Doodle All Day

2017-01-16T21:15:00.003-08:00

Paper Bag Elephants

2013-01-31T00:30:00.002-08:00

I wanted to do something with the scraps from our shaving cream project,

and came up with this multi-media project, inspired by this post.

The kids looked at photos of elephants and discussed their features.

They drew a simple elephant onto a brown paper bag.

The drawings were traced in black ink.

Using a wet paintbrush the black outlines were smeared to give the paper a grayish tint.

After drying and being cut-out, the elephants were gently crumbled.

They were flattened back out, but wrinkles were left resembling the wrinkles in an elephant's skin.

On another paper, African sunset landscapes were created, using oil and chalk pastels.

The colorful frame (saved from our shaving cream project) and paper bag elephant were pasted onto the African landscape to complete this project.

The Art Room

2013-01-30T08:23:00.001-08:00

Nothing beats having a room in the house called "The Art Room".

There is no shortage of art supplies here.

My little artists have everything they could need at their fingertips.

For some reason I love clear jars. It's a bonus that displaying supplies this way eliminates the searching or trying to remember where things were stored.

These handy caddies were meant to be herb planters.

I found them in the garden section at Kirklands and grew some crayons and stuff instead.

The walls are painted a very light gray (Sherwin Williams - Cold Morning).
One of my current obsessions is spray painting and repurposing items instead of buying anything new.
I found a few white spraying painting projects in this room....

the shelves, table, stools, pots, cubbies (pretty much everthing). I like the way the colorful art supplies look against the light walls and all that white.

Birch Trees Project

2012-07-21T17:18:00.002-07:00

The kids really liked this project. It was my take on a project I saw at a faithful attempt.
Despite having many steps it actually only took about an hour to complete (including drying time with the help of the Arizona sun).

This project included:

Tape and rubber cement masking

Oil pastels

Watercolor

Salt texture

Paint scraping

The Step-by-Step:

Use tape to mask where the trees will be. Be sure the tape touches the top of the page. Trim the bottoms different lengths (good time to talk about foreground, middle ground and background).

Drip or paint rubber cement across the page in wavy wind-like designs (to be rubbed off later.)

Use oil pastels to draw some detail lines on the ground. Most of the kids choose greens for grass. Ella used browns to create a rocky ground.

Using a wide, flat brush, paint the sky with watercolor working back and forth in rows of different colors. Use plenty of water and paint wet-on-wet so the colors blend together.

Paint over the ground to fill in around the oil pastels.

When the ground is dry, paint diagonal shadows under the trees.

Sprinkle sea salt on wet paint for texture.

Let it dry. Be patient.

Peel off tape and use a rubber cement pick-up to remove the rubber cement.

Dip the edge of a stiff card (like a credit card) in black paint.

Carefully place the card on the edge of a tree and drag it across. I had the kids practice this technique first on another page to figure out how much paint was needed and the best way to swipe the card.

Our Birch Trees:

Rainbow Art Party- Make an Art Gallery

2012-07-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

The party-goers displayed their creations in the Gallery until time to leave.
To make this, I covered a picture on my wall in wrapping paper and hot-glued on dollar store clothespins. I didn't have any plain wrapping paper, so I turned it over and used the white side.
See more of Ella's Art Party here.

Pop Out House (Paper Cutting Project for Kids)

2012-07-13T17:11:00.001-07:00

This project was inspired by the book "The Big Orange Splot". The story is about one man's unique house on a street of boring, cookie-cutter houses.

Each artist was encouraged to design their unique house.

In contrast, the other houses on the street were to be boring and alike.

In order for the house pop out correctly, it must be drawn an inch longer on the bottom. The photo above shows how the drawing should look when lying flat.

After drawing and coloring their picture, they folded the paper along the ground line and then cut along the right and left sides of the house to make their house pop out.

Kid Art - learning about pencils and shading

2012-07-10T08:58:00.001-07:00

Use shading feathers as a fun way for kids to learn about different pencils.

Draw the feather.

Have the kids draw the center line and outline of a feather.

Divide the feather into sections with lines shaped like a "v".

Shade the feather.

Begin shading at the bottom of the feather with the softest pencil and work upward.

Start each new section with heavy pressure and gradually ease the pressure until reaching the next section. Switch pencils at each new section transitioning from soft to hard. (8B,6B,4B,2B,B,HB,2H,3H,4H)

Blend the feather.

Blend one side of the feather with a tortillon.

Also try:

Shade half a feather with the softest pencil and the other half with the hardest pencil.

Shade a feather with any one pencil and blend one side with a tortillon.

My Art - a few things I drew this week

2012-07-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

Quick drawing of my favorite girl from a snapshot.

Markers & Colored Pencil

Prisma markers/Prisma colored pencil

Prisma markers on vellum

Watercolor

The Dog in the Moon Art Project

2012-07-06T20:54:00.001-07:00

This mixed media project included:

Eye dropper painting

Splatter painting

Shaving cream painting

Watercolor wash and salt texture

Collage

Drawing

Each artist created a simple line drawing of a dog.

Using an eye dropper, they traced their pencil lines in black watercolor.

They dipped paintbrushes in the leftover paint to splatter spots on the dogs.

While the dogs dried outside, they worked on the background.

A page was covered in black watercolor wash

and sprinkled with sea salt while it was still wet. This page was also set outside to dry.

Another paper was used for the shaving cream painting.

Each artist sprayed a plate with shaving cream and smoothed it as best as possible.

They each choose 3-4 colors of paint and squirted them across the shaving cream.

Using toothpicks they swirled and mixed the paints together.

A blank paper was pressed down on top of the mixture.

After letting the mixture sit on the paper for a minute, each artist scrapped off the shaving cream and an unique paint pattern was left behind. A large circle (moon) was drawn and cut out of the shaving creamed paper and pasted to the black background page.

After the dogs were cut out, they were assembled and glued to the moon.

Rainbow Art Party

2012-07-01T11:28:00.001-07:00

Ella's Rainbow Art Birthday Party was a success! The kids moved freely from station to station participating in activities and creating art. They got messy in the backyard with paint. They hung their artwork in the gallery (see it here). They took pictures in the photo booth (see it here). After the seven-layer rainbow cake, they went home with rainbow power streamers (see them here) and goodie jars filled with crayons and other colorful party favors.

Goodie Jars

Guess how many markers are in the jar Game

Fill a jar with water and a couple drops of dish soap then shake, shake, shake....

The guests each dressed in a color from the rainbow.

Working on melted crayon art.

Scratch Art and Rainbow Prism Stations

Making rainbows with flashlights and prisms.

Making marker cap necklaces.

Experimenting with dropping watercolors onto shaving cream clouds.

Marble Painting

Spraying coffee filters with liquid watercolors to make coffee filter butterflies.

After

Kid Art Project - Statue of Liberty with Fireworks.

2012-07-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

This mixed media project included:

Drawing

Painting with acrylic

Tissue paper painting

Soft pastels

Collage

The kids painted a page black in their art books and set them outside to dry.

On a separate page they drew the statue's face and outlined it in black Sharpie.

The faces were colored by using bleeding tissue paper scraps and water. To do this, first, wet the drawing with a brush. Next, arrange scraps of tissue paper on the page. Finally, remove the tissues, leaving behind the color. Note: Some tissue papers are non-bleeding.

When the black paint page had dried they added all kinds of fireworks using soft pastels.

Finally the statues were cut out and pasted on top of the fireworks.

The older kids also worked on their drawing skills and each made a pencil drawing of
the Statue of Liberty.

Happy Independence Day!

Rainbow Party Streamers

2012-06-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Power

(Party Decor/Fun)

Another great idea inspired by Pinterest!

I bought solid colored plastic table covers and shower curtain rings at the dollar store.

Before completely unfolding the table covers, I cut them into 2" strips using a rotary cutter and ruler. They were knotted in rainbow order around the rings. I tried gluing the first couple to keep them in place and then decided wasn't really necessary.

Total price was $8 for 24 rainbow rings.

They were strung around to decorate for the party and the guests were each given a "rainbow" as a party favor.

Rainbow Party Photo Booth

2012-06-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

The pinned up black and white background

and spray painted picture frame really set to set off bright rainbow colors.

Say "Cheese"!

The fabric is actually a tablecloth I found on clearance.

I bought the frame at Michaels in the custom framing "Oops" bin for a couple dollars.

Magazine Page Flowers- DIY Party Decorations

2012-03-22T10:58:00.058-07:00

The thought of dropping a bunch of cash for bridal shower decorations that would go in the trash at the end of the day didn't sit well with me.

It didn't support the "reduce, reuse, recycle" and "spend less, save more" I'm going for these days.

I decided to look around and use what I had to make my own decorations.

A stack of Bridal magazines the Bride-to-be had left in the trunk of my car seemed like a good place to start, very "bridal".

I could save money, recycle and create something special for the Bride (Win-Win-Win).

Simple.

Going through each magazine, I tore out any pages with a neutral color scheme.

After cutting the pages into flowerish shapes, I grouped them together by size and color.

I attached them by poking a pipe cleaner through the centers.

Painted Jars

2012-03-22T10:27:00.005-07:00

Because I'm obsessed with

jars, paint and repurposing...

this is what happened to my old (mostly pasta sauce) jars.

I made stencils for the bird and feather from contact paper.

The lavender jar is painted on the inside and wrapped in twine.

These small jars are painted on the inside.

I twirled the jars around a bit with paint and a little water inside them.

Then left them to dry upside down.

These are painted in color on the inside.

Then spray painted in black matte over contact paper stencils.

The raised dots were made by applying puffy paint before the jar was spray painted.

Thumbtack Border for Wall Chalkboard

2011-12-07T09:34:00.000-08:00

I hung the crowns above the chalkboard wall. I was going to put molding around the chalkboard. When I realized the molding I liked would be over $50, I decided to buy silver thumbtacks for 75 cents and used those for a border instead. Easier and cheaper. I used the same tacks on the canvas painting for her room.

How to paint Diamonds on the Wall

2011-12-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

I just felt like this wall was missing something. So I painted diamonds using leftover gray paint from the lighter two walls. I love how it turned out! It was a little trickier to do than I had expected.

(More after the jump...)

I ended up making a diamond shaped template out of contact paper. I drew horizontal rows in light pencil to make sure I stayed on track. I moved the template around and marked the diamonds with blue tape. BTW, I bought my blue tape at the Dollar Store and my lines still came out great.

I trimmed the torn edges of the tape at the diamond corners with an exacto knife (using a light touch).

To avoid absent mindedly painting the wrong diamonds I marked them off with a bit of tape and then got to work with my paintbrush.

The Purple Duvet Cover

2011-10-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

I just finished Ella's new duvet cover. For the back I used the black and white striped flat sheet that came in her sheet set. (I only use a fitted sheet and comforter on the kids' beds. If all they have to do is smooth out the duvet, they are more likely to make their beds.) For the front I cut and pieced together some fabric snatched from my mom's well stocked collection. Thanks Mom! An old T-shirt was cut up and used to make the ties. I hate when the comforter slips down and gets all bunched up inside the cover, so I sewed loops to the inside edge of the comforter. The T-shirt ties run through the loops to hold the comforter in it's place.

I found the flowers at a clearance sale for 30 cents each. I was originally going to make some fabric flowers. However, I don't like to make things that I can buy for less.

Here's a look at Ella's past blankets.

Her first blanket was a crib quilt made by Grandma for her nursery.

When she was graduated to a twin size bed, I made her this duvet cover with the help of Mei Ling (my talented sister-in-law). The light pink side was actually a cotton shower curtain I found on clearance for under a dollar. It worked perfect since the shower ring slots functioned as button holes. The darker fabric with stars was leftover from her nursery curtains. We made fabric covered buttons to hold it together.

Easy DIY Wall Decor

2011-10-18T01:33:00.000-07:00

I love browsing the scrapbook paper section. So many colors. So many designs. Too bad I'm not into scrapbooking. I only scrapbook digitally. But since the pages are too likable to pass up, I made some into wall hangings.

(More on the next page...)

I bought a piece of wood at Home Depot and had the man there cut it into 8x8 inch squares. Then my wonderful husband sanded them and routered the edges for me.

After painting the edges, I trimmed the paper and decoupaged it onto the wood. I let them dry and then I hammered sawtooth hangers to the backs. Total cost was $10 for all eight.

Organizing the Little Stuff

2011-10-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

For my kids to actually keep their rooms clean and organized I try to have a place for everything... even the little stuff. I also have an obsession with putting things in clear jars. For these, I spray painted the lids and glued on animal figures.
This project was inspired by a photo from ohdeedoh.com.

A Place for her Art

2011-10-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

Ella has been called the "Tape Master", because she can make anything from and do anything with scotch tape. Lately she's been decorating her room by taping up her artwork on the wall. I think her beautiful pictures should be displayed, but not with tape. Now she can retire her tape and just clip her art to the jute I just strung across her bedroom wall.

How to Transfer an Image with Gel Medium

2011-10-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

I decided to create my own art for Ella's wall using an image of her.

This is the original photo that I started with.

See how I did it on the next page...

I edited this photo of her, adding the poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein. I reversed the image so the words were backwards, using picnik.com for the editing. I enlarged my image and printed it on multiple sheets of paper using blockposters.com. After making laser copies I cut them out. (Ink jet copies won't work well for this type of transfer.)

On a large canvas I painted a background using the colors of Ella's bedroom.

I transferred the image using a gel medium.

Gel Image Transfer Tutorial:

Apply a generous coat of Gel Medium to your canvas.

Place a (mirror image) photocopy face down on the gel.

Smooth the paper to remove any air bubbles. A brayer works well for this.

Allow the gel to dry completely (1-2 hours).

Dampen the back of the paper with water.

Use your finger to gently rub off the paper, leaving the image behind.

I rubbed the paper off too soon, so I had to draw in the nose, eye and some words. Then I added a heart with wings, a little glitter and a silver thumbtack border.

Make Your Own Wall Decal

2011-10-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted to paint a key on the side of this shelf. However, the thought of painting directly on it made me nervous. I just refinished the shelf and didn't want to paint it again if I didn't like how the key turned out.
(Read more on the next page...)
Instead, I painted my design on clear contact paper and cut it out. However, when I peeled the backing off I found that I had painted on the wrong side of the paper. Oops! Oh well, at least I didn't have to buy more spray paint to repaint the shelf. I used my key as a stencil and then painted another key on the correct side of the paper and stuck it on. I love the way it turned out. It stuck on nice and flat. It looks like it is actually painted on the shelf.

Ella said she's gonna dream about keys that open secret locks tonight.

Sweet dreams Baby Girl!

Freezer Stencil ~ Ballerina Memo Board

2011-10-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

I made this board for Ella's room. She wanted a place to hang her ribbons and other small things.

First, I painted an old frame black. Next I used hot glue to adhere a piece of cork to the backing board. I bought the cork roll at Michaels for a couple dollars. Using my hot glue gun again, I wrapped a piece of fabric around the board and glued it down on the back side.

Right now, her dream is to be a ballerina. So... I decided to add one by making a freezer stencil.

I love-love freezer stencils.

Here's an easy tutorial:

~ Trace your image onto freezer paper (I bought the paper at Walmart).

~ Cut it out with an exacto knife, avoid over cuts so the paint won't run.
~ Iron the stencil to the fabric. Make sure the shiny side is down (touching the fabric). Concentrate on the getting all the edges to stick down well.

~ Fill it in with a light layer of fabric paint.

~Peel off stencil.

Hello Scary Giant - Our Battle with Scorpions

2011-10-01T17:03:00.000-07:00

When a couple neighbor girls came by today to play with my daughter, they were greeted by this giant scorpion guarding our front door. They were so brave to ring the doorbell anyway. This guy is a Giant Hairy Scorpion. He's as long as a crayon, but this species can grow up to six inches long. Once I mistook one of these for a lizard, when I saw it down by my nephew's feet.

Right after we moved in a couple years ago, we started seeing scorpions around. Among others, there was a scorpion on my kitchen counter, by my bedroom light switch, and more than once I found myself in the shower with one. I learned the little guys we were finding inside the house were Bark scorpions. There are about forty scorpion species in Arizona, of which only the Bark scorpion can deliver a venomous sting that often results in needing medical attention. I was really freaked out that one of the kids might get stung. I had heard that scorpions are impossible to get rid of completely. I called exterminators and read everything I could find on them. After reading survival tips like putting the legs of cribs into glass jars and suspending sticky foam board above the beds, I felt hopeless. I wanted to move. I'm sure there are great exterminators out there, but I had heard negative things from frustrated friends. Despite hiring an exterminator, one friend and her son had recently been stung four times and spent time at the ER. I didn't want to pay a bunch of money and still not have peace of mind that this enemy was gone.

My determined husband took it upon himself to head up our scorpion eradication crusade. He has found that doing just a few simple things has been very successful in combating them. We have still had scorpions near our house, but only a few (dying or dead) inside the house. Thankfully, none of us have been stung.

Jess' Extermination Methods:

Scorpion hunting on warm nights in the front and back yard armed with a black light (since they glow) and wearing flip flops to slip off and smash them with. He says every time he kills one, that's less babies they can have. (They give birth 25-35 at a time.) His record killing in one night is 23.
Regular bed and room checks with the black light. He has never found one in a bed, but it provides peace of mind when tucking in for the night.
Fogging the attic has been crucial in removing scorpion prey, such as crickets. He does this whenever we leave the house for a day or more, using the suggested amount for the living area but up to 3x as much for the attic.
Spraying the barrier of house and the columns of the cinder block walls (they love living in those) with an insecticide. This is to eliminate their food source as the insecticide doesn't work on scorpions unless sprayed directly. If you're in a position to spray them directly, save the spray and smash 'em! In his experience a common indoor/outdoor insecticide has been as effective as when he used a commercial grade spray. He sprays a few times a year.