Metal Tape

It all started with these foam swords.....well then we had to make some shields. So I brought out my metal tape and began contemplating all the projects you could use it for ........

Like this forged metal picture.  I'm showing you 2 photos as the metal loses it's shine under the scanner.

or this fairy picture.

Now you get it from the hardware store...usually near the metal ducting section.  At Home Depot I find it with the duct tape but this stuff is real metal.  It's thicker than foil and the adhesive they use is incredibly sticky.  It costs about $12.00 for a 40 ft. roll and is about 2 inches wide.

I lay it out flat in pieces (don't take off the backing) and then using a dull pencil draw a design. The tape is heavy enough that the pencil etches the design into the tape.

You can also antique or burnish it with a little acrylic paint.  I use my fingers and rub it into all the little spaces.

Then using a paper towel remove as much paint as you want for an antiqued look.

I've also used it in my embosser for instant stickers.  For a larger design you can use 2 pieces of tape side by side. 

For the shields I cut a shape out of some cardboard edged it with duct tape and added a handle at the back.

The boys then painted them.

Made some designs on the metal tape......

and created their shields.

For the forged steel pictures the design was cut out piece by piece and etched.

The pieces were then burnished.

The backing was then removed and the metal tape pieces placed onto the background.  CAREFUL...this tape is really sticky.

and that's it.  Once you start using this tape you'll find a lot of uses.  The adhesive is sticky enough for virtually any surface..wood, plastic, metal, ceramic.  It makes awesome labels for things like plant tags and it is much cheaper than buying metal embossing sheets from the craft store and it has the glue built in.

Next time you're at the hardware store pick some up.

Macrame Owl Project

Only 3 days of school left and one last project up on the bulletion board.

Grade 4 was studying this Farley Mowat book in Language Arts and the teachers and I decided it would be a good tie in to have each Grade 4 student macrame an owl.  Each finished owl ended up being about 14 inches long.

Before I could teach the kids to do an owl we needed to learn our square knot.  I gave each student these instructions.....I color coded mine to help them along. CLICK ON PICTURE TO SEE LARGER AND PRINT FULL SIZE.

I then cut 4 lengths of yarn about 30 inches long...1 blue, 1 red, and 2 yellow.  Those of you in the states could easily do red, white and blue if you prefer.  I took the four lengths from the middle and tied them onto a key ring.  Looking like this.

 I then took some sturdy cardboard measuring around 9and a half  by 11", poked a hole near the top with a skewer and tied the ring onto the board with a pipe cleaner.  This gives each student a portable and neat way to keep their work organized and can easily be stored in their desks.

We then tied a square knot in the first 4 cords (1,2,3,4) and another in the second 4(5,6,7,8).  I then had them put the first 2 cords off to the side as well as the last 2 and we tied a square knot in the middle(3,4,5,6)...an alternating square knot.  We then strung a bead on cords 1 and 2 as well as cords 7 and 8.  An easy way to string the beads on is to lay the ends on top of a length of pipe cleaner, fold the pipe cleaner over the cords once and then push the whole thing (cords and pipe cleaner) thru the bead hole.  Having the whole thing color coded worked great!  The student continued with the 2 square knots and then the alternating center knot all the way down leaving about 3 inches left on the end with which we tied a tassle knot.

They were able to get about 7 to 8 rounds.

Now we were ready to try our hand at the owls.  I printed off a set of instructions for each 2 students from this link, UPDATE: old link was broken but this one is pretty good  : Macrame Owl Directions.  We also had these directions on the overhead and smart board for the kids to follow along.

I found some nice bulky yarn at Wal Mart...a huge ball (480 metres) cost about $7.00 and I only needed 3 balls for 38 students.  Mrs. G at school cut all the lengths of yarn using a table length (about 1 metre) as her guide.  You need 10 for each student.  We used natural bamboo plant stakes from the garden centre cut into 8 inch lengths and tied on our yard.  We then secured this to our piece of cardboard using 2 pipe cleaners.  Your  set- up should look like this.

We then completed our owls over several sessions.  In the beginning we followed along as a class but as the students got the hand of it they could work at their own pace.

Some kids choose alternating colors for the wings for some extra interest.

Here is the final display.  The kids had a great time...very proud of their Owls....and the adults had a great time remembering our macrame experiences as kids in the 70's.

Why not try incorprating Macrame into your art program...see you next time.

Pastel Scratchboards

Here is a project grade 2 did last week.

It comes from this book.

Take a piece of heavy paper like manila tag or cardstock.......... Using pastels color little bits at a time in bright colors.       

Color in the entire page.

Take some black acrylic paint and paint over entire page.

Using a wooden skewer or toothpick scratch in your design.

Here are the finished results from Grade 2.  We were following the book and scratching in a grid design but you can easily do a full picture like the one posted at the beginning.  Thicker lines tend to look better.

Great work Grade 2.  Why don't you give it a try?

Home Depot

Every year I am fortunate to be able to take the kids from one grade to Home Depot for a field trip and workshop.

This year it was Grade One. 


The staff are always terrific especially Rose!

The kids had a fork lift demonstration.

and a cutting demonstartion using the large saws.

They then had a workshop where they were thrilled to "hammer" and create a " bean bag game".

Today we painted our creations at school with acrylic paint.

Gotta love Home Depot!  Thank you so much for giving 44 Grade Ones the "bestest" field trip ever! (and still a freebie)