This past summer in art camp we tried something totally different and new: soap making! I researched heavily, relying on the trial and error of other bloggers. I loved the goat milk soaps made by the kids at Purple Twig – especially with their use of flowers and herbs – but ultimately I decided to…
DIY
Little Advent Boxes
At the risk of sounding cliché, how can it almost be December already? Or for that matter, how can we be in the 11th month of 2015 at this very moment? One theory of time moving at warp speed is because my house is now filled with teens and tweens. Days beginning with alarm clocks — and clothing freak-outs,…
Homemade No-Sew Puppet Theatre
This might be one of my all-time favorite collaborations my campers have ever done. I just love this puppet theatre – how gorgeous is that fabric? I know I’m not supposed to say that art is beautiful, and I don’t say that around my students, but to you I can say this. I mean, they…
16 DIY Pretty Pumpkins without Carving
Every year we carve our pumpkins the night before Halloween. I don’t know why we always leave it until the very last moment. I buy the pumpkins weeks before! My guess is that we wait so long because carving is no fun. I mean, picking out the pumpkins is fun. But that’s about it. All the other…
Ribbon Chandelier
I’m so in love with this ribbon chandelier that the kids and I made together in art camp. I’ve been wanting to make one for a year, ever since I saw this one on Pinterest made with fabric strips. A few weeks ago, I was teaching a week of art camp centered around fabric and textiles,…
DIY Marbled Paper
Have you ever tried marbling paper with shaving cream? We’ve done it in art camp many, many times. Yes, it’s messy. But it’s also magical. The kids usually make and make until all the shaving cream is used up. This last time we went through six cans! I think they look like those beautiful Italian marbled…
Pom-Pom Paper Flowers
I’ve always wanted to paint crepe paper to look like flower petals. Have you? I get these ideas in my head sometimes and I just have to try them so that I can make room for more ideas! I made these in June and gave them to a few of my favorite teachers. Through trial and error,…
Paper Bag Art Portfolio
I teach art class twice a week for an hour. I have six kids in each class. We work in my living room. The classes are small and completely perfect. At the end of each six-week session, I put each child’s work into a paper bag portfolio. I like to think that I invented these,…
Branch Weaving
I’ve been wanting to weave on a branch for years. That might sound strange to an ordinary person, but for this textile design geek it’s a perfectly normal dream! Since my windows of making-alone-time are far and few between, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time finding the perfect branch. I literally took this…
DIY Cardboard Easel
There are many ways to make a quick easel. I might have learned quite a few tricks if I had actually researched before I made this project. But I’m much more of a spontaneous planner, and I woke up on the morning of art class with an idea that my students should experience painting on a proper…
