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yarn

Mixed-Media Process Art Weaving Invitation

April 5, 2025 by Barbara Rucci 2 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve written about my open-studio library events. This mixed-media process art weaving invitation that I set out for a multi-age group was more prep than I usually do, but it was worth it and as successful as I had hoped! I will admit I was a little ambiguous about how…

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Rainbow Tube Knitting with TP Roll Looms

January 11, 2025 by Barbara Rucci 2 Comments

Rainbow tube knitted bracelents wrapped around two hands holding each other.

Happy 2025! My last post about printing my hopeful Kamala prints has been staring at me every time I come back here. I am going to have to create 7 new posts in order to not see it anymore on my homepage, so that’s what I will do! I still love the prints, I love…

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Mixed-Media Exploration with Wood

April 3, 2024 by Barbara Rucci 1 Comment

Children make sculptures with wood, glue, magazines, and other collage materials and dry them on a rack.

Hello! It’s been a while. I have been working so much on The Creativity Project that it’s been hard to find the time to write over here on Art Bar. But I have things to share! As you know, I have been facilitating open-studio classes at our local library over the past year (I’ve written…

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Pom-pom Tassel DIY

February 9, 2023 by Barbara Rucci 2 Comments

Pom-poms and tassels made with yarn and tied to a book ring

I’m back to making pom-poms and finding inspiration through yarn! It brings me so much joy, I really need to buy or make a big loom so I can create bigger yarn pieces. But for now, pom-poms and tassels it is! These are just fun to make with a group, or for a gift, or…

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Round Doodle Weaving

September 13, 2022 by Barbara Rucci Leave a Comment

doodle weaving made with colorful yarn in a round embroidery hoop

My mind is constantly trying to fit in time to weave. I am such a novice, and don’t really have a style, but I love playing around with color and shape. This time I tried a round doodle weaving using an embroidery hoop! I didn’t follow anybody’s instructions, I just made it up as I…

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Doodle Weaving

April 23, 2022 by Barbara Rucci 9 Comments

doodle waving, lots of bright colored yarns, DIY for tweens and teens

If I had to choose one art medium for the rest of my life it would be fibers. I am always drawn to them, even from an early age when I only wanted to wear corduroy pants because I could run my fingers across the grooves and make a cool sound. My focus as an…

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Pom-Pom “Pujaki”

March 8, 2022 by Barbara Rucci 2 Comments

Make a traditional Polish Pujaki, but with pom-poms instead of paper.

It’s time to update this pom-pom chandelier post from 9 years ago, one of the first that went “viral” on my blog in 2013. The reason I wanted to update this post in particular today is because this chandelier was inspired by traditional Polish chandeliers called Pujaki (made from paper) and I really want to…

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Ojo de Dios / God’s Eye

August 25, 2020 by Barbara Rucci 6 Comments

Make a six-pointed God's eye with twigs and yarn.

Wow, summer of 2020 is almost over! It’s been… interesting. Thankfully we have old-school crafts like these God’s Eyes to keep us distracted from current events. I wrote a post about “Ojo de Dios” exactly 8 years ago when I first started my blog. I decided to update my old post instead of adding a…

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Art and Play Activity Guide for Learning at Home / Week 6

April 17, 2020 by Barbara Rucci Leave a Comment

This Weekly Art & Play guide for learning at home promotes math, literacy and science through creativity. Join us for Fabric & Yarn week!

This week we celebrate the fiber arts as we play around with FABRIC & YARN! Yay!! It’s also Earth Day on Wednesday so we’ll be honoring Mother Earth, too. Many of us are spending time decluttering and cleaning out closets. This week we’ll use some of our old clothes for fabric collage, or cut up…

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Yarn Star Ornaments

December 12, 2019 by Barbara Rucci Leave a Comment

Make the cutest star ornaments with yarn and wire.

Today I want to share how we made these delightful DIY yarn star ornaments!  I love this idea of wrapping pipe cleaners with yarn. It’s not only charming and pretty, but therapeutic. (And yes, everything is cuter with pom-poms!) [ I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed…

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I have been thinking lately about so many big idea I have been thinking lately about so many big ideas. They seem to be stuck, though, in the cogs of my brain. I need to articulate and connect these ideas together, but I can’t find the right words, or medium. It feels like trudging through thick mud, and then making the choice to set up camp in the muddy place. Maybe this is always what motherhood + living a creative life will be. And I am ok with that, too. Life is mucky, and even though I crave clarity, I am also acutely aware that this is why I also crave art. Music, books, museums, film, gardens… these are the mediums humans turn to when they need to find connection and, if we are lucky, clarity. But I feel more protective of my human-centered ideas these days and less willing to share them in spaces like this where they are open source. I don’t even know what is real sometimes. And how am I contributing to this landscape of creative and intellectual robbery. I think I am headed in a different direction but I don’t know what that is yet. Meanwhile, I am camping in the mud and looking for beauty where I am. 

Some moments new and old, lately…

1. Painting at my easel, age 4 when we lived in England before moving to the US. 
2. I tried making a video of motherhood on mother’s day inspired by this song 🌙 but never finished. 
3. Planting dahlias 🌸
4. Year 2 of my veggie garden. It is not going well. 
5. We diagnosed our garden problem as not enough sun so cut down a tree to give the sun a little path but then the sun moved. Also failing at science 😳
6. When you see your habits in your children ❤️ 
7. My mom’s caretaker gave me a cake and now I am a whole year younger 🙏🏼
8. Thank you James for the treats, mom dreams of traveling to visit your bakery but this was the next best thing 🥐
9. Finding 50 bucks in jeans from 20 years ago 👏🏼 Always check the pockets!
10. The newly graduated makeup artist with her kit off to a job 💋 
11. When the birthday kid isn’t home it’s too sad. must make art. 
12. When I am so dumb and share it on the internet 🙃
13. My heart, my clarity ❤️
14. Another round of silkscreening! Things are happening. 
15. MUA by Ava, and hanging out with the help 😍
16. Reminder.
Happy Earth Day! Can we agree that every day is Happy Earth Day! 

Can we agree that every day is Earth Day? The older I get, the more I change my habits to be kinder to this beautiful planet. Lately, seeing the photos from Artemis II of Earth from space has really moved me to make even more planet-friendly choices. Here are some things we do at home, and of course, we could always be better, but I also think small changes are more doable and sustainable, and if millions of us did just one of these things, it would make a difference.

Ok, here goes! My hope is that someone reads one of these actions and thinks, I can do this! We cannot reverse the melting ice caps, but we can stop further global warming… humans can do this if we work together. It starts small and is community-driven, so share this with friends!

1. Eating less meat, eating more veggies (this is also called eating low on the food chain). A vegetarian or vegan diet is a low-carbon diet. Did you know switching to 2/3 vegan reduces your carbon footprint by 60%? 
2. Grow our own veggies. Save on emissions and packaging, and find joy in gardening.
3. Less food waste. Eat leftovers, clear the fridge.
4. Buy less. Buy local.
5. Repurpose, fix, mend, thrift.
6. Make homemade gifts.
7. Drive less, fly less. (This one is harder, but being conscious of it is really important.)
8. Moderate, steady thermostat settings can save so much energy. Try 67/68 F in the winter and 72/73 in the summer and don’t touch it.
9. No pesticides on our lawn. It may not be pretty, but we have never had a beautiful lawn, and I’m fine with that. We also live on a river so the thought of polluting that water so I can have a perfect lawn is crazy.
10. Using non-toxic cleaning products or making our own from vinegar.
11. This year, we will do “no-mow May” to promote biodiversity, help the soil, and reduce emissions.
12. Vote for candidates who take climate change seriously!

Add some things you are doing in the comments. This is a judgment-free zone, so no preaching! But for real, we all can do a little bit better. 

The blog post about these signs is on artbarblog.com, link in bio!
New blog post! It’s about time I share my favorite New blog post! It’s about time I share my favorite materials that I bring to the library. Read the post for links and tips for how to pair these materials to foster deep engagement. Children have always needed time in childhood to use their hands to make things and play, but now more than ever, the skills they develop through these experiences are imperative for their future well-being and success. I’ve been reading everywhere about children’s “lost skills” in this new ed tech world where screens have replaced so much hands-on learning in the classroom, even as young as preschool 😞 Communication skills, flexible thinking, regulating emotions, building empathy for others, innovating, even core strength and pencil grips are a struggle. Offering time and materials for making things and playing with ideas should not be a challenge; it should be as essential as filling bodies with fresh air and food. Play is how children learn! Anyway, I hope this post will inspire you to collect some things for making and maybe even join our Materials Matter course over on @the.creativityproject so that you, too, can become an expert at cultivating creative thinking through art making!
It’s almost impossible to concentrate or sleep or It’s almost impossible to concentrate or sleep or work or enjoy anything these days. I know joy is resistance, art is resistance, kindness and empathy are resistance, and I try and practice all of these things every day, and also boycotting and shopping local and volunteering and making calls and checking on my neighbors and bartering and keeping our big tree lit for the community. And still, it doesn’t feel like nearly enough. I know we probably all feel this way. And maybe the collective small things really do add up to bigger movements, I don’t know. It’s Sunday and my mom is in the hospital again and I miss my one at college and I had such a bad dream last night. My headspace is not in cheerleader mode which is my usual default. And yet… going through my camera roll to find photos of things I made did actually help today. And I have made a plan for future things to make. When I wake up in the middle of the night, the way I get myself back to sleep is by envisioning this one big installation idea I’ve had for years, it takes place in a forest and involves textiles. So maybe 2026 is the year for me to bring this to life, or begin the process. I think about this quote, and it helps, too: When you make art, you rebel against a world that fears vulnerability. Ok, I’m better. Thank you for listening 🤪❤️

Ps: It weighs on me that Meta should be part of the boycotts. If anyone has any ideas for building community and sharing somehow somewhere else let’s discuss.
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All content on this blog is copyright and owned by Art Bar Blog unless otherise stated. I would be flattered if you wanted to use an image from one of my posts! But please, ask me first. I would also ask that if it involves DIY instructions with a list of supplies that you don't repost any of that stuff because then nobody would have a reason to click back to my original post!

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There are two things that I'm passionate about: Children + Art. As an art teacher, author, graphic designer, and mom to 3 creative thinkers, I get to explore my passions every day! Learn more...

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