and some stuff to make it turn green". They sold me a tube but then referred me to Michael's for a patina kit. Muriatic acid is what is normally used to patina copper but it is highly toxic. Thankfully Michael's came through with a patina kit...however, I recently learned that Windex may have worked just as well.

The collection of pennies I happened to have in my wallet. They were a great example of the oxidation process to show the kids.

Right before the kids walked in, I decided to dig through my change for a couple of pennies. I know they handle pennies daily, so I thought that showing them the change would hit closer to home for them. I struck gold, er copper, with my collection. I love the varying change in oxidation as did the kids. We chatted about how the surface of the Statue of Liberty was covered in copper just like the pennies.

The copper tubing I picked up for a couple of bucks at Home Depot before the patina chemical was added.

Then I showed them the tubing. Using a sharpie, I divided the tubing into sections so each class could see the results of their experiment. I explained to them that the chemical I was putting on the tube would oxidize the copper, changing it to a patina. They were told that we now had to wait a week to see the results of the experiment.

After this first step in the experiment, I asked the kids the following questions: what supplies did we use? Who can trace the steps of the experiment we just performed? What do you predict the results will be? What they dictate to me is always fascinating. We have had interesting conversations on why the copper patinas instead of rusts (which I got a little lesson on from genius hubs); how chemicals cause a reaction and how this all relates back to our Lady Liberty being green like The Hulk.

After seeing this result, I realized I needed to sand the surface of the pipe to scuff it up a bit. This helped the chemical adhere to the tubing better and made the patina more even.

 One week later, we returned to our tube to find that it had indeed changed. As a wrap-up, the kids answered the questions on the second half of the sheet. You can see some of their answers below.

In all, I think it was a good experiment. It was inexpensive, short, educational and fun. Aside from this experiment and the mummified apple, we've also tried our hand at making papyrus out of rhubarb. And I've already got our next experiment in the works: dying yarn with Kool-Aid ice cubes, an idea pulled from pinterest, of course! I'll keep you posted on those results.

What the Art Teacher Wore #3

Monday: Having the day off usually means I don't look presentable until around 2pm. Unless I was going to the Walmarts, in which case my slippers, pajamas and ratty hair would have been the standard. top: embroidered top by Urban Outfitters, under top by Target; skirt: Goodwill; tights: probably Marshall's; shoes: sale at Urban Outfitters

Hey, kids. I really don't think I can attach much commentary to this here post as my brain is officially toast. I'm just in from a wonderful visit to the beautiful city of San Francisco to see one of my favorite people. I'm still so warm and fuzzy from my experience, and exhausted from the flight home, that I can hardly string a sentence together. And I just don't wanna do that to you. So! Here's what I wore this week (and what I recommend you don't) and I'll chat with you when my mind returns to it's normal-ish state. Later!

Big-Bun-Looks-Like-a-Hat Tuesday: Kindergartener: Mrs. Stephens, I know what we can make today! A hat just like the one you are wearing. Me: That's my hair, not a hat. Kindergartener: Oh, Mrs. Stephens, you are so silly. That is a hat! sweater: Ann Taylor find at Goodwill; dress: Egyptian-print vintage dress found on etsy; tights: Target; shoes: Indigo by Clarks

Wednesday: So I had to take a kid out into the hall for a little chat. But I noticed his eyes kept rolling up toward the top of my head quizzically. So I told him, "if you can get it together, I'll tell you what's inside my big hair." I had no more problems after that. dress: a gift from a sweet art teacher friend that actually made and wore it back in the day; tights and undershirt: Target: shoes: Indigo by Clarks (what?! They were having a sale!)

If You're Going to San Francisco Thursday: Off to see my best friend from high school! dress: anthropologie; sweater: vintage Goodwill purchase; leg warmers: amazon; boots: Frye

Friday: This photo makes me sad because I'm not living it right now! I had the best time in San Francisco with my friend Ian, his mom and all of his amazing friends. sweater: Ann Taylor picked up at Goodwill; dress: BCBG; fishnets and tights: Marshall's; leg warmers: souvenir from Germany a couple of years ago; boots: Frye

In the Art Room: Egyptian Style

Portrait of the Ancient Egyptian goddess Isis created by one of my fourth grade students. I love that the artist embossed the goddess' name in hieroglyphics at the bottom of the frame.

For the record, let me just say that this lesson is not mine. I found it on pinterest, which lead me to artsonia. The image I found there showed that the middle school-aged students had watercolor painted their gods and painted their frame with metallic paint. As you can see, I altered the lesson some. It has taken my fourth grade students quite a bit of time but they are finally seeing the light at the end of the Never-Ending-Project tunnel. The kids and I are both pleased with the results so I though I'd share my version of the lesson.

Don't let the picture fool you. This photo was taken at the begin of the year before the dementors, er, students entered the scene. Now there's a drum kit where the rugs were and the third grader's half-painted sarcophaguses (sarcophagui?) drying all over the floor.

Our year long theme is the study of Ancient Egypt (really? I had to tell you that? I'm kinda like Mrs. Obvious, if you've not noticed). I chose this theme because of the Egyptian exhibit at the local art museum that the majority of my students field-tripped to.

Portrait of the Ancient Egyptian god Horus.

 This particular unit began with a sit down in Ancient Egypt where the students were told the story of the two gods portrayed on my window, Isis and her son Horus. In case you don't know the story, it goes something like this: Jealous brother Seth decides to take down his brother Osiris. Builds him sarcophagus, convinces him to climb inside and suffocates him. Wife of Osiris, Isis, sends her eagle-headed son Horus to avenge his father's death. That's what she's chatting with him about on my painted window. Confused? Well, the Ancient Egyptians believed in hundreds of gods, some animal, some human and some a combo of both, all with strange tales of their own. Needless to say, to the average 10 year old, the stories are fascinating.   

Ancient Egyptian god Osiris who is often depicted the color green. We're guessing it has to do with all that suffocating business.

After learning about the Ancient Egyptian gods (with an emphasis on the fact that these are false gods), students were given a handout with a list of about a dozen gods, their back story and their image in profile. After they chose one that piqued their interest, they began to sketch out their god in pencil and trace their lines in sharpie.

Learning the fine art of metal tooling.

From there, I introduced colored pencils. I briefly chatted with the kids about coloring and let them have at it. It was a total disaster. After creating such beautiful drawings, I was disappointed that their coloring skills were lacking. Or, rather, their art teacher had failed to teach them some important things about shading, value and blending.

So I backtracked. I created a colored pencil coloring sheet (don't stop reading, hear me out) that involved creating a gradation of values. There was also a little review on color theory. Some got it and applied it to their drawings and some didn't. But it did improve their application of colored pencil greatly.

Once the gods and goddesses were complete, I introduced the kids to Ancient Egyptian symbols. We looked at symbols we see and recognize everyday (hearts, peace signs, smiley faces, etc.) and discussed how the Egyptians used symbols as well. Using a 3" by 4" piece of styrofoam, the kids chose a symbol that they felt related to their god and engraved it into the foam.

I love the tooled metal design on this frame.

As you can see from these drawings, the ankh was a very popular symbol with the kids. When printmaking, I set out two trays of ink and brayers for each table of four students. Working with a partner, the kids printed for several art classes. One day we printed with metallics and the next, we tried our hand at rainbow printing, which they loved. It was an absolute mess and sometimes frustrating for both the kids and myself. But by the last day, they were printmaking fools.

Anubis.

Last week, we started the metal tooled frame. I have five rolls of tooling metal in red, blue, green, gold, and silver. We chatted about embossing, looked at Egyptian patterns, recalled hieroglyphics and symbols. With dull pencils and a foam board for cushion, the students managed to complete their frames in just a few classes. I've been dangling the carrot of weaving over their heads, so they are more than ready to move on. I began assembling the works of art yesterday in my excitement to see what they would look like. 

I don't know if you can tell, but the images of the gods are three dimensional. Pieces of foam core were glued underneath to raise them up. I also hot glued the metal frame to the construction paper because the edges are sharp and that metal gets as hot as a mother with hot glue on it. Oh, convection, how I hate you.

In all, I thought this was a pretty successful project. We managed to learn about drawing, shading, printmaking, metal tooling and just a smidge of Ancient Egyptian history. I am so thankful for pinterest and the art teacher behind the original lesson.