Sunglasses Art Project

I was asked by the teachers at school to come up with an art project to correspond with the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) "Shades of Fun" campagin.

On Thursday all the kids at school will be wearing sunglasses during classes to participate

I made a pattern for a pair of sunglasses.  You can use mine, (Sunglasses Pattern), if you want. I can only fit 1/2 on the page so either cut it on the fold for a full pattern or cut out one side, flip, and then trace the other side.  I then traced this pattern onto posterboard.

Cut out the sunglasses.

I then traced around each lens to make a pattern. 

I cut the lens out slightly smaller than I traced so it would fit on the frame.

They fit in like this.

You then pencil in a drawing showing activities where you would wear your sunglasses.

Add some color with pencil crayons, markers, paint.......

Taking some cellophane wrap...... cut out 2 lens pieces silimar in size to the white ones you cut.

Turn glasses over to the back side and glue the cellophane into place.  UPDATE:  While doing 44 pairs of these I found that tape was more effective...the glue does not stick so well to the cellophane.

Glue the pictures on top of the cellophane.

and that's all there is to it.  Give it a try and be sure to wear your sunglasses on Thursday!

On Saturday I was honored to be featured on "Today's Creative Blog" if you get a chance check it out.

Pea Pod Buddies

Yesterday I made these Pea Pod Buddies.

The kids had been asking me to make them ever since I got this book. I absolutely love this book.....its all about making dolls using gloves. There are all kinds of animals although I especially love the cat...fairies, snowmen. kimono girls, etc.

It is in Japanese but it has so many pictures that it is easy to follow along. I get my Japanese craft books from Saucy Louise as I find the postage to Canada very reasonable.

My kids also love this book which has over 100 little felt characters for them to make all about 3 inches tall.

They have learned how to transfer the pattern, cut out the felt and sew them together...all the small parts are glued on.

Check out the frog my 6yr old made yesterday.

Back to the Pea Pods....in the book they call them beans.....which is probably botanically correct as they are white but we call them peas.

You need some cotton gloves.....I hit the jackpot at Wal Mart. In the hardware section they sell a pack of 12 pairs for $5.00.

I have also used the mini gloves from the dollar store....you know the one size fits all ones.

Cut off the finger tips......you need them to be about 2.5 inches long.

Thread a needle and make a running stitch around the cut edge.

Stuff with some wool or stuffing to make a nice sized pea.

Pull the thread tight....add some stitches to try and flatten the bunched end and knot off.

Make as many as you want....next you have to add the faces. Thread a needle with some embroidery thread. I'm using 3 strands. I choose green but you can do it in any color.

Coming in from the back of the pea make the nose with a few stitches.

Add the eyes and mouth and put in some eyebrows... the eyebrows help to add different expressions....happy, sleepy, mad.

Use a red crayon to add some blush to the cheeks....you need to circle around a few times before the color transfers.

Now you need to cut out the pods.

For the open pods I used 2 different fabrics. One for the inside and one for the outside.

I used cotton quilting fabric and wool felt.

Make a pod pattern....you can click on this picture to make larger. The pod is 4.5 inches long and 1.5 inches wide at the middle. You can also make smaller pods if you wish.

The stem end is in a star shape approx. 1.5 inches wide from one point to another.

Cut your pod shape out on the fold....they should look like this when you are done.

I used the wool felt for the stem end.




Put 2 pod shapes right sides together and stitch leaving about 2 inches open for turning. I'm at the cabin so I hand stitched all mine but I'm sure the machine would be much faster!!

Turn and hand stitch the opening closed.

You can press them if you wish at this point.

You then have to add a little seam down the back of the pod.

Insert a pea and sew a pocket with a few stitches. The first one I made I actually sewed the peas in place but the kids wanted to be able to take the peas out to play with them....so from then on I just sewed in the pocket.

If you are making one where some of the pod is closed you can add some stuffing to keep that pod shape.

Add a stem end with a few stitches and you are done.

I made some plain pods, stuffed and with only 1 piece of fabric. I think they make a nice addition to the pea buddies.

I also left one pea free....the kids used him as the buddy knocking on the door to ask if the other peas could come out and play.

They also came up with names for all the peas based on their expressions.


So give it a try and sew up some pea pod buddies for your kids or get them to give it a go.

see you next time

gail

How to Make a Miniature Garden

So these are the mini gardens I finished up today for the kids to give to their teachers tomorrow....on the last day of school...FINALLY!!!

I can't wait for some extra time to do some painting and great tutorials for this blog.

I promised to show you how to make these gardens so here we go.......

Materials Required:

a house...now I purchase houses at Christmas time specifically to make these gardens but you can find some at garage sales or make one out of a fence post like I described in this post. If you house has snow on it you can easily paint it to be moss.

paint

paintbrushes

sealer, I use Duraclear glossy

planter

soil

flowers

large pebbles

small decorative rock

twigs

Here are the houses I buy at Christmas. These are from Walmart and I think I paid $3.00 a piece.

There are some craft stores that sell these all year round so keep an eye out. Otherwise you can make a wood one or modify a secondhand house from a Christmas village.

If you are painting a plain one the first thing you want to do is brush it with an old paintbrush. This gets off the excess dust as well as some of the extra plaster bits that shouldn't be there.

Start painting...I use Folk Art acrylic paints. Now when you start to paint you want to work with the largest areas first and then work your way up to the trim. This saves in the touch ups.

Due to the white chalky nature of the plaster you will find your colors appear somewhat garish. If you try to keep to traditional house colors you will be OK once the final antiquing coat goes on at the end.

If you water your paints down a little you will get better coverage as the plaster soaks up the paint very fast.

When you reach the snow bits on the roof and the ground you want to paint these green like moss. I usually paint it a dark green first like "thicket" and then pounce on some light Hauser green and a little bit of yellow. This adds depth to your trees and moss.


Paint the inner sills of the windows black. This hides them a bit.

If you can't get all the little spaces don't worry the glaze will take care of it.

The glaze also hides any imperfections in your painting.

Now it's time for the antiquing glaze. You want a little bit of paint, I usually use Brunt Umber...add some float medium just to the side of your paint....next add a few drops of water....mix together in a small amount to make your glaze.

You then want to paint the entire house with this watery glaze. It will fill in all the little spaces and add depth to shingles, stone etc. It also covers all the little mistakes.

It tones down the colors to make them look more realistic.

Here is red roof getting the antiquing treatment.

For stone work you may want to use a bit of black paint for the glaze. It fills in all the grout lines and make it look like real stone or tile.

When finished let dry and cure. You are supposed to wait 24 hrs but sometimes I cheat if I am in a rush. I just have to be careful that the paint doesn't start to lift.

When dry cover in a coat of Duraclear glossy and set aside to dry.

While your house is drying find some nice flat pebbles. This will be your address marker.

Paint with a few coats of a light acrylic color.


Let dry.

Using a fine paintbrush make up an address for your house.....something like Lilliput Lane, Dragonfly Manor, Barnacle Bay.

The secret to using a fine liner paintbrush is to have very thin paint. Add water to black or brown to letter your sign. I then add some flowers or a vine.


Let dry and cover with a coat of Duraclear as well.

Now you need a nice planter for your garden....something with a low profile but large enough to plant a few flowers and have space for your house. I use these terracotta planters...they are 16.5" in diameter and are about 8 inches high.

Put some large pebbles in the bottom for drainage.

Plant some flowers and herbs in a semicircle around the back of your planter. You are leaving space for your house and pathway in the front.


Try to choose plants that will stay small...only about 12" high at the max. Look for ones with small leaves and flowers to fit with the theme.

I usually pick up some extra park benches at Christmas time to go with the houses but neglected to do so this time.

I decided to add a fence to the pathway. I found a bunch of sticks on the thinner side and cut them all to about 4 ".

I place decorative rock in the back of the planter where the house will sit and then add a pathway.

This time I added my twig fence as well.

Put your address marker near the front.

And that's it a cute little mini garden that makes a great gift. My kids like to set up little mini scenes in the regular flower bed as well. It's amazing what you can come up with!

Take care and I'll see you next time.

gail