Tissue Paper Angels

I guess its time to start with the Christmas Arts and Crafts. First up this tissue paper Angel...inspiration from Miss. P. at school...Thanks Miss. P.

We made 2 different sizes...a large 24" Angel to fill in those large empty spaces and a smaller 12" Angel which you can display in groups or use on cards.

Materials Required:

colored tissue paper for the dresses, 2 1/2 sheets for the large, one 1/4 sheet for the small
Angel templates, sm.angel, lg angel head, lg angel arm, lg angel wing
thin cardboard from packaging
paint
foil doilies, I get mine from the Dollar Store, for the large you need 8", the small needs 4"
cardstock
glitter, sparkle gems etc. for embellishing
white glue
scissors





Print off the templates...now google docs shrinks my templates by 20% so you can either enlarge them by that much on the photocopier or just use and make slightly smaller angels.

Trace the head onto some thin cardboard or chipboard and cut out.







Now you can paint these if you want or cover them with some paper and draw/color on the faces.

I painted mine...you only have to paint one side.









Take the wing template and trace onto white cardstock or whatever paper you want to use for your wings.

Also trace out the arm template onto cardstock and color using the same method you chose for the face. You need to color both sides.








For my large wings I decided to keep them white but added some feather detail with some white glitter glue.


For the smaller wings I covered them with the foil leftover from the inside of the doilies...stay tuned you'll see where we cut it out.







Make a nice Angel face on your head...our Angels have their eyes closed (they're at peace I tell the kids....asking them to give it a try). We then shaded our neck area with some diluted brown paint.





Now we have to give our Angels their fancy halo/hairdos.




For the large Angel we cut away the center portion of the 8" doily (this is where you can use the excess for the wings)...make a cut from the outside up to the center and then cut out. Put some glue on a few points of the doily and put in place tucking the bottom ends behind her shoulders.







For the small Angel fold the 4" doily in half.





Then cut the start of a heart shape...so you have a slit at the top of the center of the doily.










Put some glue on the center of the doily and then slide the head in so her forehead is partially covered.
















Turn your Angel over and glue the small angel arm piece along the bottom of the doily. For the large angel glue each arm into place.





Then glue the wings in place on top of the arms.

Your Angels should look like this now. Let the glue dry a bit.

Take your tissue paper...for the small you need 1/4 of a sheet...for the large you need 2 1/2 sheets.

Put a line of glue along the neck and then scrunch one of the short ends of the tissue paper into place. For the large Angels repeat this step with the second piece.

Now you can fold the arms over like she is praying...you could glue them together if you want or add something for her to hold like a songbook or instrument. We left ours plain.

If you want you can add a piece of trim to the neck for a necklace. You can now embellish like crazy if you wish.

And that's it a simple Angel with lots of impact...the large ones look good on a door...

the small ones can be grouped together in a choir.

Give it a try and make some Angels.

I will be back soon with more Christmas ideas.

Candy Box Advent Calendar

Well here is my project with the leftover boxes from our Halloween treats....an advent calendar.

I wanted to capture a sort of "Grandma Moses" type scene incorporating the city skyline as the boxes reminded me of skyscrapers.

If this seems daunting you can easily adapt this to a 12 days of Christmas calendar or even the last week before Christmas calendar.

As always you can click on any picture to see larger.

Materials Required:

24 0r 12 Halloween candy boxes

large piece of corrugated cardboard for the base

paint

2 sided adhesive foam, glue dots or glue (even Velcro)

clothespins

elastics

2 copies of printout of hiding places

scissors

Take your candy boxes and open along the seam they used to glue them together.

Turn inside out and re glue the long seam....use some clothespins to hold in place while the glue is setting up.

We are turning our boxes inside out as they are easier to paint this way (will only need 1 coat).

On the computer or by hand make a list of 24 hiding places in your house. Make sure you have 2 copies....one to keep as a reference and one to cut up. Cut the list into strips and put one in each box...make sure to write the # on the box somewhere so you can keep them straight. You can put it on the back and redo it on the front once you start painting.

I prefer this type of Advent calendar because it gives me more freedom with the treats that usually go inside the boxes...this way I can make them any size...I can substitute in tickets to Christmas show or activity....I tend to use

ornaments a lot...even our old heirloom ones...the child selecting that particular box will get to hang that special ornament on the tree. The kids love it because they never know what they will get and they enjoy the treasure hunt with the hiding places.

After you have put the slip of paper with the hiding place on it in the box refold the ends and glue into place. Use some elastic bands to hold it together while the glue is setting up. If your worried the kids won't be able to open the boxes you could just use tape or just tuck the ends in and leave the box open on one side...easier to access for those little fingers.

Using the large piece of cardboard as the backing plan out where the boxes will go and sketch out your design.

It doesn't need to be to elaborate...you could just do a landscape background and turn the boxes into snowmen or penguins.

You can trace around the boxes to have a plan of where everything goes while painting. I originally had 25 boxes but changed it to 24...just painted over #25.

Start painting your scene...paint your boxes to match. Make sure to put the number of the box somewhere on it where the kids can find it.

Attach your boxes with adhesive foam, glue dots or glue. You can even use Velcro dots so you can take the box off to open it if you want.

I used 2 sided adhesive foam as I intend the box to stay stuck to the background...the kids will just open the boxes from the side.

You can coat your calendar with a coat of Mod Podge if you want for a shiny look.

And that's it. The kids can't wait!

Give it a try and the kids can even create their own.

See you next time.

Paper Roll Squirrel

A few weeks ago I had to come up with a craft for my son's Beaver's troop fast. They were discussing squirrels and it had to involve a nut.



As with most Beaver crafts it had to be fast and doable for boys aged 5 to 7. These turned out to be such a hit I thought I'd post it.



I know I promised the project with the Halloween candy boxes and it's almost ready...I put a sneak peek at the end of this post so stayed tuned.

Materials Required:



walnuts

paper rolls

1/2 a piece of paper towel

2 googly eyes

1 small pom pom

some felt

squirrel leg template

fun fur scraps

acorn cap

glue









Take the paper roll and cut it down to a 3 inch length.



Take the 1/2 of paper towel and stuff it into the roll.



You could paint the paper roll if you want but we left ours natural.






Make sure it is even with the top of the roll and put some glue on top.








Place the walnut on top of the glue. make sure the walnut is on it's side so you have the seam of the nut running down the middle of the head...this will also give you a pointy end for your nose.








Glue on your eyes and the nose.








With some scraps of felt cut out 2 ears and glue into place.





We painted our acorn cap so our squirrel had a fancy hat but you can leave it natural. Glue into place on top of head.





Using the leg template cut out 2 legs. We used brown paper but you could also cut these from felt.



Glue into place.





Cut your fun fur into a 2 inch strip about 1/2 an inch wide.



Glue into place.











Take some felt and cut two strips. Round the edges on one end. Glue into place for arms.





And that's it. Pretty simple but the boys had a great time and I received lots of positive comments from the parents.







My son added a felt piece for the belly of his squirrel who is now proudly called "Nutty".


Jenny from Plant City, Florida sent me this photo of the Fall Trees her 4th Graders did. They added a Fall Poem and have been getting wonderful compliments on their display.

I decided to add an Art Project Gallery component to this blog . If you send me a photo of your work using the lessons on this blog I'll put it in the gallery. Just email me...click on my profile at the top to direct you to my email.

Thanks Jenny..they look terrific!!

Here is a sneak peek of the upcoming project.


We'll see you next time.