Glitter Shoes from Guest Mom

It's all the rage! Glitter shoes for kids. My friend Lisa shopped for glittery embellished shoes for her granddaughter Bodhi. She found them everywhere but the price was "out of this world!" Why buy when you can make! She bought some plain white shoes, dyed them purple and gave them to her friend Tammy who really glammed them up. Tammy used fabric paint in tubes, some glitter and some plain. She sprinkled colored glitter over some areas of paint before it dried. Then added some little hearts to match and there you have it. For the final touch, some ribbon shoelaces. Try it yourself and do your own thing. Try swirls, dots, zig-zags or stripes. Neon colors are big right now. Each pair will be different.

I know Bodhi will just love these.

Pipe Cleaner Hand Puppet

Or you can call it the "Almost Naked Hand Puppet". You can even fool the dog with this one. It's so simple a Cave-Crafter can do it. OK, OK, all kidding aside this is a simple kid project with fun results. Materials are 2 pipe cleaners (any color), two white buttons (3/4"), two black buttons (about 1/4" or so), fast tack glue, and a few pony beads to go into the hair.

First take two pipe cleaners bend in the middle and wrap around your middle finger (not tight). Twist at the top to make a ring around your finger. Glue the two black beads inside the white beads. Position the black beads off to the side then let them dry. Loop both sets of pipe cleaners into a curve to form eye sockets for buttons. Glue buttons into curves, making curves tight to hold eye in place. Twist sets of pipe cleaners together again. With ends that are left, spread out and bend a little to form hair. Push pony beads onto 4 hair strands. Try on your Hand Puppet and have fun.

Trendy Easy Skirts with leggings

My granddaughter and I saw these skirts in all the hip stores for teens and they weren't cheap. I told my Kate we could make them cheaper and she could pick out the fabric. The waistbands are made of 3" black elastic and the skirt part are double-knit fabric (2 pieces, 13 inches X 1 1/2 yards). Sew the 2 pieces together, right-sides together, at 13 inch edge. Gather one of the lengthwise edges (1 1/2 yards). Then pull up strings to measure close to skirt width. With right sides together sew other side seam almost up to top,(do not sew over gathering threads yet, you may have to gather them more or let out some gathers to fit). Measure the black elastic around the low waist or high hip area and add 1 1/2 inches for overlap and fold over. Sew the waistband together by folding over 1/2 inch then overlapping the other end of elastic. Make two rows of stitches 1/2 inch apart to re-enforce waistband. Fit the skirt to the waistband, pin in place, spread out gathers to be equal all the way around skirt. With black thread in sewing machine, sewing skirt to waistband from inside skirt where you can see gathers, making sure to hide gathering threads under band. First stitch line should be 1/2 inch from bottom edge of waistband. Now, turn over to right side and top stitch on waistband close to bottom edge of waistband and straighten gathers as you go. To hem, you can use a serger, great if you have one, if not set your machine on zig-zag, wide width at about medium stitch length and sew at the very edge of the skirt. It will make a "serger like" hem.

Little Button Box

Simple and easy. Metal mint box spray painted gold and covered with special buttons of all shapes and sizes but with something in common. Here the something in common is the colors. Then add a ribbon to the edge, glue in place. For the inside, glue pieces of felt, cut to fit the bottom top and sides. Thats it, you have a cute little tresure box.

Paper Mosaic Flower Frame

Pick out a picture, draw out basic shapes on the frame, then cut out colored paper shapes to match the colors of the picture. Slightly sand frame and paint white or any color you wish. Overlap paper pieces whenever needed, it's difficult to butt them up to one another and match them perfectly and overlapping gives it more depth. You can also photo-copy the picture to 100% of your frame and trace the flowers, then trace each piece you want to cut out. Little kids could do this project with less complicated shapes like simple petals and leaves, suns, moons, stars, clouds, or geometric shapes and making patterns.

I have also done paper mosaic by drawing the flower on paper mache boxes and then tearing the paper in little pieces and making it into a actual mosaic. Here is a picture of a project I'm working on using that technique.

Glue on all the pieces of paper using Mod Podge then cover entire piece once again with Mod Podge. Let dry completely.

Pencil Top Flowers

You don't have to have a lot of art supplies to have an Art Day or to do something creative. Here is an example. Cut out flower petals and leaves from a plain white paper. Patterns here can be copied and enlarged to make petals 6 1/2 inches and leaves 5 1/2 inches. Color them with what you have available. Crayons, markers, paint, colored pencils or draw a beautiful design with a pencil. I painted mine with acrylic paint. For the flower I painted one side and for the leaf I painted both sides.

Once it's dry, cut the pieces out. Slightly fold the petals in half length-wise to give them a little shape. You can also shape them a little by curving them with your fingers. Now tape the flower petals to the top of a pencil. Tape then in a staggering way like the petals of a flower. Then tape the leaves lower down on the pencil. Optional: You can use floral tape to attach these petals and leaves to the pencil for a better hold.

This is a great way to add a little Spring to your desk!

Art Journaling

Many people find pleasure in journaling. Writing about their thoughts and feelings and expressing themselves on the pages in words. An art journal takes it a step further. You can write, draw, paint, color, decoupage or whatever you want to express yourself. You can use pages of paper, or a book or fabric, it's all up to you.

I encourage all kids to keep an art journal. It doesn't have to be like anybody else's, just express yourself in art as you go. You don't even have to fill up each page. You can go back and add to pages later.

There are many books written about art journaling and also try looking up art collage books. But you don't have to look at a book to create an art journal, just get your art supplies together and start experimenting.

Don't know how to start a page? Try painting a background color, mix it up a little by painting a couple accent colors on the page as well. Mix up the brush strokes a little, but not too much with the background color. Then add some stamps, magazine clipping, photos, old book pages, stickers, cayrons, pastels, markers, etc. Now ideas should start to build and expand.

When I start a page often I really don't know how it's going to end up. Sometimes it has a clear path and sometimes it changes completely from where I started. Most of the fun is in the creating. Here are a few of my pages from my art journal.

Float Like a Butterfly, How Can it Be?

Try this easy floating butterfly project with your artists. It's sure to please and it looks like magic. When the secret is revealed you will see it's really very simple.

Copy and enlarge the pattern here and transfer to a piece of card stock paper. The butterfly is about 7 inches across the upper wings. The paper has to be heavy enough to hold it's shape. If you don't have card stock, a file folder will do. On one side, paint, color or draw a beautiful design of butterfly wings. Any design you like. On the other side you will tape a penny on each of the upper wings right where the spots are in the pattern. For a finishing touch you can add a little thin white wire curled on both ends, bent in the middle and taped to the head of the butterfly. I used a twist tie and cut the extra paper off of it.

If the coins are placed in the right spots the butterfly balances and spins a little on your finger when you hold it up.

Simple Basket Weaving Using Yarn

This was a fun little project to do. I made a few of these baskets. Once you know the basic weave, you can use it with all kinds of fibers. I did a basket using this weave with strips of fabric and 1/2 inch cotton cording.

You have probably seen this type of basket weaving in all kinds of baskets. It might look difficult but it's a very easy technique. The materials are simple and there's only three of them. Cotton cording (or clothesline rope), yarn in the color of your choice, and a yarn needle.

You start by wrapping the yarn around the end of the cording for about an inch, then curl end around on itself and then wrap yarn around end to secure. (see fig. 1) Keep on wrapping the yarn around a few times then using a yarn needle, stitch around under the cord on the other side again. (see fig. 2)

As you want to make the sides of the bowl go up, start to shorten up on the amount of wrapping and increase the stitching to the previous row. When you have finished to the size you want, trim the cord and wrap to hide the end. Tie a double knot and weave in ends of yarn.

Painted Rocks

Here are a few ideas for painting rocks. They can be simple or more detailed. You can paint an Easter egg with Polka Dots or a watermelon slice or a flower blossom. How about painting a strawberry or a rocket. It all depends on the shape of the rock and what you see in it.

The first thing to do is look at the shape of the rock and imagine what it can be. It might just jump out at you when you look at it. A couple of these rocks are shaped like hearts. One day when Grandpa Wes and I were looking for rocks, I looked only for smooth rocks that looked like hearts. I founds quite a few. You can paint on smooth or bumpy rocks, just make sure they are clean and dry when you start.

So look at the rock, picture what it is and paint away.

Magazine Strips Box

You can create all kinds of looks with this technique. All you need is a wooden or paper mache box and lots of old magazine or printed pictures like calendars or travel brochures. A little paint for the inside and you are set.

The idea is to think of the magazine pictures as color and patterns rather than what is in the picture. I choose a very warm pallet for this box but it could be any combination of colors. So start by tearing out colors from the magazines and separate them by colors. You can use advertisements and big background color too. Remember we are looking for color and pattern.

Once you have all the colors you like, you can start tearing them into strips. It's best to have several strips done before you start so you can just concentrate on the design and gluing once you get started.

Now it's just a matter of covering the box in your own design. After it's covered, you can paint the inside like I did. I painted it a dark orange and then covered it with a gold paint and wiped it off to create an antique look. Then added a faux jewel on top to finish it off.

Painted Fabric by Art Day Kids

Here are some examples of the fabric painting the kids did at Art Day. Each with their own personality.

Little Painted Fabric Book

Well, I wish I could claim this little book for my own but I found this idea in a craft DVD about fabric painting. I thought the kids would love painting fabric and they did! We used all kinds of stamps to make the patterns. Some of the kids just painted the fabric and enjoyed pinning them up on their walls. A couple of the older ones made this little journal with the patterned fabric.

I gave the kids one yard of muslin fabric and told them to pick out 3 or 4 colors of acrylic paint, and told them to paint 4 different patterns in the 4 quarters of the fabric. Some did some didn't, but it all worked out great! Take a look at some of the results above.

The book is made up of 2 chip board pieces (4" x 5") for the covers, covered with the pattered fabric and leaving room for the spine, about 1/4 inch. Use Elmer's glue or similar glue. I water the glue down slightly so it's easier to spread. Then 4 pieces of writing paper (7 1/2" x 4 1/2") for the inside signature. Fold in the middle to make a signature. The signature is simply sewn in through the spine and knotted in the center spread. Use any kind of strong thread or book binding thread. A button is attached to the cover using wire through the button then the chip board and curled on the inside cover and trimmed short. A few fibers gathered, a loop is made at one end and measured to fit then tied to the button at the other, wrap around and loop around button to close.

NOTE: Acrylic paint when dried on fabric is like plastic. As long as it's not too thick, it won't wash or rub off.

Arty Secret Box

This box is my sample for Art Day. The card stock box is decoupaged with magazine clippings and then further embellished with glitter pens. A drawer handle, from a home improvment store, used on the top to open the box and 4 wooden balls were painted with gold metallic paint and glued on the bottom for legs. Simple and cute. You can create very interesting looks with this method. Any wooden, paper mache or cardboard box can be used. Try using 3 dimensional objects on the box, or something different for the legs, like blocks, or short fat spindles.

What the Grandkids Say

I want share what my grandchildren say about Art Day.

Interviews with each one of the kids will revealed some interesting prespective on what Art Day is.

Amanda - (age 16)

GK Amanda, You've been coming to Art Day since the very beginning.

Amanda Oh yea, a long time.

GK Do you like it?
Amanda Oh yea

GK Of all the techniques that we do, what is your favorite.

Amanda I kind of like the painting. The one I did the best was the "A" when I white washed it first and then it looked really cool with the paint.

GK Yea, that turned out really nice, it almost looked like metal when you were finished. It was very cool.

GK Do you still have it at home.

Amanda Yup.

GK Do you have a lot of your Art Day projects.

Amanda Some of them, the ones that were more durable.

GK Yea, some are not made to last.

GK What is your favorite project?

Amanda I like the notebook.

GK Oh, the covered journal

Amanda Yea.

GK Do you like the other activities we do at Art Day.

Amanda Yea, its kind of a break and you're all messy so you clean up and do something else and the younger kids don't get so ansy. It's kind of nice. You can tell them "OK we're going to do some running now!"

GK And what about Grandpa! What kind of and addition is he to Art Day?

Amanda I don't know? I don't know? He is the one that teases, trys to help, jokes around--

GK And it wouldn't be Art Day without him

Amanda Yea.

GK How about the food at Art Day.

Amanda I love the muffins, pizza, McDonalds, kind of whatever we feel like.

GK What kind of project would you like to see at Art Day.

Amanda More of the 3-Dimensional things and puzzle things like my dragon thing. I had to pretty much put the whole thing together backwards.

GK So do you think you will still come to Art Day until you go off to Collage.

Amanda Yes

GK Amanda, I've really enjoyed having you at Art Day.

Amanda Smile.

Jack (age 15)

GK So Jack, do you still like coming to Art Day?
Jack I do.
GK You have been coming for a long time.
Jack Yea.
GK Tell me, what’s your favorite art medium.
Jack I like to draw with a nice new sharpened pencil and a nice clean sheet of paper.
GK What was your favorite project.
Jack I think the one I like the most was the wooden tray thing. I painted a submarine on it with tiger stripes.
GK We do other activities at Art Day—things like bowling, playing in the sprinklers, Chuck E Cheese, flying kites. Do you like those other activities besides art projects.
Jack Yes
GK Do you think we should keep them as a part of Art Day.
Jack Ya
GK It a good part of it I think, Like going to McDonalds.
Jack I do like McDonalds.
GK How about the food at Art Day. Is that a good part?
Jack It is good.
GK How about Grandpa, Is he a good part of Art Day?
Jack Yup, he is!
GK What was one of the funniest things that happened at Art Day?
Jack When Grandpa was trying to catch CJ at the playground.
GK Do you think you will continue doing art as you get older?
Jack As long as I have free time
GK Well Jack, I really have enjoyed having you at Art Day.
Jack I’ve enjoyed coming.

Alyssa - (age 14)

GK Alyssa, you've been coming to Art Day a long time.

Alyssa Ya, like since 2000.

GK I think we even started before that in 1999.

Alyssa Yea, then I was 4.

GK Do you like Art Day?

Alyssa Yes.

GK Tell me what your favorite type of material is to work with.

Alyssa I like painting and doing that papier mache stuff.

GK Oh, you mean like the decoupauge stuff with the paper napkins?

Alyssa Yea.

GK And do you have a favorite project that you've done?

Alyssa I like a lot of them. I like my letter that we put all our picture on.

GK Do you have a lot of your projects from past years?

Alyssa I have all of them.

GK You've kept all of them? Oh, I would love to see them again.

Alyssa It's funny, like the earlier ones are kind of sloppy and the newer ones are neater.

GK Oh yea. that's understandable.

Alyssa Whats the funniest thing that happened at Art Day?

Alyssa Probably Grandpa and Levi (3) painting. They were painting Levi's Art Day shirt. Levi was painting, Grandpa would move the shirt and Levi would move it back.

GK Do you like the other activities we do at Art Day like sprinklers, bowling, McDonalds.

Alyssa Yea, it's fun to take Grandma and Grandpa time and hang out with cousins. It was fun at McDonalds when we were littler. I don't think I can fit in those little play things anymore.

GK We've done a lot of playing in the sprinklers.

Alyssa I remember that little elephant and that big ball.

GK Ot was a lot of fun. We had a lot of hot days too.

Alyssa I like it better when it's hot out.

GK How about the food at Art Day.

Alyssa Like Chuck E Cheese, it's fun, it's yummy.

GK Every year we make a T-shirt. Is there one technique you like better then others?

Alyssa The face one, I like painting them and using the stamping. I like the tie-dye one but mines too small for me.

GK I'll think of some more projects if you still want to come.

Alyssa Grandma, why wouldn't I want to come. I love Grandma's Art Day.

Kate (age12)

GK Well Kate, you have been coming to Art Day for a long time too.
Kate Yea, since I was 4 I think.
GK Have you enjoyed it?
Kate Yea, very fun, and I really enjoy seeing all my cousins and doing the art projects.
GK What is your favorite art material to work with.
Kate I think what I like best is drawing on paper and coloring and also painting.
GK As far as projects, do you have a favorite project that you really liked.
Kate I think my favorite Art Day project would be the letter collage thing. Yea, I really liked that one.
GK How about the Art Day T-shirts.
Kate Yea, those are really fun. Every year we make one and we have our family stamp on it (a big yellow sun). I still have all of them.
GK Our sun stamp is always on our shirts. It’s like our family logo. Our shirts are always different.
Kate Yea, they’re like stamp painting, tie-dye, spray painting.
GK Can you recall any funny things that happened?
Kate One funny thing is your dogs, Cash and Kodi running around and chasing the kids and also watching the little kids like CJ and Levi painting and making a big mess.
GK How about other activities at Art Day like bowling or sprinklers, or going to the park or McDonalds. Do you think that is a good part of Art Day?
Kate I like that part too a lot because you can go be active or talk to your cousins. Also to take a break from the art projects and come back with all new ideas. And the bowling and things, those are really fun too.
GK Anything else you would like to say about Art Day.
Kate Art Day is really fun with all the mix of projects and active things and visiting with family.
GK Well thank you Kate
Kate Welcome

CJ (age 11)

GK CJ, you have been coming to Art Day for a while now. If other kids were asked to come to an Art Day, what would you tell them?
CJ I would tell other kids to come to an Art Day if they were invited.
GK What’s the funniest thing that happened at Art Day?
CJ Levi, everyone was laughing because he painted his face.
GK He painted his face?
CJ Yea, he was painting his paper and then his face a little bit.
GK How old was he when he painted his face?
CJ He was about 3.
GK Yea, a little on the paper, a little on me, at that age they are just trying it out.
GK What kind of art projects do you like to do?
CJ I like tie-dying the shirts and painting the shirts. With tie-dye you don’t know what they are going to be. Painting you already know what it’s going to be.
GK Do you like having Grandpa at Art Day?
CJ Yes, he helps. He’s the one playing all the PRANKS on everybody!
GK He’s more into the PRANKS than the ART. So there is funnier stuff going on at Art Day?
CJ Uh, ya, when we are waiting in between projects, hanging out doing whatever, playing pranks on Grandpa.
GK Let’s talk about the other activities we do at Art Day. Like bowling, playing in the sprinklers.
CJ Ya, we go bowling sometimes and playing in the sprinklers, but it was too cold. The pool was too cold.
GK That’s when you and Levi were the only ones going in the pool.
CJ Ya, Levi was only 2.
GK How about a special project that you liked.
CJ I liked the letter that we did with pictures.
GK Oh, the Collage Letter.
CJ Ya, I put pictures of Kodi on it. All over it.
GK In general, you like Art Day
CJ Yup. It’s fun. I’ve always enjoyed it. Good time with my cousins.
GK Thank you CJ.

Irina (age 9)

GK Irina, have you been coming to Art Day for a long time?
Irina Yes
GK Since you were 5
Irina 4 years, yes
GK Do you like Art Day
Irina Yes
GK What kind of stuff do you like to work with. Paint? Do you like to work with paper?
Irina I like making the journals. I got it upstairs.
GK Yea, that was a great project.
GK What was your favorite project to make?
Irina I would have to say my initial letter with the pictures all over it. Cousins and family pictures
GK Sometimes we have big projects and sometimes we have little projects.
Irina If we are done with the little projects we always have something else to do.
GK Do you like the other activities we have to do. Like sometimes we have the sprinklers set up.
Irina Ya, I like to splash in it.
GK Do you like playing with your cousins?
Irina Ya, and I like playing with the dog too.
GK You like playing with the dog, Cash?
Irina Ya
GK How about Grandpa, do you like him being there?
Irina He teases too much.
GK That makes it fun though.
Irina Ya
GK How about the food at Art Day.
Irina Yum!
GK What kind of projects do you think I should have for Art Day?
Irina More painting, mosaics
Irina I liked what me and my cousin did with a container and paint and a marble. Rolled it around inside the container and it painted the paper.
GK Oh yea, you, Levi and CJ did the marble art. That was fun and fast. Levi really loved that too.
GK Well, another Art Day is coming up, are you ready?
Irina Yup.
GK Thank you Irina.
Irina You’re welcome.

Levi - (aga 3)

GK Remember when you came to Grandmas and you did some art?

Levi Yup.

GK Did you really like doing the art?

Levi Ya.

GK Remember doing the painting in the can, where we put a marble in there and you shook the can like this.

Levi Ya

Alyssa Then you had the paper with the paint all over it.

Levi Ya

Alyssa Do you like that one?

Levi Ya

Alyssa Was that cool?

Levi Ya

Alyssa What about your shirt?

Levi It's at home.

Alyssa What did you do on it? Did you color it or paint it.

Levi I paint it!

Grandpa Who helped you paint it?

Levi I did!

Alyssa You did it all by yourself?

Levi Yea.

Alyssa I thought Grandpa helped you

Levi No.

Alyssa OK bye Levi.

Levi Bye.