Art Projects

Sam was sick week before last, so we were home much of the week...missed our Play Wisely class, art, music, and playgroup. So, we finally got to do some art projects from my favorite art blog, The Artful Parent.

Our first project was 'Nature Impressions' out of Sculpey. The Sculpey was a little difficult to work with and since I've never used it before, I'm not sure whether is was old or just the way it is. (If you live in the Dallas area, I got the Sculpey at Asel Art Supply...but not all the stores had it, so call first.) We (actually, I) did finally get our Sculpey separated and rolled out into small discs. Then we went to the backyard to take a little nature hike. Much of what we collected came from our herb garden. We brought in our pieces of nature and pressed (very hard...Sam loved this part and put quite a bit of effort into it) each Sculpey piece on a leaf/rock/grass to make the impression. I baked them and then let Sam paint them.




















We also did a good ol' favorite of mine from childhood...named "Sun Catchers" by Jean at the Artful Parent. Wax paper, crayon shavings, iron...you know the rest, right? I did the shavings on an old grater and then let Sam pick the colors and "arrange" the shavings on the wax paper. He loved playing in the shavings and we made quite mess. I, of course, did the ironing of the shavings between wax paper and towels...remember not to put your iron directly on the wax paper. And the iron doesn't have to be too hot (as long as you don't have a mound of shavings in one spot like Sam did). I "framed" our sun catchers in construction paper hung them in one of our kitchen windows that gets morning sun. And If you want to avoid using an iron with the kiddos, try using clear contact paper instead...another idea from Jean at The Artful Parent. She's also made contact paper sun catchers with yarn, tissue paper or dried plants, flowers, etc.