Paper Roll Squirrel

A few weeks ago I had to come up with a craft for my son's Beaver's troop fast. They were discussing squirrels and it had to involve a nut. As with most Beaver crafts it had to be fast and doable for boys aged 5 to 7. These turned out to be such a hit I thought I'd post it. I know I promised the project with the Halloween candy boxes and it's almost ready...I put a sneak peek at the end of this post so stayed tuned. Materials Required: walnuts paper rolls 1/2 a piece of paper towel 2 googly eyes 1 small pom pom some felt squirrel leg template fun fur scraps acorn cap glue Take the paper roll and cut it down to a 3 inch length. Take the 1/2 of paper towel and stuff it into the roll. You could paint the paper roll if you want but we left ours natural. Make sure it is even with the top of the roll and put some glue on top. Place the walnut on top of the glue. make sure the walnut is on it's side so you have the seam of the nut running down the middle of the head...this will also give you a pointy end for your nose. Glue on your eyes and the nose. With some scraps of felt cut out 2 ears and glue into place. We painted our acorn cap so our squirrel had a fancy hat but you can leave it natural. Glue into place on top of head. Using the leg template leg template cut out 2 legs. We used brown paper but you could also cut these from felt. Glue into place. Cut your fun fur into a 2 inch strip about 1/2 an inch wide. Glue into place. Take some felt and cut two strips. Round the edges on one end. Glue into place for arms. And that's it. Pretty simple but the boys had a great time and I received lots of positive comments from the parents. My son added a felt piece for the belly of his squirrel who is now proudly called "Nutty". Jenny from Plant City, Florida sent me this photo of the Fall Trees her 4th Graders did. They added a Fall Poem and have been getting wonderful compliments on their display.

I decided to add an Art Project Gallery component to this blog . If you send me a photo of your work using the lessons on this blog I'll put it in the gallery. Just email me...click on my profile at the top to direct you to my email.

Thanks Jenny..they look terrific!!

Here is a sneak peek of the upcoming project. We'll see you next time.

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

Remembrance Day Huichol Yarn Painting

Well I hope everyone had an awesome Halloween...we sure did!

Now for the next project...On November 11th we celebrate Remembrance Day in Canada and our art projects center on this theme. The poppy is a symbol of Remembrance Day in Canada and it is our focus for this project.

I initially did this project with Grade 2 several years back and it was a bit difficult for them so I recommend this project for Grade 4 and up.

This project is based on Huichol style yarn painting.

Materials Required:

cardboard

foil

tissue paper in white and black

newspaper

yarn in various shades of red and black

mod podge

tacky glue

black beads (optional)

Gather your materials.

You need 2 pieces of cardboard for this project. One for the background and one for the poppy.

Trace a poppy shape on the cardboard and cut out.

Starting on the outside of one of the petals spread some tacky glue and start laying down the yarn. For this project the tacky glue is the best, it holds down the yarn immediately where the school glue may not stick at first and gets soaked up in the yarn. You could also use mod podge for this.

Continue circling around the petal filling it in. It's best to glue as you go.

When filled in press down with your fingers to make sure it is tacked down well.

Now you can add different shades of yarn in the poppy to add depth.

Here I used some embroidery thread as i didn't have any other red yarn but it was fussy so i don't recommend it. You can also add some black yarn in bits and pieces as well.

I also cut some red felt into skinny strips and used it as well.

For the center I first painted it black and then added some beads but you can fill this is with black yarn, poppy seeds, or even crumpled black tissue.

Let dry.

Take your background piece of cardboard and cover with a piece of foil shiny side up. You can glue or tape it down.

Take some tissue paper in black and white and rip into some small shapes.

Take some newspaper and rip into small pieces as well.

Now I'm using mod podge but you can use acrylic medium or even white glue. Working from one corner add some ripped paper to your background.

If using white glue you only want to apply it where a piece of paper is going...don't coat the whole board or you 'll lose your shiny foil look.

Leave some foil exposed.

Let dry. After you can trim the excess on the sides.

When dry you can glue your poppy into place and that's it. Give it a try.

Now that you have all that Halloween candy save those little candy boxes. You can use them to make a Robot like the project I posted last year or hold on to them for a new project that's coming up....you need at least 24 of them.

We'll see you next time...take care.