Category: diy

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art christmas crafts diy home decorations nature projects seasonal decor

It’s (almost) the Most Wonderful Tiiiiiiiime of the Year!

oh yay. my husband and I have this debate every year at this time….when is it okay to put up Christmas decorations? We figure we have to at least get through Halloween.

 So…..November 1st?

I know, I know, it is getting ridiculous, but I love the Holiday Season. I think besides the standard reasons to like Christmas (building a snowman, lighting the fire, drinking hot chocolate, spending time with loved ones) I love it because there is so much fun stuff for me to DO! Making gifts, wrapping them, DECORATIONS!

 And I have a REALLY good excuse to make a mess b.c. if anyone loves Christmas more than me it’s my husband: “But babe, it’s a Christmas decoration!”

 I’ve already got a list going of Christmas DIY ideas and if I can’t put them up on November 1st, I can at least start making them, right? RIGHT??

I love anything that incorporates branches! I found this on pinterest but unfortunately it didn’t have a credit. I think I’ve seen it in a decorating magazine (like that narrows it down)

 This is from the amazing website craftaholicsanonymous.com, you can go there for decorations. I was thinking of doing the pom poms out of tissue paper, but then it couldn’t go outside…hmmmm decisions, decisions! 
 This lovely craft comes from Craftynest.com. I love how simple it looks but it makes a big statement, and I think I could do something like this with the kids in my art class! 
 This beautiful Christmas mantle and garland comes from Dottie Angel’s Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dottieangel/5212171753/ if this is her home….I am AMAZED and jealous. 
another easy ornament idea from greatgreengoods.com.  

I LOVE this DIY idea! It is just the the project I could get obsessed with…time consuming but so cute! Hmm….maybe I’ll start on this one first. from hiphiphoorayblog.com
any diy projects you can’t wait to get started on? 
Categories
art art lessons artist trading cards ATCs collage crafts diy education ideas mixed media

where have i been??

okay, laugh if you want…but this weekend I found out about A.T.C’s for the first time ever! I can’t believe it has taken me this long to get it in on this wondrous artistic movement. Maybe this is old news to you but A.T.C’s (or Artist’s Trading Cards) are these lovely little baseball card sized pieces of artwork that artists then trade with friends, family and artists around the globe!

Here are just a few of some the amazing cards I found and love:

by http://www.flickr.com/photos/lubsy1/
an incredible way to organize cards via http://ramblingrose.typepad.com/journal/sprapodex/
via http://www.flickr.com/photos/cadjoo73/

The only rule to A.T.C’s are that they must be 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ in size. But that’s it. I stumbled upon ATCs while I was looking for some good art lessons for an after school art club curriculum I am putting together for 2nd through 4th graders. I found an art lesson on the subject of ATC’s on Dick Blick’s website: http://www.dickblick.com/lesson-plans/atc-artist-trading-cards/ (They have so many amazing art lessons).  After looking over the lesson and getting excited about the idea….I then googled ATCs and it was like a hidden (or I guess not so hidden) world of ATC artists, galleries, international swaps, ideas, ect. Needless to say, I spent about 6 hours glued to my laptop (nothing new there I guess) and then another 6 hours trying to make some samples…and I am hooked. HOOKED!

And of course, you didn’t think I could spend so much time falling in love with these things without trying some out for myself…so here are my first attempts at ATC cards:

So…if you are interested here are some websites that I found along the way…..

http://www.your-decorative-painting-resource.com/artist-trading-cards.html
http://unplugyourkids.com/2009/08/17/artist-trading-cards-pocket-art/
http://www.yourtherapysource.com/files/artist_trading_cards_lesson_plan.pdf
http://www.artjunction.org/atcs.php

http://www.ucarts.com/atc.htm

Also, if you are interested in a swap or know of any swaps I would LOVE to be apart of that. Also, probably in the spring of 2012, I will have a group of elementary aged kids who would love to swap with other kids (preferabbly not in Illinois).

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art cheap chicago crafts decorating design diy fabric home alone painting projects wallpaper

new blog!

hello!

I just wanted to share that I have started a new blog for DIY Decorating Projects….If you are at all interested come on over and share your ideas, tips and projects. http://ohappydiy.blogspot.com/

Here’s a taste of what you will find….

how to make this beautiful wall art project 
AND 

This one too!! Just click here: http://ohappydiy.blogspot.com/

Just click here….

Categories
adults art autumn developmental disabilities diy easy fall leaf rubbings leaves watercolors

easy and beautiful leaf pressings.

I love Autumn and the changing colors of the leaves and have always collected leaves that I have thought were especially beautiful and stuck them in between pages of my books or journals, or shoved them in my bag.

The only problem is that more often than not, they end up as a crumpled pile of mess in the bottom of my bag or slip out of the pages of my books only to be eaten by my dog (who will eat ANYTHING).

Well, a couple of days ago, I stumbled on to http://www.artfulparent.typepad.com/ and found this Stained Glass Leaf Rubbings project. They are so simple, easy to do, require only paper, crayons and watercolors, and best of all, each one is unique and beautiful.

this colorful little guy on the bottom of the pic is my favorite, one of my favorite students who has autism had the great idea to use mulitple colors.

What I also really like about this project is that ANYONE can do it! The individuals with development disabilities that I work with often have a difficult time doing some more detailed art projects and can become frusturated. The leaf rubbings though is hands on but even those who don’t possess great fine motor skills, have little to no problems with the watercolors and the rubbings (although they may need a little guidance at the beginning).

Now, I can’t stop making them! I am trying to figure out what to do with them…I’m thinking of stringing them up or hanging them from branches…

You can visit here to view directions on how to create the leaf pressings: www.artfulparent.typepad.com/artfulparent/2010/06/stained-glass-leaves.html

…have fun!

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adults art cheap children collaboration colorful developmental disabilities diy easy fun glue kids markers murals oil pastels projects seurat van gogh

Van Gogh and Seurat Art Projects



For the last couple of weeks, we have been working on two completing two large murals. I’ve mentioned http://www.artprojectsforkids.org in the past and my newly found love for the murals she creates that you can download.

For the individuals I work with, whom have various developmental disabilities, the projects have turned out to be a wonderful art activity. The members of the program have really enjoyed working together on the murals and it has been a great collaborative project. Each mural comes can be downloaded from artprojectsforkids.org for $5.00 a piece and the file is yours to keep and use forever.

For Van Gogh’s Starry Night, we used oil pastels and then laminated the project so the pastels wouldn’t smear. I really love how this one turned out.


We used regular old Crayola markers for Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette and then used elmer’s glue and modge podge to create a glossy smeared finish that made the mural look more like a painting…

Now we just need a place to hang them!

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art chicago diy etsy handmade illustration paper goods print stamps

things i’ve made recently.

I really got into carving stamps when I was planning my wedding. I couldn’t find the designs that I really wanted so I figured I would make them.

It turns out, it is a lot of fun to do them….kind of relaxing in a way…..
and well I kind of got carried away.

mr. ele-phunk.

this tree is the largest and most intricate stamp i’ve made….its about 6″ x 6″

lately, i’ve developed a strange obsession with fake mustaches and disguises…so, i made a stamp….errrr. i call him “sexy mustache.”

they are really easy to do and pretty inexpensive. The carving tool (including several inter-changeable sized cutters) is about $7.00, http://www.dickblick.com/products/speedball-linoleum-cutters/ and the printing block costs about $9.00 for an 9″ x 12″ piece of carving rubber, http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-e-z-cut-printing-blocks/, (which can make a LOT of stamps!)
anywho…i’ve started to sell some stamped greeting cards on etsy which you can see here. no takers so far: http://www.etsy.com/shop/jessbobess