Handprint Angels

This is a Christmas craft I came up with for Kindergarten last week, handprint Angels.

It's made on a 2" x 6" that is cut into a square.  Sturdy enough to stand on their own on a table or mantle.




















MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- piece of 2" x 6" cut into 6" square, I buy 8ft lengths at Home Depot, after cutting each one works out to about 25 cents
- blue or purple acrylic paint
- white acrylic paint
- snow glitter
- brown kraft paper or card stock
- silver or gold paper doilies
- pencil crayons or twistable crayons
- silver or gold pipe cleaners
- silver or gold wrapping paper
- glue
- scissors
- Mod podge

PROCEDURE:

I had the kids paint the wood block either dark blue or purple.

I then painted their hand with white paint.  I used a paintbrush rather than having them place their hand in the paint.  This produces a better print with more definition.


Now I'm using my 11 yr. old son for this photo and his hand just fits.  The kinders hands are smaller so they fit well on the 6" x 6" block.

While the paint is still wet we sprinkle on some snow glitter.

Here are some of the kinders.

Put aside to dry.

When the paint is dry cut a circle out of the brown kraft paper or card stock.  I have a selection of paper in all skin tones just for projects like this one.

I used my circle punch as it was just the right size.

Using pencil crayons, twistable crayons, and fine black sharpies draw in the face.

I had the kinders choose what colour doily they wanted for the wings.  They then cut 2 ovals out of it for the wings.  For some kids I had to draw the ovals on the back and then they cut.

Glue into place on the sides of the palm.  The face is then glued on.

I have a heart punch which we used to cut the heart out of the wrapping paper or card stock.  This is glued under the head.  Take a gold or silver pipe cleaner, cut into thirds.  Twist the piece into a circle to form the halo.  Glue into place.

I printed out the year on the computer and we glued that on the block as well.

Finally you can add a coat of podge to seal and give you a nice shiny finish.

Here are some of the Angels before podging.

Another project from last week was the Nativity silhouettes with grade 2.  Here we did them on canvas instead of paper and then we also podged.




Great work everyone.

Folk Art Angels

Folk Art Angels are irresistibly cute.

I was watching 'Tootsie' on TV last week and there was a Folk Art Angel in Jessica Lange's character's apartment.  That's it, I thought, time to give them a try!

Now this version is made from cardboard.

This one is done on paper.  Both use the same template and are easy to put together.

You can make them as elaborate as you want.
















MATERIALS NEEDED:

- template  (Folk Art Angels)
- corrugated cardboard or heavy paper, book pages
- scissors
- paint, acrylic or tempera
- fine sharpies, gold and silver sharpie (optional)
- tacky glue
- wire
- glitter glue
- black crayon for paper stars
- sequins, beads, stars or gems
- feathers or garland for hair
- popsicle sticks for hand and feet


PROCEDURE:

Cardboard Version:

Print off my template, (Folk Art Angels).  Trace and cut out pieces from corrugated cardboard.

If you are using recycled cardboard with images on it you might want to prime your pieces first.  I also prime any pieces I'm going to be using metallic paints on as they tend to be quite translucent.

Paint your pieces in their final colours.

Using fine sharpies, (they have them in gold and silver too!), glitter, and paint add some fine details.

I used an end of a paintbrush in paint to make all the dots.

Add sequins, gems, beads or whatever you have on hand to embellish your angel.

For the face I painted it flesh toned.  I added two pink circles to the cheeks.  With a fine sharpie I added the face.

I used feathers for the hair which were glued on with tacky glue.

For the hand and the 2 feet I painted the ends of popsicle sticks. 

For the star halo I painted 2 cardboard stars yellow, added glitter and gems.

I took a piece of wire and glued it between the two like a sandwich.

I then slid the wire between the corrugations in the cardboard head. 

Glue all the pieces together.






The last thing you need to do is glue a skewer to the back.

You now have a great decoration to stick into a potted poinsettia or Christmas arrangement.












Paper Version:

For the paper version you need to paint a background.  Here I taped off a piece of wc paper onto an art board.  I then painted on purple, blue and a little black using disk tempera.



Set aside to dry.








Cut your template (Folk Art Angel) pieces out of heavy paper.  I used an old brown paper bag.


I used book pages for the stars.

I painted all my pieces and set them aside to dry.


Then I started decorating.  I used reinforcements, sharpies, and sequins in my design.

For the stars I used a technique I have described before.  I outline the edges with a little black crayon and then add some glitter.

When the background is dry glue your pieces into place.  For this version I cut the hand and feet out of the same brown paper.


For the hair I added a little silver garland.

Lastly I drew in a wand with silver sharpie and added a silver star.

That's it!





These angels are just too cute!  I plan on making up a mini version as a tree ornament for the kids to make at our Annual Christmas Craft Day.  It is fast approaching and I'm knee deep in the preparations.  (150 kids, 12 crafts, one terrific morning of craftiness!)


Be sure to check out this week's giveaway on Wednesday's post and I'll see you then.

How to make a Christmas Angel

I have another post for the Hive today on how to make this great Angel using Activa's Rigid Wrap.

You can check it out here:

Christmas Angel

Last Friday was our Christmas craft Day at school.  A big thank-you goes out to all Moms, Dads, Grandmas and Grandpas who helped!

I really appreciate it and we could not do it without you.

I'll have another post for you tomorrow.......here is a sneak peek.  That second set of Christmas inchies, finally!






See you then.

Easy Angel Carolers

This is a very easy Angel Caroler that we did last year as part of our "Christmas Craft Day".  (150 kids, 1 morning, 12 crafts)

This year Kindergarten is making them and I thought I'd share it with you.


I apologize for not letting the glue dry before the photos but I'm fighting for the light....not much time after school to photograph before it's dark!

You will need:
- a pattern template
- some cheap batting fabric (I like the sparkle)
- some sheet music try here
- tacky glue
- a 2-3 inch Styrofoam ball
- flesh colored acrylic paint
- pink acrylic paint
- some garland
- a white pipe cleaner
- a fine sharpie
- some white cardstock or posterboard
- some sequins or embellishments

First you need to paint your Styrofoam ball.  We also added some glitter for a bit of sparkle.

After it has dried use your fine sharpie and put in the eyes (closed ) and the mouth.  Now you could paint these in if you wanted but I find young kids have more control with the sharpie.




Take your pink acrylic paint and using the end of a pencil dot the cheeks.

Take the pattern and trace and cut out of posterboard, cardstock, or manila tag.

Cut the same pattern out of the batting fabric. but this time do not cut out the notch in the center.

Staple your posterboard cone together.

Put glue all around the edges of your fabric on the wrong side. (non sparkle side).

Cover the cone and just tuck in the fabric in the center.

Take your white pipe cleaner and make a loop at each end for the hands.

Cut a piece of batting fabric 3"x7", lay your pipe cleaner in the center, put glue along one edge of the fabric, fold in half.

Take a 8 inch length of garland and wrap into a circle.

Glue onto the head of your angel.

Put some glue on the center of your cone and secure the head.

You may have to hold for just a minute while the glue sets up.....

Put some glue on the center of your arms.

Attach to your angel.  Try to make them come from the shoulder area...I find kids often want to have the arms coming out of the waist.

Now you can decorate your angel a bit with extra garland, sequins, snowflakes......

Cut out a strip of music about 3 inches long and the width of the bars.

Glue into place..I like to have the music facing out but you can also glue 2 strips together so you can see it from both sides.

If you want wings you can cut some from a gold or silver doily or even 2 petals from an artificial flower.

Secure on the back of your angel.

and that's it.

I hope your class makes a choir of Angels and I'll be back with more Christmas projects soon.

Take care.