Art Magic with Kids

Making art with kids is an honor.  Watching their process; witnessing their pure creative imagination is a magical thing.  Most of the summer we have been busy with pretty elaborate projects so yesterday I set up a bunch of stations and let the kids move around at their own pace.

Minions

For this project, I put out a bunch of craft supplies and recycled items I picked up from R.A.F.T. and suggested that they make their own minions.

Race Cars

I picked up small wooden race cars on clearance at Joanns.  I invited the kids to decorate their cars and then race them on our track.

 

Paper Bag Puppets and Buildings

I scattered around yarn, tissue paper, ribbon, scrapbook paper and other craft supplies.  The kids were encouraged to make puppets and/ or a building with their paperbags.

The kids who built buildings decided to work together to make a town.  They were so excited that they jumped up and down and clapped each time someone added a new building!  It was awesome.

The put down some of the paper we had used to make the race track and drew a road and sidewalks

One of the girls made bushes and trees.

I laughed out loud with glee when I saw that one of the boys had made a Target store and then made Target his race car sponsor.  How clever!

 

It was such a relaxing and joyful afternoon.  I love introducing the kids to new kinds of projects yet the simple crafts we did when we were kids still deliver a ton of fun.

Another Washi Tape Dispenser Upcycle

I had to bring Washi tape to summer camp this week for one of the many projects we did.  I didn't want to bring my aluminum foil dispenser because I was afraid that tiny hands would get into my stash and I'd see little faces with beautifully printed tape holding their lips together or eyelids shut.

I had some left over duct tape dispensors from the Dollar Tree... (OMG - that is another blog post all by itself!  They had all kinds of colors and patterns and the tape was only 1/2 inch thick...oh sorry)
...so I poked and prodded until I got one of the plastic casings open (duh - with a simple twist). I was delighted to discover that this $1 tape which was AWE-SOME, also turned out to be a fantastic Washi tape dispenser for single rolls. Here's a short tutorial:

Summer Fruit. What a Hoot. Scrapbooking the Silly.

I looooooooove nectarines.  I had a white nectarine this morning that just about made me cry it was so good.  Actually, I love almost all summer fruit.  Watermelon, cantaloupe, plums, berries, pineapple and tomatoes.  Yes, a tomato is a fruit and we have 2 plants going gangbusters so I have been eating several a day.  Wonderful, juicy heirlooms with a hint of salt...Mmmmmmmm.

The weekly challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog is called "Fruit Salad" and we have been asked to make a craft project that contains fruit (and at least one Cricut cut).  I had a hard time coming up with a design for this project.  I have been trying to create  scrapbook layouts for my design team creations so that I get at least one page a week completed for our family albums.  So trying to find a concept that would work with our family photos and would include a Cricut cut and would be clever, maybe even a little charming, was a real humdinger.  
 

First, I went to My Cut Search to find all the fruity cartridge options Cricut has to offer.  Then I sifted through those so I had a shorter list that just included the cartridges I own.  From there, I flipped through by handbooks (I prefer them to the digi's when I am brain storming) to find an image that would inspire me.  Finally, I committed to the apple tree from the Freshly Picked cartridge.  I knew I could easily work the old adage "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" into our family photos since it was so apropos. Before I could say "banana split" a specific photo came to mind.

The thing I struggled with most with this layout was bridging the clean, fresh images from the cartridge with the very edgy photo of Eva and I going out to dinner in costumes just for giggles.  I made a lot of cuts using a variety of papers but the design that worked best for me was the melding of the Basic Grey, Dasher "Snowfall Cranberry" with red (DCWV), a shade of green, kraft, black and white cardstock (all Valuepack from Michael's).  I used a couple foam dots to pop up the apples for a wee bit of dimension, but all in all, it is a pretty simple design.

I still need to add some journalling because it was quite a memorable evening.  We went to a local coffee shop all dressed up like super hero hot shots. They were still serving the earlybird special so the restaurant was pretty full with mature people from the nearby senior community. We sure gave them something to talk about!  It was a hoot and a hollar and I hope those kinds of memories will help my daughter live with a light heart, a playful spirit and an unusual wardrobe!

Crafting Clean Up

If you are anything like me, the thing you enjoy least about crafting is cleaning up. Shamefully, I am one of those cleaner-upers that stacks all the project supplies in a nesting doll sort of way and then tucks the pile in a corner or on a shelf to address at a later date (yeah right...) The results include ruined brushes, stained applicators, materials and table tops, leaks, splatters, odd smells, smashed supplies along with an array of other messes.

And materials maintenance? With head held low, I must admit that I do not clean my stamps after I use them, I use the wrong type of scissors to cut things with adhesive, I don't scrape all the paper residue off of my Cricut mat and my Sizzix dies have years of paper scraps wedged around the blades. This blog post is dedicated to craft clean-up and maintenance tricks, tips and recipes. I'm thinking maybe I'll even use some of these gems:

CRAFT CLEAN-UP TIPS AND SOLUTIONS

• Use a cookie sheet covered with wax paper as a "messy" station for glue, glitter, punching and hand cutting. Super easy clean-up and no more scattered mess on your work surface or floor. Did you know you can buy cookie sheets at the Dollar store? And guess how much they cost? A dollar.
• Cover your work surface with cheap dollar store shower curtain liner for easy clean-up.  I prefer a shower curtain liner to tablecloths because they are thicker and less likely to tear.

• Keep a funnel with your beading supplies so when it is time to clean up you can easily pour beads back into small plastic baggies and containers.

 

• To clean paint brushed, soak them in vinegar overnight.  You can also soak brushes that are weary in Murphy's oil, hair conditioner or fabric softener to make them like new.
• If interrupted while painting, stash your brushes in plastic bags.  Secure brush bristles in a baggie with a rubber band.  Store in the fridge until you can return to your project, even if it takes a few days.
• Clean up glitter with a lint roller

• Use a small dust pan/ sweeper to clean small paper scraps and wrappers off of your work surface.  Swoooosh - right into the trash.  By the way, you can also pick one of these combos at the dollar store.
• Keep a magnet in your craft room to pick up stick pins, brads, eyelets (does anyone use those anymore?) in a cinch.  You can buy a large horseshoe sized magnet at Micheal's in the "Fun Finds" section.

 

• You can remove new and recent paint, pen, and marker stains from your favorite cutting mat using two common household items: a smooth cotton cloth and a bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol! To clean your mat, simply soak the cloth with undiluted rubbing alcohol, then gently rub away the stains before they set.
• When cutting things with adhesive, your scissors can get sticky and gummy.  DON'T WASH THEM WITH WATER - they will rust.  Use alcohol swabs or pour some on a cotton ball to clean them right up.  

 

• You can also use Goo-gone to clean up sticky messes including gum on scissors.  No need to buy it at the store.  Make it at home with this recipe:    Combine 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and 2 teaspoons baking soda in a small bowl.  It will be a somewhat thin mixture but not as thin as the real Goo Gone.  Dip the edge of a piece of paper towel in the mixture and then rub over the sticky stuff you are trying to remove.  Keep applying and rubbing as needed.
• Speaking of Goo-gone, did you know it cleans crayon off of walls.
• Use a cardboard box as an enclosure when you spray clear coat, setting/ finishing spray, varnish and spray paint to contain the mess.

CRAFT SUPPLY MAINTENANCE TIPS AND TRICKS

• Sharpen your scissors and punches by cutting/ punching sandpaper!
• Lubricate your scissors and punches by cutting/ punching waxed paper!
• Make sandpaper last 3 times longer by putting duct tape on the back of it.

 

• Put a little Vaseline on the end of your glue gun to prevent those long glue strings
• Use a long knitting needled to apply/ manipulate hot glue and prevent burnt fingers!
• Give life to old tape by microwaving it for 10 seconds.

 

• Hardened glue sticks can be revitalized by soaking them in water to rehydrate.

• When pinning fabric together or hand sewing, stick pins into a bar of soap.  It will make it easier to use and bring new life to old over used pins. If you are feeling a little frisky, you could actually use a bar of soap as a pin cushion.

• Keep a small, weak magnet stuck to your sewing machine to hold a threaded needle for when you need to hand-sew something.