Children's Cheap Crafts

Crayon Raindrops through a Watercolor Rainbow

2015-04-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

Today all I'm doing is using crayon instead of paint for the raindrops in my last post.
Painting Raindrops

Then I'm adding a rainbow over the crayon raindrops.

Draw and color in some raindrops with a blue crayon.
You only need about 1/4 the size of a blue sheet of construction paper because a few raindrops might be fun whereas a lot of them might be tedious.

Crayon Raindrops on a Small Blue Piece of Construction Paper

With watercolor paints, paint a rainbow over the raindrops.
Start at the bottom of the rainbow and work up.

7. Red

6. Orange

5. Yellow

4. Green

3. Blue

2. Indigo

1. Violet

Watercolor Rainbow over Crayon Raindrops

Painting Raindrops

2015-04-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

I'm using

non-toxic, washable project paint
a brush from a children's watercolor paint set
a scrap of blue construction paper.

Materials

Today we are getting the feel of painting raindrops. What seems at first an easy shape to paint can quickly become distorted.

So I start with a long thin triangle using downward strokes and one right to left.

Triangle

Next I round out the bottom corners. Here I started at the left middle of the triangle, and painted one downward stroke out around the corner and then in toward the center.

I did the same on the right.

After that I rounded out the bottom just a bit.

Bottom Corners Rounded Out

Last, I fill in the raindrop with paint starting at the top using downward strokes working from the outer edge to the center.

Finished Raindrop

Now practice as much as you'd like and experiment with painting different sizes of raindrops.

Practicing a Variety of Sizes

Update: April 14, 2015
Here's a rainbow over crayon raindrops. Draw the triangle with a crayon, round out the bottom corners while coloring in the triangle making it into a raindrop,
Crayon Raindrops through a Watercolor Rainbow

Easter Sunrise: Simple Paper and Watercolor Craft

2015-03-28T12:34:00.001-07:00

Part I: The Background Sunrise Sky Colors

Paint Your Sunrise Watercolor

On a sheet of orange construction paper, paint any colors you'd like to be in your sunrise.

I stuck to mostly red, yellow, orange, purple and violet.

The streak I tried with dark blue became too dark.

Experiment adding more water to your brush for lighter colors or for blending colors. Then try using a drier brush for more vivid colors by dipping it in water, blotting it on a napkin before dipping it in the paint.

After your orange paper is filled with colors, start on the sun.

Part II: The Sun

Half Circle of Sun

Cut out a large half circle from yellow paper.

Sun Rays Cut Out

Fold another sheet of yellow construction paper in half and in half again.

Cut the shape of a long triangle for the rays.

You should have four sun rays.

Three Rays Plus Two Halves

Cut one of the four rays in half.

Tuck Rays Under Half Circle of Sun

Tuck the rays under the sun. You can tuck them in more, making them shorter, or leave them longer. Whatever looks best to you.

After you have all pieces placed where you want, glue them on.

Spring Bee: Simple Paper Craft

2015-03-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

This spring bee was inspired by the picture Nice Bee in last week's post:
Noticing Bees for a Craft Later

Materials

Materials for Spring Bee

blue, yellow, and black construction paper--one sheet each
wax paper
black crayon
scissors
glue

Stripes for a Bee Body

Draw an oval about four inches long on the yellow paper.

Color in some stripes.

Cut out Bee Body

Cut it out and place it on the blue paper.

Bee Head and Middle Body

Draw a circle next to the yellow striped oval.

Next to the circle, draw a head.

Color both in with a black crayon.

Bee Wings

Cut two long ovals out of wax paper.

Crunch them up, and then smooth out.

Place them on the bee.

Bee Eye

Cut a small oval out of the black paper for the bee eye.

Bee Legs and Antennae

Move aside one of the wings, so you can draw the legs and antennae.

Finished Bee

Glue on body, wings, and eye.

Noticing Bees for a Craft Later

2015-03-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

Busy Bee

Carefully noticing the world around us, is a big part of creating art and crafts. If we want to make a bee out of paper or to paint or draw one, the first step is noticing bees. Then we can decide how much detail we want to include in our craft or drawing.

So I thought I'd post some of my bee pictures today to take some time and closely look at them. We'll see what ideas develop later.

Though humble my pictures might be, they give me views of bees I don't always see.

It's amazing to look at professionally taken pictures of bees, but equally amazing, or more so, to see pictures our children capture of the bees and other wildlife we find in our own backyards.

As I'm sure you can see, my camera is nothing special and yet I captured some detail. So whatever the quality of your camera, let your children dazzle you with their photographic talent.

Here's my simple little bee gallery:

Almost Upside-Down Bee

Far Away Bee

Nice Bee

Nice Bee is the model for Spring Bee:Simple Paper Craft.

Hiding Bee

Flying Away Bee

Paper Craft for a Saint Patrick's Day Game: Pot of Gold Game Board

2015-03-17T11:34:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I made the cube you use to roll for this board game:

Paper Craft for a Saint Patrick's Day Game: Pot of Gold Cube

Today here is the game board.

We'll start on the square of the Book of Kells because books are often the beginning of wondrous journeys.

We'll end on the pot of gold since it is the treasure at the end of the rainbow.

So draw the book in the first square, and make a curvy path of empty squares all the way to the end. In the very last square, draw a pot of gold. (Directions for drawing the pictures are in yesterday's post.)

Begin with the Book of Kells and End with the Pot of Gold

Next draw in the rainbows. These will allow you to skip ahead in the game by sliding over the rainbow.

Rainbows Added

Now draw a leprechaun in the square after the Book of Kells.

Leprechaun in the Second Square

In the next square, draw a four-leaf-clover.

Four-Leaf-Clover

In the square after the four-leaf-clover, draw a shamrock.

As you can see, I already have a rainbow after the four-leaf-clover, so I'll go on to the next space and draw the shamrock there.
It's okay if your is different.

Shamrock

After the shamrock is the leprechaun again. Continue filling in the squares with pictures from the cube in this order:

Leprechaun
Four-Leaf-Clover
Shamrock

Skip the squares with the rainbows as you go.

Squares Finished on Game Board

Other Features on the Board

Highlight the last three squares with a yellow pen. These are the only squares a player can win the game by rolling a pot of gold. Otherwise when a player rolls a pot of gold, he/she gets another roll.

Last Three Squares Highlighted

Draw a Book of Kells on the board anywhere there is a clear spot.

Book of Kells Drawn on the Board

This picture is for a small stack of cards cut out of green construction paper.

Small Stack of Cards

On each of these cards, write a number: 1, 2, or 3.

One Number on Each Card

So if a player rolls the Book of Kells, she/he picks a card and moves ahead the number of squares on the card, then puts the card at the bottom of the pile.

Gold Coins

Cut out about ten circles from yellow paper for gold coins players collect to get to the pot of gold.

Completed Game Board all Set Up to Play

Pot 'O Gold Game Instructions

Each player chooses a place marker--you can use a nickel, dime, penny, and a quarter
Start on the Book of Kells
First Player to get three gold coins or more, and roll the pot of gold after reaching the highlighted squares wins.
Youngest player goes first or whoever rolls the Book of Kells first
Roll the cube by hitting it up into the air at least three times before letting it fall to the ground. The picture facing up is your roll.

Playing the Game

Move forward to the closest spot of your roll--if you roll a shamrock, then you move to the nearest shamrock square ahead of your piece.
Rainbows--If you roll a rainbow, move ahead to the nearest one, then slide over the rainbow to a square even further ahead.
Book of Kells--If you roll the Book of Kells, draw a card and move forward the number of spaces indicated. If that lands you on a rainbow, slide on up.
Leprechauns--If you roll a leprechaun, you move backward to the nearest leprechaun instead of forward.
Leprechauns in the last three highlighted squares--If you are in the highlighted squares and roll a leprechaun, move to the one in the highlighted area even if you move forward. Then stay there until you roll the pot of gold.
Pot of Gold--If you roll a pot of gold before your reach the highlighted squares at the end, take a gold coin, but do not move ahead. You must collect at least three gold coins before entering the highlighted area. You may not move to the end pot of gold until you have entered the highlighted squares.
Winning the Game--After you have collected at least 3 gold coins, you may enter the area of highlighted squares. Then you must roll the pot of gold to move to the end and win the game.

Paper Craft for a Saint Patrick's Day Game: Pot of Gold Cube

2015-03-16T19:19:00.003-07:00

After you have finished making the cube here, you can use it with this playing board.

Paper Craft for a Saint Patrick's Day Game: Pot of Gold Game Board (Update March 17, 2015)

Materials

one green sheet of construction paper
ruler
non-toxic markers
kid safe scissors
tape

Pot of Gold Cube Materials

Part I: Drawing the Cube

Draw two parallel lines eight inches long down the middle of the green sheet of paper.

Two Parallel Lines

Every two inches, attach the two parallel lines with a line from one to the other.

Parallel Lines Attached every Two Inches

The second square down, extend lines on each side two inches.

Second Square's Lines Extended

Close each end of the new lines.

Ends Closed

Make tabs at every end.

Tabs Added

Part II: Pictures on the Sides of the Cube

The first picture is on the top cube--a rainbow. Draw the rainbow with markers.

When I was refreshing my memory of the colors of the rainbow, I found

Stuff in the Sky: Rainbows

which not only gave me the order of the colors, but a kid friendly explanation of rainbows.

Rainbow

In the second square down, draw a leprechaun. Start with the face.

Face

Then a hat.

Hat

Last hair and beard.

Hair and Beard

To the left of the leprechaun, draw a four-leaf-clover with four hearts.

Four-Leaf-Clover

To the right of the leprechaun, draw a pot of gold.

The Rim

The Pot

The Feet

The Gold

Underneath the leprechaun, draw a shamrock with three hearts.

Shamrock

Underneath the shamrock, draw the Book of Kells, the famous beautifully illustrated book on display at Trinity Collage in Dublin.

Top and Middle of the Book

Sides and Pages at the Sides

Bottom and Pages at the Bottom

A Little Decoration

Cut along the outer lines.

Cut Out

Fold along each line.

Folded

Cut off tab above rainbow.

Cut off Tab

Put tape on other three tabs.

Put on Tape

Attach the pot of gold tab underneath the Book of Kells square.

Pot of Gold and Book of Kells Squares Connected

Attach the four-leaf-clover tab underneath the Book of Kells square.

Four-Leaf-Clover and Book of Kells Squares Connected

Attach the Book of Kells Tab to the rainbow square.

Book of Kells and Rainbow Squares Connected

Part III: Play A Little Game

Call out one of the pictures on the cube.
Now throw the cube in the air and hit it back up three times. After the third hit, let it fall to the ground.
Which ever picture is facing up is your roll. If it matches the one you called, you win that roll.

Part IV: An Irish Movie

We enjoy The Secret of Kells embedded here thanks to Hulu.com. The Book of Kells is the inspiration for the movie.

Paper Mache Recycle Bin: Lettering

2015-03-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

This is the finial entry in my Paper Mache Recycle Bin series.
Here are the others:
Paper Mache Bin: First Coat
Paper Mache Bin: Second Coat with Wide Strips of Newspaper
Paper Mache Recycle Bin: Third Coat with Small Pieces of Torn Christmas Wrapping Paper

Now for the lettering:

Write

"Dry Recycle"

in large letters on a piece of white paper.

Tear

small pieces of the wrapping paper you want to use for the lettering.

Dry Recycle Lettering and Wrapping Paper Pieces

Cut out the letters.

Letters Cut Out

Glue them on.

Glue Letters on the Container

As you can see, the wrapping paper I chose blends in with the background, so the words aren't clear.

Wrapping Paper Blends In

We actually liked the color of the pen I used to write the letters with. So I thought we could either reprint the letters on a new piece of paper making them thicker, so they don't need to be covered,

or
find magazine pictures in colors that might contrast the wrapping paper, tear those up, and use them to cover the letters.

In the end, I decided to use the red wrapping paper to cover the lettering and see how that works.

Lettering Covered with Red Wrapping Paper Pieces

If I had to re-choose the wrapping paper I used to cover the bin with, I'd select the less bold light blue and light green paper.

For the lettering, I'd use the silver and the red paper, so they would stand out more than they do.

That's all right. I like my bin. I've even got it filled too.

Ready to Take Out

Later, if I want, I can store it with my Christmas decorations and use it to collect the wrapping paper people are tearing off their gifts.

Paper Mache Recycle Bin: Third Coat with Small Pieces of Torn Christmas Wrapping Paper

2015-03-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

My last coat for this dry recyclables container is torn wrapping paper from Christmas presents.

The other two layers are

Paper Mache Bin: First Coat
and
Paper Mache Bin: Second Coat with Wide Strips of Newspaper.

The finished bin is Paper Mache Recycle Bin: Lettering.(Update March 11, 2015)

Last Coat: Torn Christmas Wrapping Paper Pieces

As you can see from the picture, I'm only covering the outside with the wrapping paper and leaving the inside plain newspaper strips.

Now that I've spent the time paper maching two layers with newspaper strips, I don't think they are needed.

If I make another container, I wouldn't use newspaper at all.

I would use

Two paper bags with handles, one inside of the other (doubled)
One layer of wrapping paper mache on the outside only
I might try Collage Pauge: Instant Decoupage which claims to be "water-resistant." It costs about twice as much as white glue, but it is worth a try for this container. Then I could spread it over the bottom and inside to protect the paper bag.

That's it.

It should be strong enough.

Here it is March and I have a Christmas themed recycle bin which is okay at our house. But others may like a different colored bin for the spring and summer months.

If I only use one paper mache layer of Christmas paper, the bin could be finished Christmas day.

Then as birthdays roll around, we can use that torn paper to re-paper mache the bin and update it.

Paper Mache Recycle Bin: Second Coat with Wide Strips of Newspaper

2015-03-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

I started this container for dry recyclables back in December where you can see the first coat of paper mache:
Paper Mache Recycle Bin: First Coat

Here's the third coat:
Paper Mache Recycle Bin: Third Coat with Small Pieces of Torn Christmas Wrapping Paper (Update March 7, 2015)

Here's the finished bin:
Paper Mache Recycle Bin: Lettering (Update March 11, 2015)

Now I'm using nice large, wide strips of newspaper to cover the bag faster and make the process of applying the strips less tedious.

Apply Wide Strips of Newspaper

Here I'm putting the second coat on the bottom of the bag.

I found that I only need two coats of newspaper instead of the three I had originally planned. Since I started with double paper bags, it is pretty strong already.

By the time I add the finishing layer of wrapping paper I saved from Christmas presents, this recycle bin will be strong enough to carry out empty tissue boxes, empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls, and old newspapers to be recycled.

Snowy Pine Trees Framing the Watercolor Aurora Borealis Sky: Paper Craft

2014-12-27T14:33:00.002-08:00

This is the forth installation in my watercolor aurora borealis, northern lights, series.

The first was Simple Craft: Little House in a Watercolor Aurora Borealis where I detailed all the steps and created my watercolor northern lights backgrounds.

The second was Watercolor Craft: Little Igloo Under the Northern Lights.

The third: Reindeer Against the Watercolor Northern Lights Sky.

These trees are the forth out of series of five, so here they are: the snowy pine trees.

This is the watercolor background I started with.

Northern Lights Background

I thought the green pine trees would be a nice contrast to the red shooting up from the middle of the sky.

Set up of the pine trees

Having the tree bursting out of the boundary of the sky, I thought, gave the feel of their nearness bringing us into the picture.

I used:

white printer paper for the snow
brown construction paper for the tree trunks
green construction paper for the branches
one cotton ball for the snow on the branches

I cut out

the snow
a short thin brown rectangle for the little pine tree's trunk
a larger, thicker brown rectangle for the larger pine tree's trunk

Snow and Tree Trunks

Don't do any gluing yet, so you can move the pieces if you want.

*****

Making the Large Pine Tree Branches

Take a sheet of green construction paper. Place it in front of you lengthwise and fold the bottom right hand corner up to the top edge of the paper making a triangle.

First Fold: Making a Triangle

Cut off the extra paper not part of the triangle.

Cut of the Extra

Fold the triangle a second time bringing the bottom left corner up to the top right corner.

Second Fold

Cut along each fold so that you have four very large triangles.

Four very Large Triangles

Take the top two triangles and fold the bottom corner up to the top.

Two very Large Triangles, Folded

Cut along the fold of these triangles so they become four large instead of very large triangles.

Cut along the Fold

Now you have the branches of the large pine tree.

Place these large triangle--branches--on to the large tree trunk.

Placing Branches on the Large Tree--One

Placing Branches on the Large Tree--Two

Placing Branches on the Large Tree--Three

Placing Branches on the Large Tree--Four

So now we have the large pine tree in it's place but not glued on yet.

*****

Next is the Branches for the Little Pine Tree

One very large triangle will become all of the little pine branches.

One Very Large Triangle

Fold it in half.

Fold the Very Large Triangle in Half

And then again.

Fold the Very Large Triangle in Half a Second Time

Cut along the folds, and you'll have four small triangles.

Four Small Triangles for the Small Pine Tree Branches

Place the little pine tree's branches on the same way you did for the large pine tree.

Little Pine Tree's Branches Placed On

Now you can glue all these pieces on in the same order we created them:

snow
tree trunks
branches, from the bottom up

I like to use a cotton swab dipped into a small puddle of glue and sparingly applying the glue with the swab to the edges of each piece.

Apply a thin line of glue along the sides and bottom edges of the snow.

I didn't put glue along the top edge of the snow, so I could tuck the tree trunks in more easily.

I finally decided this was easier than loosely gluing the top edge of the snow as I did in the other aurora borealis watercolor crafts in this series.

Putting Glue on the Trunks

Starting to Glue on the Branches

Oops--I put glue on the corner of the branch hanging off the edge of the background.

Next time I won't put glue on that corner.

Almost finished gluing on the Branches

Trees Glued On

Now that the trees are glued on, we can stretch out a little cotton for the snow.

First put a line of glue along the branch, and then put the stretched cotton on top.

Apply Glue for Snowy Branches

Stretching the Cotton over the Glue for the Snowy Branches

Cotton all glued on.

Snowy Pine Trees Framing the Aurora Borealis

Paper Mache Recycle Bin: First Coat

2014-12-23T14:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a craft to recycle Christmas paper by making a recycle bin with it.

You can find the other layers here:
Paper Mache Bin: Second Coat with Wide Strips of Newspaper (Update March 7, 2015)
Paper Mache Recycle Bin: Third Coat with Small Pieces of Torn Christmas Wrapping Paper (Update March 7, 2015)

Here's the finished bin:
Paper Mache Recycle Bin: Lettering (Update March 11, 2015)

I'm going to do this over three or four different posts, so this is only the beginning. What you see in the pictures here is the progress I made yesterday. Since it was difficult to cover the bottom, I'll do that later today because it is much easier to work with now that the sides are pretty dry. I may even wait until tomorrow to do the bottom because it is not absolutely bone dry yet.

This is the thing about this craft. It's work intensive, and family members tend to like to wait until the last coat to join in the decorating fun. If you can make a party of it, it could go pretty fast. It took me almost two hours yesterday to do most of the first coat (I still have to finish the bottom).

On the other hand, family members are looking forward to the finished product, so that's always a good sign. ; )

After I'm finished with with the very last coat using the wrapping paper, I'll use the white paper with "recycle" written on it ("Dry" is covered by the newspaper strips.) you see in the picture as a pattern for the label:

Dry Recycle

I'll cut out these letters, and Mod Podge them on to the side of the bin, Then I'll use one of the selections of wrapping paper that stands out to tear into little pieces and stick them over the letters. This what I have planned anyway. We'll see how it goes.

I'm hoping this craft will be a nice little container to carry paper, cardboard and plastic products out to be recycled. I'm designating it only for dry recyclables since I've chosen to use Mod Podge Matte-Mat-Mate with no other sealants. You could use white glue in the same way. It's less expensive and less smelly, but have good memories working with Mod Podge as a kid, so I thought I'd try it.

Materials for the recycle bin

Putting on the strips

Materials

a doubled paper bag with handles
torn up newspaper
non-toxic Mod Podge or white glue and equal part water
plastic container at least 4 inches in diameter to dip strips into the glue and water
white paper
marker

After mixing equal parts water and glue (or mod podge, dip the strips in one by one and smooth over the whole bag, inside and out, including handles.

First coat done

Put the bin aside to dry on a small pile of clean newspaper. No problem if newspaper sticks to the bottom because it is easy to tear it off or smooth it over with Mod Podge later.

When I was finished with the first coat, the container was very floppy. So as it dried, I adjusted it to the shape I wanted.

I'm estimating three coats of newspaper before applying the wrapping paper. It'll take about two days for the bin to dry between coats, and it seems the bottom needs to be done the day after that coat is applied. I wrapped some of the strips around to the bottom, but it is much easier today to fill in what I missed on the bottom yesterday.

Update March 5, 2015
I finally put on the second layer of newspaper:
Paper Mache Recycle Bin: Second Coat with Wide Strips of Newspaper

Reindeer Against the Watercolor Northern Lights Sky

2014-12-20T15:10:00.000-08:00

This craft uses a watercolor background I made in a Simple Craft: Little House in a Watercolor Aurora Borealis which has all the details.

Watercolor Craft: Little Igloo Under the Northern Lights is also a follow up from the Little House but is more similar to the reindeer craft here in that it has only two cut out pieces in the foreground.

Here's the background I chose for the reindeer.

Watercolor northern lights for a background

Then I cut out some snow and sketched a reindeer and cut it out too.

Here's the parts all put together, just glue them all on

Reindeer in the snow for the foreground

I got the idea of this particular reindeer from an old Reader's Digest I had in my cabinet near the Alaska postcards. On page 108 of Dec 2010/Jan 2011 is a picture of reindeer as an introduction to the article "Reindeer Country." I liked the sweet face of the reindeer closest to the camera and tried to sketch it, but the picture cut off part of it's body and I had to use my imagination. So I went on a hunt for children's books with good reindeer pictures.

The best I found is Ted Lewin's The Reindeer People (1994). His illustrations are from his paintings.

I also found a nice picture of "Santa Claus and his reindeer" on page 62 of Culture of the World: Sweden by Delice Gan and Leslie Jermyn (2003).

So if you are up to a free hand sketch, these pictures will give you a good idea of what real reindeer look like.

Back to Ted Lewin's book. I was happy to find his painting of the northern lights with a Lavu, which he explains is a herding tent of the Sami also known as Lapp people. His painting is a much lovelier example of northern lights in watercolor than mine. :)

Watercolor Craft: Little Igloo Under the Northern Lights

2014-12-16T14:38:00.002-08:00

Out of my artistic attempts at the aurora borealis from the last craft: Simple Craft: Little House in a Watercolor Aurora Borealis (in which I give much more detail about these aurora borealis crafts), I chose this one:

Watercolor Northern Lights

Then I cut out snow and an igloo, drawing snow bricks on the igloo with a pencil.

Placing the igloo and the snow

Next I put a little clear glue on a paper napkin and applied the glue with a cotton swab to both the snow and the igloo at the same time.

Apply the glue to both pieces at once

I placed the snow on the background first leaving the top edge turned back just a bit, so I could slip the bottom of the igloo under it.

Gluing on snow and igloo

When I had both pieces in the places I wanted, I smoothed the edges over.

Finished Igloo in the Snow Under the Northern Lights

Simple Craft: Little House in a Watercolor Aurora Borealis

2014-12-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

This little house could belong to one of Santa's elves and so turn into a Christmas craft, or it could simply celebrate such beautiful and unique natural phenomena we have on this earth of ours.

After looking at pictures of the aurora borealis in post cards I have from Alaska put out by Accent Alaska and in Donna Walsh Shepherd's book of Light Shows in the Night Sky Auroras, I attempted similar skies in watercolor.

Humble beginnings of four future crafts

Updates of these watercolors:

The bottom left watercolor became: Watercolor Craft: Little Igloo Under the Northern Lights (Dec. 16th).

The top left watercolor became: Reindeer Against the Watercolor Northern Lights Sky (Dec. 20th).

The bottom left watercolor became: Snowy Pine Trees Framing the Watercolor Aurora Borealis Sky: Paper Craft (Dec. 27th)

If you check out www.accentalaska.com and search northern lights, you'll find impressive photos of auroras so fabulous you won't want to take second look at my creative interpretations here. I myself felt like throwing them out except that the beauty of watercolor skies is that the foreground can make all the difference and complement the colors as to make attractive what at first may have seemed to have very little potential. Above, again, then is the humble beginnings of what turned out to be future crafts.

Below is the background, not pictured above, I chose for the little house in the aurora borealis craft.

Little House background

Watercolor skies are great crafts for all ages and abilities as it's all in what you do with it, and how you decide to view it.

The northern lights are so varied, that each artist has so much room to let his or her imagination run wild. Donna Walsh Shepherd's little book is rich in essential facts about this phenomenon and it is from her that I learned southern and northern lights can reflect each other. It's a book older children could read themselves. For me it's a quick read with enough detail to accurately help me understand these unique lights.

I love combining learning and crafting.

Now back to the craft.

Materials:

2 sheets of letter size printer paper
1 sheet of red construction paper
1 sheet of brown construction paper
1 sheet of yellow construction paper
1 cotton ball
watercolor paints and brush
glue
scissors
and a ruler if you want straight lines ( I don't always use one.)

This is a craft that I like to do a lot of estimating and playing with pieces and placement.

I've put my little house in the snow. Since I used white 8 1/2 x 11 letter size printer paper for the background, it was easy to take another sheet and to cut a wavy line about 2 inches up from the bottom for the snow.

Snow on the ground

It fits nicely along the bottom of the watercolor background.

Just place it --the snow-- on without gluing it yet.

For this craft, I like to cut out all the pieces first before gluing, so I can make adjustments as needed.

After cutting out the snow, I cut a square out of red construction paper about the size I wanted my house.

Red base of house

I tucked the square under the snow--again only placing on the background without gluing--to see if it was the size I wanted.

Next, I placed a piece of brown paper on the top of the red square and marked how large I wanted to make the triangle for the roof.

Brown triangle roof topping the red square

Then I cut out the door from brown paper and a knob from red paper, and put them both in their place.

Door and knob

Next I chose the windows to be yellow paper to give a warm glow for the inside. I also used a brown marker to add the look of wooden frames into the panes.

Windows with marker frames

Almost finished, I cut a small rectangle out of red construction paper.

Rectangle for the chimney

and tucked it into the top of the roof.

The chimney all tucked in

Last I stretched out a small portion of a cotton ball and tucked it into the top of the chimney for the smoke rising up out of the fire in the fireplace of the cozy little house.

Smoke out of the chimney

After I was happy with the size and placement of all the pieces, I glued them all on , putting a small puddle of glue on a scrap of paper and dipping a cotton swab into the glue to run across the edges of each piece of the picture.

The order I glued the pieces on is the same as the order I used to cut them out: 1. snow, 2. red base of house, 3. triangle of the roof, 4. door and knob, 5 windows, 6. chimney, 7. smoke.

Apply glue with a cotton swab to the back edges of the snow first

Glue on pieces in the same order as they were cut out

Since all the gluing is done at once, it's easy to tuck pieces under one another as long as you leave the edges loose. That is, don't smooth all the edges down after gluing them in place. Wait until all the pieces are exactly where you want them before smoothing all edges over and sealing them down.

Leave the edges loose to easily tuck under other pieces

To attach the chimney smoke, put the glue on the background instead of the cotton, so the cotton swab doesn't get stuck to the cotton smoke and tear it all apart.

Little House in a Watercolor Aurora Borealis Finished

Cork Bunny Craft

2014-12-03T14:21:00.000-08:00

This cork bunny craft is like the cork penguin craft except I am choosing a natural cork instead of a synthetic one. Once we got started with the penguin, so many other animals came rolling into our ideas that I decided we would stop at the bunny. Since my goal with this blog is to inspire creativity using only a few inexpensive materials, I'll let your imagination take over to create your own animals, for now at least. :).

Choice of color to wrap around the cork for the body can make us think of a whole range of animals; black and white may become a panda or zebra; brown may become a bear, hedge hog or beaver; Grey may become an elephant.

The techniques we use with cork animals can easily be applied to toilet paper rolls only on a larger scale. For a penguin's eyes fit to the scale of a empty roll, instead of a hole punch to form the circle a small lid might be traced.

So here's this sweet little cork bunny craft.

What's fun about imagination is you can chose any color for your animal. We chose pink, but you don't have to. You can make big eyes and round the top of the ears if you'd like. Feel free to create.

Cork Bunny Craft Materials

White printer paper
Construction paper, your choice of color--whatever color you'd like your bunny to be--we chose pink
not toxic washable glue like Elmer's White or Clear
Clear tape like Scotch
Hole punch
Scissors, kid safe
Black marker, non-toxic, washable
Ruler
Natural wine cork

Natural Wine Cork

In my last post describing the Cork Penguin Craft, I contrast the benefits of using natural cork or synthetic cork. For the penguin, I chose synthetic, and for this craft, we are using natural.

1 3/4 inches long

4 1/2 centimeters long

These measurements of the cork are approximate.

15/16 inches in diameter

2 4/10 centimeters in diameter

Bunny body 1 --width of strip

1. This is the beginning of measuring the strip of paper which will wrap around the bunny body and be the main color of the bunny.

You can see we've chosen to make a pink bunny.

We laid the cork down on the pink paper and marked the paper on a point a little longer then the cork because when it is wound around the cork, it will make a stable base and compensate for the natural cork's irregularities. We marked the strip here for a width of about 2 1/16 inches or 5 3/10 centimeters.

Bunny body 2 --length of strip

2. Measure the length of the strip for the main color of the bunny body to wrap all the way around the cork.

Here we made it about 4 1/2 inches or 10 7/10 centimeters long. It turned out to be a bit too long, but that's okay.

Bunny body 3

3. Roll this strip around the cork.

Since the cork's diameter may be slightly different at each end, sometimes it's helpful to line the edge of the paper up with a word or emblem across the cork.

Roll loosely, so you can adjust it around the cork, so the bunny will be able to stand up without falling over.

Bunny body 4

4. Tape at the back.

Ears and paws

5. Fold a small square of colored paper (used for the body) in half to cut out the ears and paws.

Starting at the edge opposite the fold, cut a long thin rectangle for the ears.

Ears and paws 2

6. Since the paper was folded, you should have two rectangles. Mine are about 2 1/2 inches or 6 1/4 centimeters long and 1/4 inch or 7/10 centimeters wide.

These ears turned out to be too long, but it is easier to trim them down while assembling the bunny than to lengthen them.

Ears and paws 3

7. At one end of the long rectangles, cut the corners off for the tops of the ears.

Ears and paws 4

8. Snip off the bottom of the ears, about 1/4 inch or 1/2 centimeter, for the paws.

This will give you two mini rectangles to use for the paws.

Ears and paws 5

9. Round off the bottom corners of the little rectangles for the paws.

You may not be able to clearly see from the picture, but there are two little paws in it, one on top of the other.

Ears and paws 6

10. Fold back the bottom 1/2 inch or 1 centimeter of the ears.

You'll use this little folded back tail to attach the ears to the top of the head later.

Inside of ears

11. Use the same steps for the inside of the ears as you did for the outside.

Except, eliminate steps for paws. use white paper and keep in mind they should be smaller to fit inside the ears.

Inside of ears 2

12. Glue the inside of the ears onto the ears.

Here's where a toothpick or popsicle stick might come in handy to apply the glue. I squeezed from the bottle and got way too much as you can see in the picture.

Put the ears aside to dry.

Bunny eyes

13. Punch the eyes out of white paper with a hole punch.

Bunny belly

14. From the white paper, cut a rectangle about 1 inch or 2 2/10 centimeters by 1/2 inch or 1 2/10 centimeters.

Bunny face and belly

15. Glue on the eyes, the belly, and then the paws in that order.

Set aside to let dry.

Top of bunny head

16. Carefully trace around the top of the head without touching the face you just glued on.

Perhaps, it would be easier to trace the top of the head before gluing on the face :) If you trace the top first, take note of which end you traced because the two ends may be different sizes.

Top of bunny head 2

17. Cut out the circle you traced. Notice the pencil marks at the edge of the circle. Later when putting the bunny together, make sure they are underneath so they can't be seen.

Top of bunny head 3

18. Glue on top of the head.

After it the glue has dried, attach the ears.

Let the glue dry.

Bunny face

19. When all the glue is dry, draw the face on with a marker.

Wine Cork Penguin Craft

2014-08-25T10:18:00.001-07:00

Wine Cork Penguin

Materials for wine cork penguin

Wine cork
Black construction paper
White printer paper
Orange construction paper
Pencil
Glue
Clear tape
Ruler
Scissors

Two wine corks: natural and synthetic

You can use either wine cork to create this little penguin, but if you would like one that stands up, a synthetic cork usually has a flatter bottom. So the penguin can stand wherever you place him, and create your own arctic scene.

You could also add an ornament hanger to the top and use the penguin to decorate your Christmas tree. In this case, using a natural cork is fine.

First I'll give instructions for cutting out all the pieces then put them all together.

Creating the shapes needed for the penguin

Penguin body

1. Cut a strip of black construction paper to wrap the cork with for the body--for this 7/8" diameter cork, I used a 4" x 2" rectangle.

Top of penguin head

2. On the black construction paper, trace around the cork for the top of the head.

Circle for top of head

3. Cut out the traced circle.

Penguin tummy

4. Using white paper, cut out a 1" x 1/2" rectangle for the tummy.

Penguin tummy-2

5. Cut off the top two corners of the white rectangle to round the top of the tummy.

Penguin wings

6. Trace the tummy shape onto black construction paper for the wings.

Note: Keep the white tummy piece with the same side up for both wings in case the edges get pencil marks on them. Then when

gluing on the tummy, make sure any pencil marks are on the

back. As you can see from my penguin, this is hindsight

wisdom.

Penguin wings-2

7. After cutting out the two black wings, place the flat ends up. The flat ends are the tops of the wings. Whereas, the flat end of the tummy is the bottom.

Penguin wings-3

8. Trim up both sides of each wing to make the tops of the wings narrower than the bottoms.

Penguin nose

9. Cut a very small triangle from orange construction paper for the nose.

Penguin eyes

10. Use a hole punch for the white circles of the eyes.

Penguin eyes-2

11. Use a black marker for the eye balls.

Putting the penguin together

Attaching the penguin body

12. Roll the black strip around the cork and tape together in back.

Gluing on the tummy

13. Glue tummy on front.

Gluing on face

14. Glue on eyes and nose by putting three little dots of glue above the tummy. The two for the eyes, across from each other, and the third for the nose at the top of the tummy.

Then carefully place one tiny eye then the other, and last the nose on the dot of glue reserved for each.

Gluing on the wings

15. Glue on the wings; one one each side.

Gluing on the top of the head

16. Glue on the top of the head.

If you'd like the penguin to be a Christmas ornament, poke a hole in the middle of the circle before gluing it on.

Through the small hole, thread a loop of yarn leaving the tails underneath to be included in gluing the top of the penguin head on.

This is your penguin to remind you of refreshing winter breezes in the heat of summer.

Here's the trailer from March of the Penguins. The Wine Cork Penguin Craft was modeled after the Emperor Penguin, but you can see from the trailer, I didn't include some details. Perhaps you'd like to create a more accurate penguin.

We've been watching Wild South America on HuluPlus. The Penguin Shores episode about the Humboldt penguin is amazing, and if you watch it, you'll notice differences in the penguins. Perhaps you would prefer to model your penguin after Humboldt penguins instead of Emperor penguins.

Basket from a cereal box

2014-06-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Basket from a cereal box

If you like the process of thinking through projects and making improvements--or let's say, adding creative refinement, upgrades, or enlightenment-- this craft is for you. It's really the idea I'm putting out there: plus I got crazy obsessed with trying to recreate the basket I imagined. Not quite there yet, but a stepping stone to perfection. =)

1. Opening out the cereal box.

2. Cutting off the flaps of the cereal box.

3. Using a paint brush to spread glue.

4. Pasting on my chosen color of construction paper.

5. Cutting off extra construction paper.

6. After gluing on blue construction paper to the back of the yellow, cutting off the extra blue.

7. Cutting the box covered with construction paper lengthwise into strips.

9. After curving two strips into half moons [8], punching holes in the ends.

10. Preparing two short strings with which to tie the half moon strips together.

11. Tying the ends together.

12. Drawing the shape of the connected half moon strips onto the other half of the cereal box.

13. After cutting out the drawn shape.

14. After gluing on blue construction paper to the flip side, trimming off the extra.

15. After gluing on yellow construction paper to the flip side, trimming off the extra.

16. Folding one of the original strips into fourths.

17. After cutting on the folds, marking where to put these short strips to later weave the longer ones through.

18. Punching holes through the marks and at the ends of the short strips.

19. Preparing four more ties.

21. After placing the strips over their marks [20], tying the strips to the bottom of the basket.

22. Putting each strip down in the order each will weave into the longer strip.

23. Placing or weaving in the first (two) long (connected) strips.

24. Preparing the next two long strips just like the first two.

25. Tying together the second two long strips.

26. Weaving in the second two long strips.

27. After going through the same process for the third two long strips as for the first and second, looking closely at the alternate weave along one of the short strips.

28. Using one of the box sides for the basket handle.

29. After covering both sides of the box side with construction paper (yellow on front, blue on back), cutting it into three strips.

30. After punching hole in both ends of the strips, alternating colors.

31. Punching holes (two) at either end of the basket to attach the handle to.

32. Tying the three portions of the handle together with string.

33. Bending the ends of the handle to follow the shape of the basket.

34. Weaving the first handle end through to the basket bottom, and tying together.

35. Weaving through and attaching the other handle end.

37. Beholding the basket.

Easy Watercolor Notepaper and Envelope

2014-04-07T14:35:00.001-07:00

Easy Watercolor Envelope and Notepaper

1. Fold an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of white paper up from the bottom about four and a half inches for the envelope.

2. Fold the flap down about two inches.

3. Using a second sheet of white paper, fold the edge over about one and a half inch.

4. Dampen the crease with a paintbrush dipped in water.

5. Tear off the edge.

6. With crayons, decorate the flap of the envelope and the top of the notepaper.

7. Unfold the envelope making sure the flap decoration is on the top (It should be up-side-down).

Put the envelope and notepaper next to each other.

8. Using watercolors, paint any patterns you'd like on the envelope and notepaper.

For light colors, use a very wet paintbrush.

For matching envelope and notepaper, make the pattens similar.

Let dry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

9. After the paint is dry, turn the envelope over.

10. Apply glue to the side edges of the bottom of the envelope with a clean damp paintbrush.

I used Tacky glue since it isn't runny.

Make sure to wash out the paintbrush thoroughly with warm water after applying the glue.

11. Fold up the bottom portion of the envelope with glue on the edges and smooth over the edges to securely glue them together.

12. Fold the notepaper in thirds.

Start by folding up the bottom third of the notepaper.

13. Finish folding the notepaper by turning under the bottom portion as if folding a fan.

The top decoration should showing.

14. Check that the notepaper fits in the envelope.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

15. After writing a note or drawing pictures on the notepaper, put it in the envelope and seal the envelope with a little glue or a sticker.

Deliver this letter by hand because this envelope is too delicate to go through the mail.

Seal the envelope with a dab of glue or a sticker

Watercolor Note Paper and Envelope

2014-04-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

Watercolor Envelope and Note Paper

Even though the envelope isn't strong enough to be sent through the snail mail, it's fun to use to enclose your notes to family and friends for birthdays and other occasions.

1. Start the square for the envelope by folding up one corner of an 8 1/2" x 11" white sheet of printer paper.

2. Use the end of a paint brush to smooth over the crease

3. Put a little water along the crease with the paint brush.

4. Tear off the extra piece.

5. Now you have a square for the envelope.

6. Fold over the opposite corner about one forth inch short of the untorn edge.

7. Fold over this one forth inch extra and smooth crease.

8. Apply water to crease.

9. Tear off the thin strip and save it for later.

10. Open the corners to a diamond shape with the torn edges pointing up.

11. Fold the two side corners in to meet in the middle.

12. Fold the bottom corner up about an inch past the middle.

13. Crease the extra inch of corner and dampen the crease.

14. Tear off the extra corner and save for later.

15. You are almost finished folding the envelope.

16. Bring the top corner down to close.

Set the envelope aside while you create two pieces of note paper.

17. Fold a second sheet of white paper in half.

18. Dampen the crease and tear in half.

19. Fold one of the halves in half again and dampen the crease.

20. Tear in half again and you'll have two pieces of note paper one forth the size of the original white sheet.

Ready to Paint

21. Unfold the envelope, turn it over, and set it next to the scraps and two piece of note paper.

22. Using a lot of water so the colors aren't too dark, paint similar designs on the envelope, scraps, and note paper.

23. Keep a paper towel under your container of water, so you can wipe your brush on it.

The painted paper towel will be used to decorate your note paper.

Let Dry!

24. After the paint is dry, cut two pieces of parchment paper about the size of the note paper.

25. Put one piece of parchment paper inside of the envelope.

The parchment paper keeps the glue from sticking the front of the envelope to the back.

26. Apply white glue with a paint brush along the sides and bottom of the envelope. You'll have a guesstimate a little where the glue if needed.

27. After the bottom of the envelope is glued together, use the second piece of parchment paper to tuck under the flap.

Now you can decide which closure you'd like. The strip or....

the corner.

28. After you choose your closure, fold the parchment paper up just far enough so you can mark it with a pen to indicate where to glue the closure on.

Glue on closure.

29. Cut two shapes of your choice out of the painted paper towel.

30. Glue these shapes on to the top of the note paper.

Note paper should fit in envelope without folding.

An Easter Daisy Craft

2014-04-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

Easter Daisy

1. Take a sheet of pink and a sheet of cream colored construction paper.

Put them together and fold lengthwise.

2. Cut into one inch wide strips.

3. Cut along the fold lines to create four piles of strips each containing four strips.

4. Cut off the corners making each pile into long ovals for the petals of the daisy.

Just arrange the petals on the paper first. Don't glue yet.

5. Make a plus sign in the middle of a sheet of purple construction paper with four of the pink petals.

6. Take two cream color petals and fan them out like a hand of cards.

Place the fanned out cream petals over the first pink petal so it peeks out at the top.

7. Fan out the next two cream petals.

This time place the cream petals over the second pink petal.

8. Fan out the fifth and sixth cream petals.

Place these two over the third pink petal.

9. Fan the seventh and eighth cream petals.

Place these over the forth pink petal.

10. Now add the last four pink petals between the cream ones forming a kind of four point pink star.

Check out your daisy and adjust any petals you'd like to make them more evenly placed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that we can see how the petals fit, we're ready to start gluing them on.

We'll follow a sightly different order, so we can adjust nearby petals as needed before the glue dries.

11. Glue on the pink plus sign.

12. Glue on the first two fanned cream petals.

13. Glue on the second two fanned cream petals.

Here the order changes.

14. Glue on the first pink petal of the star and then adjust (if needed) the cream petals before the glue dries.

15. Glue on the fifth and sixth cream petals.

16. Glue on the second pink petal of the star, and adjust the cream petals if needed.

17. Glue on the seventh and eighth cream petals.

18. Glue on the third pink petal of the star and adjust the cream petals if needed.

19. Glue on the last pink petal of the star and adjust other petals as needed if the glue hasn't dried yet.

Now a 2" x 2" square--or diamond

2-D Daisy from Plain White Paper and Construction Paper

2014-04-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

2-D Daisy on Blue Construction Paper

1. Fold a piece of white paper in half lengthwise.

2. Cut one inch wide strips.

3. Four white strips all together.

4. Cut the strips on the fold line making eight strips.

5. Take the strips two by two, and fold them in half lengthwise.

6. Cut the corners off the open ends only.

7. Eight pairs of strips with corners cut off for the daisy petals.

8. Arrange the petals, crease down, on the blue background.

9. Turn over four petals so the crease is facing up.

Put a line of white glue along the crease.

At this point it's helpful to move the other petals further out of the way than I did in the picture.

10. Glue the first petals on.

These first four are guides for the other petals.

11. Turn over the next four petals which are inbetween the petals already glued on.

Glue on the next four.

12. Now work by quarter sections.

In the first quarter section, glue on two petals.

These two fit between the petals already glued on.

13. In the second quarter section, glue in the 11th and 12th petals.

14. In the third quarter section, glue in the 13th and 14th petals.

15. In the forth quarter section, glue in the 15th and 16th petals.

16. The last petal going in.

17. Fold a yellow sheet of construction paper in half lenghthwise.

18. Cut two strips an inch wide.

19. Two strips.

20. Cut these strips into one inch squares.

21. Squares for the middle of the daisy.

22. Cruch up the squares and put in the middle of the daisy to see how many are needed.

23. Not all may be needed.

24. Fill the middle of the daisy with white glue.

25. Add cruched up squares applying more glue as needed.

Finished Daisy.

Crayon and Watercolor Monarch Butterfly

2014-04-01T15:51:00.003-07:00

Crayon and Watercolor Monarch Butterfly on Green Construction Paper

Sketch a Monarch butterfly on white paper.

The model I used for this very rough drawing is the picture of an adult Monarch at http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/.

Trace around the white spots with a black crayon first.

Then color all the black parts of the butterfly (except the head and antennae--they'll be done later) with black crayon.

Paint the wings of the butterfly with yellow, orange, and red watercolors.

I started with a coat of yellow everywhere except the tips, then added orange from the top to half way down the wing, and then finished with light coat of red at the very top of the wings.

When the wings became too wet, I dabbed up the wetness with a tissue.

When the paint is dry, cut out the butterfly--keeping it one whole piece--and choose the color of construction paper you'd like for the background.

Fold the butterfly down the middle of the body. As you can see, my wings are not equal size.

Put a line of white glue down the crease.

Turn the butterfly over and glue it to your chosen background.

When the glue is dry, use black crayon to draw the head and antennae.

Crayon and Watercolor Butterfly

2014-04-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

Crayon and Watercolor Butterfly on Red Construction Paper Background

1. On white paper, draw the outline of two butterfly wings with crayon.

2. Color butterfly wings with crayon.

3. Paint over the crayon colored wings with watercolor paints.

4. After the watercolors dry, cut along butterfly outline keeping both wings one whole piece.

5. Decide what color paper your butterfly looks best on.

6. Fold butterfly in half.

7. Put a line of white glue along the fold line going down the back of the butterfly and glue it on the background.

8. After the glue dries, paint on the body and antennae with non-toxic, washable poster paint.

Making a Dozen Paper-Mache Eggs

2014-03-31T10:59:00.001-07:00

Start this craft at least three days before Easter!

I like the idea of hiding paper-mache eggs instead of real ones because every-once-in-a-while the Easter Bunny so cleverly hides a few eggs that no one finds them. Finding rotten eggs is never pretty, so I thought I could keep the colored hard boiled eggs in the refrigerator this Easter, and send a message to the Easter Bunny to hide paper-mache eggs instead. So far my family likes this idea.

If we decide to keep the paper-mache eggs until next year, we could use the same eggs again, or coat over the construction paper with new designs with construction paper or paint. That way the production line of the paper-mache undercoats only has to take place once. Or we could add new paper-mache eggs to our collection each year and have endless egg hunts--inside that is. Paper-mache eggs probably wouldn't do well hidden in dewy grass.

Here's the production line I made:

Crunch up twelve pages of newspaper into twelve egg shapes

Mix paste potion using one part white glue and two parts water. A small, clean yogurt container works well for this. Mixing with a plastic folk ensures a smooth potion.

Then dip strips of newspaper in the paste potion and wrap the strips around the egg shaped wads of newspaper.

Production line for a dozen paper-mache Easter eggs

As I reach the end of a coat, I like to sop-up the glue which has dripped onto my plastic lid (parchment paper works well too) with the strips of paper and do clean-up and finish-up all at once.

Production line for a dozen paper-mache eggs--sopping up extra paste

I like using plastic storage box lids or parchment paper as a work-area because I can move these out of the way easily for the eggs to dry overnight, and the eggs don't stick to the plastic or the parchment paper.

Two coats of paste soaked newspaper strips is usually a good base for decoration. Let each coat thoroughly dry overnight.

Ready for Decorating

Rip-up strips of construction paper in a variety of colors.

Strips of construction paper to decorate paper-mache eggs

For poka-dots, use a hole punch.

Use a hole punch for dot decorations

I like to lay the strips out and spoon the paste potion over them, so they can soak up the moisture and become more pliable. Since construction paper is thicker than newspaper, it may not stick to the egg well if it isn't soaked thoroughly.

Soaking construction paper strips with paste potion

Decorate

Decorated paper-mache eggs--as you can see, we made our eggs different sizes

Paper-mache eggs decorated with pieces and strips of colored construction paper--we found the strips were easier to work with than the pieces
Actually, the white on the egg with the strips is scrap printer paper which is thinner than construction paper and easier to work with.