Woven Tree Wall Hanging

As part of Grade 1's weaving unit we will be making this Spring Tree wall hanging.  This is also a good project in the Fall using autumn colors.

As a child I remember a macrame version of these trees on a metal hoop but I could not find the instructions anywhere for the life of me so I came up with this version for the students.

Another reason why this project works well during the Spring and Fall seasons is that this is when you are pruning your trees and bushes.  You need a willow type branch, one that is flexible and will not break while "green".

Form a circular loop and tuck the ends in to hold the shape.  You want a nice 10 - 12 inch circle.

Now you could also do a nice weaving on the willow hoop like this.

For the tree I used wool roving...it works especially well at the top of the weaving where it is rounded...you then could add other materials in like bulky yarn or other natural fibers.

Now I dye my wool using kool aid or at this time of the year you can use easter egg dye.  Place the kool aid or dye in a glass jar,  add about 1 1/2 cups of boiling water, stir well, stuff your roving into the mixture and leave to cool.  Remove roving and rinse in cold water.

When you use Kool aid you'll find all the dye gets absorbed into the wool and you're left with clear water in the jar. COOL!

Tie and knot on 15 pieces of brown yarn positioned in an arc on the top of your twig hoop. You can add more if you wish just make sure you have an odd number.



I taped down my ends so they wouldn't bother me while weaving...this will be removed when finished.

Pulll the yarn pieces down and wrap around the bottom of the hoop.

Tie a knot.

And pull tight...you can always tighten this as you go if it loosens on you.

Taking a piece of roving start weaving on your hoop.

You don't have to weave all the way across...you can stop part way and just weave a section...then you can add a different color in another section.

Wool sticks well to itself when twisted...at the beginning and end of each weaving you do with the roving you want to twist the end back on itself. You can also tuck the ends into the back of your weaving as well.

Normally I would make a shuttle for the kids out of a piece of cardboard or a popsicle stick but I find with this project you just hold the roving in a ball in your hand.  With yarn you might want to use the shuttle. (I talk about making a shuttle in this post)

Continue weaving using different colors and textures if you wish.

I now want to seperate my first main branch...group 5 strands together from the middle section.

Now here I'm using brown roving but you could use brown yarn or even strips of brown felt or fabric.

Wrap around your 5 strands and tightly wind around going about 1 or 2 inches down...leave the loose tail of roving for now.

Add some more weaving in the other sections to bring them down a bit.  You are trying to make it look realistic so have one side come down farther than the other.

Wrap the branch on the one side in the same way as you did before...leave a tail....then wrap the other side.







Then wind them together bringing those 3 tails together.

See how the branches are not symmetrical...this looks more realistic.

Finally you can trim the knot ends and remove the tape.

And that's it....I'm looking forwrd to the Grade 1's versions.

We are also embroidering our names on burlap for our end of the year banners.   I just used a sharpie to write their names on the burlap and they will be doing a basic back stitch.

Here is the project Grade 5 is working on.  They are studying the Fur Trade so we are making headresses that have a beaded band and medallion.  The beads are drawn in but we are also making paper beads out of newspaper to decorate them with.  We should be finished tomorrow so I hope to have the how to and student work pictures for you soon.

We are having a bit of an art show for our Parent/Teacher interviews on Thursday night and Friday.  I hope to take some good pictures to show you next week.

Take care and I'll see you soon.

Interactive Olympic Art Project

Well here is an Olympic Art Project that has actual led to fights among my kids over who gets to play with it.

You make a sports venue and then an athlete which is able to move using a magnet.

The kids love it and have grand plans for making a bobsled run, skeleton, speedskating track, etc.

You need some popsicle sticks, glue, some coins (dimes and nickels work well) and some heavy duty magnets.  I got mine at the dollar store....8 for a $1.00.  You don't want to use the magnetic tape.  It is just not strong enough.

Glue your heavy duty magnet to your popsicle stick and set aside to dry. 

Find some cardboard to mount your background to.  A cereal box would work great.  You can test it to make sure your magnet will move a coin thru the cardboard.

I glued a piece of paper to my cardboard first as I needed to cover the colored cardboard...this was not my background.  The color was so strong on the cardboard I could see it thru one layer of paper.

I then took a second piece of paper the same size as my cardboard and sketched out my design.

I added some color with watercolor pencils but you can use crayon, pencil crayon, felts, whatever you wish.

I then made a little alpine skier. I sketched it out and then added color.  Make sure it is as big as your coin.

I then glued a dime to the back.  If you want you can just use tape.

Then glue your background onto your cardboard.

Flatten the best you can.

You can put some heavy books on top to help it dry flat.

And that's it an interactive picture....place your athlete on the background and using your magnet wand on the back you can make your athelete move thru the course winning Olympic Gold!

One last thing to show you after Maya posted about the "Sparrow Post" from Tasha Tudor's book she got me thinking about my dollhouse...which has been sitting in the box for the last 2 years. I finally started it this weekend...here I'm gluing in the floor for the second level. I hope to keep working on it a little each day.  It's a 3 storey and I hope to turn it into Jane Austen setting.  (just don't know which right now)

Take care and I hope you make an Olympic venue or two.  I'm sure we will be doing this activity at school.

Remembrance Day Mixed Media Project

Sorry I haven't been around much but I have been preparing for a conference..as well as planning for our annual Christmas Craft Day.

So enough excuses here is a second Remembrance Day project. A mixed media Peace painting.

This combines painting with some computer work and a little poetry so it's a great choice for Grades 3 - 6.

Materials Required:

dove template

watercolor paper

watercolor paint

plastic wrap

re positional contact paper

fine markers or black pens

glue

printed computer work

optional embellishments

Take your watercolor paper and tape off on your art board.

Using dove template trace on to the back of the re positional contact paper. I buy mine from Home Depot for about $4.00 a roll.

Peel off paper backing and stick to your watercolor paper where you want it to be. If you make a mistake no big deal it's re positional!

Add some watercolor paint to your paper. For the next step the paint has to be still wet...if yours has dried a bit you can spray some water on it.

Lay your plastic wrap on top and smoosh a bit with your fingers to get that nice texture. Leave it to dry with the plastic wrap still on.

When dry remove plastic wrap and the contact paper.

Have your students select a statement or a few words representing Remembrance Day. Using fine markers or pens write those words around the white dove shape curving as you go.

If you run out of room to repeat the words fully at the end just add a .... to connect to the beginning. Click on the picture to see larger.

At the computer print off those same words in 3 different fonts. You can vary size if you wish.

Using your watercolors lightly paint over these words. I printed these on regular printer paper. Let dry.

I decided to add a little shading to my dove while the paints were out.

Cut out the words..you can play a bit with the shape of your cutting...here I decided to follow the choppiness of my painting strokes.

Apply some glue to the back of your words. Glue sticks don't tend to stick to well to painted backgrounds but you can give it a try.

If using white or tacky glue use a piece of cardboard to remove the excess so you just have a thin coat of glue.

Put into place.

I decided to add a little pearlizing to mine. I usually don't use glitter with the kids as I find they tend to overdo it. This pearlizing medium just adds a little shine. You could also use metallic acrylic craft paint. They tend to be quite translucent.

I also decided to add some ripped pieces of wax paper. I'm gluing it in place with acrylic medium but you can use glue.

That's it. You can also use the dove template as a paper chain or just cut it on the fold for 2 doves and then add this to a painted paper background.

Give it a try. Remember to save those Halloween candy boxes for our next project!

see you soon