In the Art Room: Tree Weaving with Third Grade

Every year I do a weaving project with my students, kindergarten to fourth grade. And when asked at the end of the year what their fave art project in the universe is, weaving always ties first place with clay. 

And who can blame them? Digging ones hands deep into clay or entangled in a bundle of yarn is just about the best feeling ever, says the art teacher. However, I've grown a little tired of the usual weaving project my third grade students create. So when I saw these amazing tree weavings on pinterest, I was inspired to have my students create one of their own.

Stunning, right? And if you know Russian (at least that's what I think it is) then you'll totally understand the directions. I'd click the "translate" button but I guess you gotta know the Russian word for that to make it happen. All kidding aside, the website does an excellent job of demonstrating the process. For headache-free purposes, I decided to forgo the bent twig option and have the students craft their loom from a Chinet plate.

This weaving lesson was also apart of our study of the United Kingdom. We studied many landscape photographs and paintings of the countryside of such places as Northern Ireland and Scotland. Our first day was spent painting a sky on our plate. If you recall, these kids have plenty of experience with sky painting as they are the ones who created these German Gnome Landscapes. The following art class, we chatted about how to create a fore-, middle- and background in our landscapes.

 Students were encouraged to mix three different values of green to create a sense of depth. From there, they were given the option to enhance their landscape with what they'd imagine a countryside in the United Kingdom to look like. As you can see, we were feeling mighty sheepish.

Once our landscapes were complete, we were ready to begin the process of creating and warping our loom.

 By placing a Tree Weaving Template over their plate, students could draw the correct number of notches on the top (10) and the bottom (2). These notches were cut to the inner edge of the plate.

With notches cut, the students met me on the floor with their plates and about a yard and 1/2 of pre-cut yarn. Our first step was to wedge the yarn into the bottom left hand notch as seen above.

With the long end of the yarn, we put the yarn into the far left top notch, out the notch beside it, into the bottom left, out the bottom right and back up to the top. This process was repeated until all top notches were filled in. We ended by going in the bottom left notch, coming out the right. At this point, we were ready to create our tree trunk.

Which is super easy. With the end of the yarn, begin wrapping it around the yarn at the bottom, tugging gently as you go. If you run out of yarn, simply double knot a new piece to the old. Once your trunk is tall enough, tie it off to a tree branch.

Some bare trees ready for weaving.

To begin, we double knot tied our chosen color to one of the tree branches on the end. From there, we began the process of weaving over and under. One thing the students struggled with was weaving loose enough. You see, they wanted to pull tightly which caused the weaving to slide down the branches and pull the warping threads inward. However, once they got the hang of it, it was smooth sailing.

 When we first began this lesson, we chatted about wool and where it came from. I passed around some natural wool roving, some cream colored some brown. We chatted about how different colors of wool come from different color sheep. I guess that inspired the sheep in this landscape.

New colors were added with a double knot tie. Weavings were ended with a double knot tie off as well.

So that we could hang these for our upcoming art show, students tied a piece of yarn to the backside of the plates.

And that's it. Honestly, the warping/weaving portion took no time at all. And I foresee so many variations of this project in the future: a woven peacock, a turkey...okay, that's all I've come up with. But I'm sure to think of some more (your input would be greatly appreciated and promptly stolen as an idea of my own!). 

I do hope my explanations helped and that you're encouraged to try this lesson with your students. If you're still not gettin' it, just translate it into Russian and it'll all become crystal clear. And if you'd like some more weaving projects, you can check here. Chat with you soon!

DIY: Scarf, Meet Cardigan

Confession: There is now not one single solitary sweater in my closet that has not been DIY'ed by me. Yes, seriously. Between the felting and the scarf-izing, I'm all about the Leave No Sweater Behind. I'd say I have a prob but that's just statin' the obvious.

Howevers, if we're gonna point fingers, this is all Anthropologie's fault. 

Case in point: their version of a Scarf-igan now on the clearance rack for the low low price of $49 (originally $98, whah?!). I'm sorry, but Anthro, Chico's called. They want their sweater back. Love the concept, not the execution. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and make a version of my own.

I dug around in my closet and found this rarely worn, thrifted Target sweater. In my scarf stash, I had a more difficult time deciding which to choose. While many of them looked like they'd work, I hated the idea of hacking into (and possibly ruining) a beautiful vintage scarf. I settled on one that was slightly hole-y and stained. I figured I couldn't possibly do any more damage to it.

A part of the scarf I wanted to incorporate was the border. So after cutting the scarf in half, I laid it out on the sweater and tried to pretend I knew what I was doing.

After pinning the edge of the scarf next to the buttons and bottom edge, I cut the scarf with a 1/2" edge at the side seam of the sweater. Then I proceeded to stick more pins in my sweater than a voodoo doll.

Then I cut the scarf 1/2" beyond the shoulder seam of the sweater. If you'll scroll back up to that Anthro sweater and look closely, you'll notice two things: where the bottom of the scarf meets the ribbed bottom of the sweater, it is not sewn and their scarf does not meet the shoulder seam. 

Lemme address the first thing: that not-sewn-down-bottom thing. This actually makes sense as it gives the scarf some room to move. You see, the sweater, being a knit, it going to stretch more than a scarf that's made of a woven material. So when I was sewing, I did the same thing. I began by stitching the edge next to the buttons first, sewed the side sweater seam second (say that 10 times fast), did the armhole and the shoulder seam. And left the bottom open.

Now let's pause for a moment and chat about that second thing: that weird scarf-not-meeting-the-shoulder-seam business. I mean, that sweater's $49 on sale. Make the scarf fit the sweater. It ain't that hard.

Says the person who did this. Like, ewww! What happened?! Okay, lemme back up a little. Cuz maybe there is something to that gathering biz-natch. Even though I allowed myself 1/2" surplus of scarf-age, it seems I needed more as it shrunk up as I was stitching. Can you tell I'm Southern? "Shrunk up" is most definitely in the Southern Webster's Dictionary. Check it.

My solution? Add some trim and call it a day. I just happened to have the most perfect vintage flowery bits that covered my boo-boo. And, I gotta tell ya, I actually love it more with the trim.

Outfit details: While I didn't buy the Anthro skirt, everything else I'm wearing is from there! skirt: Anthro, gift from a friend; shoes: Anthro, $9, what?! Das right. Shoppin' Anthro like a boss.

Now, if you recall, this isn't my first time to the Just Scarfin' Around dance. Oh no. Check out my first scarfigan, my beautiful blarf (that's scarf into blouse) and this here skankie (if you guessed skirt made of hankies then you're like a genius). 

By the way, you mighta noticed I took a break from my weekly What I Wore. Last week was a rough one so I thought I'd just put it behind me. I knew you'd understand. Chat with you soon!

In the Art Room: Pinch Pot Pets

Every time I go into the kiln room and see these little guys staring at me from the shelves, I feel like singing: I always feel like...Somebody's watching me. And I have no privacy, Whooooa, oh-oh (go get you some Rockwell here and be prepared to get your paranoid on).

Greetings from the land of Pinch Pot Pets! Last week my younger students completed glazing their clay animals (my older students are still painstakingly working on every minute detail of theirs) and I'm excited about the results. Our theme for this year's clay projects were cats and dogs as our students will be "selling" their work back to their parents for a donation to the local humane society. We're do-gooders like that. The kids love clay and really enjoyed this project. But I'm rambling. Check out this cuteness:

Aw! This looks like a certain orange cat that lives in my house! I wonder if this one plants herself on the table at dinnertime as well.

"Hmmm? Did someone say snack?!" I love the added detail of the collar and hair bow by this first grade student.

So just how did my wee ones complete these clay projects in half an hour art classes, you ask? Well, it wasn't easy. But I've found that breaking the clay construction up into two days helps. And having several parent volunteers on hand. Mostly to keep me in line.

In preparation, here's what's on each table:

• a clay mat for each child, purchased from The Clay Lady
• 2 cups of water and 2 toothbrushes
• 4 skewer sticks
• 1 piece of clay the size of a small orange per student

Other preparation included:

• One labeled ziplock bag per student
• a damp paper towel per student

 For the demonstration, I have the students gather around a table and I show them the steps to creating a pinch pot. Here's what I tell 'em:

• Roll your clay into a sphere and place it into the palm of your hand.
• Using your other hand, put your thumb on the top of the sphere and wrap your fingers around the back.
• Sink your thumb so deep into the clay that it looks like your thumb is wearing a clay afro. But don't go too deep and have your thumb pop out the other end because then you'll end up with a donut. And nobody likes clay donuts.

• That part they can do no problem. Thumb afros, they got that. It's the pinching-into-a-pot part that some struggle with. I ask them to imagine they are holding a cookie and show me what that would look like. They all hold up their fingers about 1/2" apart. I tell them that their clay should have that same thickness. And then we eat the imaginary cookie with a loud "crunch!" and "mmm!" before proceeding.

• After showing them a couple of non-examples of pots that are too thick or thin, I show them what a correctly pinched pot should look like. 
• At this point, the demo is over. I show the kids how to wrap their pot gently in a damp paper towel and place it carefully into the ziplock bag. They are not to seal the bag closed as trapped air inside will dry out the clay. Instead we simply tuck the bag underneath the pot. Like this, their project will stay damp for up to a week. But it might begin to smell a bit if kept longer.

• The following art class, I tell the kids that they may either create a dog or a cat. I introduce them to the idea that you can make anything out of clay with three things: a sphere, a slab and/or a coil. To illustrate that, I begin by using spheres for the eyes. 
• Note: all pieces of clay must be attached by using the toothbrush and cup of water. I tell the kids, if you don't brush your teeth, your teeth fall out. If you don't brush your clay, your parts will fall off. It kinda works.

• I demonstrate using the stick to add the pupils and eyelashes.
• A sphere pinched into a triangle is used for the nose.
• Coils for the mouth and skewer-drawn whiskers.

• I tell the kids that the parts of a face for a dog and cat are about the same. It's the ears that make the difference. Using a slab, or flattened piece of clay, the kids can create dog ears. Cat ears can be created by cutting the slab into a triangle shape.

• Some finished theirs off with a coil for a tail. 
• And that concludes the second day of Pinch Pot Pets! As the students finish, the volunteers and I wrote their names and teacher codes on the inside of the pot. Then I set them out over Spring Break to dry completely.

After Spring Break and many firings, their bisque-fired clay animals were ready for glaze. I like to use Mayco's Stroke and Coat. I gave the kids every color in the rainbow (which many saw as an opportunity to go hog wild) and told them my two glazing rules: don't glaze the bottom as the glaze will cause the project to stick to the kiln shelf; don't layer 15 different colors of glaze on top of each other. Because it will look like a rainbow exploded in a really bad way. However, if you want color, do it with patterns.

And suddenly I feel like I'm in San Francisco all over again. Super psychedelic, dude.

These two crack me up. The Eye-Popper-Outter and the Cheshire Cat.

Stripes and spots were a pretty big hit.

And there you have it! Pinch Pot Pets. If you'd like to see what my students created last year out of clay, you can visit here. Be on the look out for more clay posts within the next couple weeks as the kiln just keeps spittin' out these awesome little masterpieces. Until then, enjoy the rest of your week!

DIY: More Dip Dying and High/Low Hemline

There's something you should know about me: I'm a fads-hater. I ain't proud. But there are current trends that make me wanna punch a pillow (kinda wimpy, I know, but I've got soft delicate hands and punching hurts!). Case in point:

• Skinny Jeans on Dudes. Seriously? I don't know what it's like to be a dude but I can only guess that those are...uncomfortable. They make me uncomfortable. Shoot, I actually can't even wear those because the moment I get my leg half way in, I start to experience calf-claustrophobia. Every time I've tried on a pair, I have a near panic attack and can't get outta 'em fast enough.
• Yoga Pants as Pants. Ladies, for reals? Ya'll act like it's so terrible when our Walmart friends show up shopping in their sweats and slippers. To me yoga pants is just the yuppie version of the same thing. You just worked out? Awesome. Now go change your clothes.
• The High/Low Hemline. Didn't we do a varied length hemline like 5 years ago? So this one is now high in the front/short in the back? Yippie, I can flash my spider veins and ghastly white thighs for all the world to see...

World, you're welcome.

So, um, yeah, not only am I a fads hater but I'm also a big fat hypocrite. But I promise I didn't recreate this hemline simply because it's "in". I kinda had to alter it somehow or this dip-dyed DIY would have me lookin' like a wannabe hippie. And I gave up that look in high school.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's do the back-track boogie and start at the beginning...

 So a couple of weekends ago, when I was on my dip-dying bender, I decided to dye this 1990's Express rayon number that's been hiding in my closet since high school. Because I'm an idiot, I forgot to snap a photo of the dress before...but the one on the left is very similar in pattern, color and style. And, of course, a DIY of mine wouldn't be complete without a little Antho-spiration.

I began by actually reading the directions a little bit more carefully. Turns out you are to completely dissolve the dye in a small amount of hot water before adding it to the warm water dye bath (I used warm water because I was afraid hot would shrink the rayon). Not dissolving the dye completely and simply adding the powder to the dye bath is the reason I had a couple of dark dye dots on my shirt. Live and learn.

Or not. This is my version of a measured portion of non-iodonized salt. For more dying directions, you can see my first attempts here.

Originally, I had wanted only the bottom of the dress to be dyed. So, like last week, I double bagged the top of the dress and proceeded to slowly sink the dress into the yellow dye bath on on the left. I let it soak up to the waistline for about 5 minutes. Then I pulled the dress out about 5" and left the rest of it to soak in the yellow dye for 20 minutes. This helped achieve the gradation to yellow I was going for.

After pulling that out of the dye bath and doing the running-under-water-until-clear thing, I prepped a fuschia dye bath. I eased the now-yellow dress into that bath (see right photo) following the same routine: about 5 minutes of a soak to create a gradation and the bottom for 20 minutes.

And then I pulled a typical Cassie: I touched the top of the clean white dress with drippy fuschia dye fingers. So much for that double bagging. Knowing I'd never be able to wash out those drips, I proceeded to dye the top of the dress in the fuschia dye bath.

And, viola! One hippy-dippy-dyed dress. Now all I need are some Birkenstocks, some dreads and a couple showerless days and I'll be all set!

And that's when I decided that an altered hemline would update this dress a pinch. I figured I'd already taken this dress beyond the point of no return, why not hack into it and see what more damage I can do? Creating this high/low hemline is quite possibly the easiest thing in the world. Decide just how high you'd like the dress to go and mark the dress. Using a curved line reminiscent of an elementary school slide, stop just beyond the midpoint of the hem. Iron a 1/4" hem and stitch.

And done. One style I exclaimed not three days ago that I'd never EVER wear now happily resides in my closet between my skinny jeans and yoga pants.

Warning: High/Low hemlines are not for windy days and grannie panties. Just sayin'.

Outfit details: dress: Express; shoes: Lucky Brand; bow belt: made by me, DIY here

As I was dying this dress and the one from last week, I realized one was made up of the cold colors while this was warm. I thought for sure they'd make great teaching outfits when teaching color theory...but I've since changed my mind on this little number. It's going to have to be a fun summer frock or beach coverup. I'm stamping this one "Not Approved for the Artroom". See, I kinda know what professional attire looks like. Fishnets, yes; high/low, no. 

Until next time!