Reminders at Christmas ...

Long time, no blog. I might have even had to google how to write a post - well, how to find the screen that allows me to create a post. I couldn't find it. Sorry blog ... but Instagram is just so easy. But I'm back to share one of the most fun projects I've done - and one we're about to start during this holiday season.  

I'll start with the one we did this spring. For the past few years, the 3rd graders had done a nativity scene made of clay as their class auction gift. Me and clay, however ... do not mix. My mom has a bird at her house that I made in about 3rd grade. And I remember trying to construct it carefully & artfully as shown by the art teacher. But the clay was dry & when it all fell apart, I panicked. I believe it had to be finished that day. So I just smashed it all together in a hurry so it could get fired. My mom still has it in her basement on a shelf. And I wince every time I look at it or touch it. It has so many sharp edges, it's not only ugly, it's hazardous.

So ... when I was asked to do the nativity scene with the 3rd graders, I knew it would not be made of clay.

I had just made the tree for the school & had gotten pretty well acquainted with papier mache. And I knew it was pretty forgiving. I know people thought I was crazy. I was even a little embarrassed to tell people what I was doing because I know they had visions of  absolute miserable failure in their heads. And papier mache I think is one of those things that you even doubt yourself until you are just mere minutes away from being done.

I began by asking the students to raid their recycle bins at home. They brought in newspaper, magazines, boxes, toilet paper & paper towel rolls. I bought rolls of masking tape, flour, plastic white trays for the papier mache project and some plastic totes and bubble wrap for them to be easily transported and stored. I already had all the paint and another family at the school generously donated the wooden stable. I can't remember my grand total exactly, but it had to be about $30 - $15 a set.

We made 2 scenes, 1 for each class. Here's how it was broken down:  Joseph, Mary, Baby Jesus, Manger, 3 Wisemen, 2 Shepherds, 2 Angels, 3 Sheep, 2 Camels, 1 Donkey, 1 Cow, 4 Trees, 1 Star.  I know we had some last minute changes to this line up, but this was at least the start of breaking down the parts for 23 kids.

We started out just balling up newspaper & taping it up. The people standing up (wisemen, shepherds) were a full size toilet paper roll, the ones kneeling and the angels we had cut down to a smaller size. The sheep were just balls of newspaper. The cows, camels & donkeys were all full size toilet paper rolls. The trees were paper towel rolls cut at various sizes. For the mangers, we cut the ends off a box from a bar of soap and stuffed it with newspaper.

We had the kids come out in small groups, grouped together by what part of the nativity set they were. 

To keep the pieces straight, I wrote their names in permanent marker on the pizza box or on the paper in the space where it was drying.

There's a whole lotta imagination that is used in the beginning. Was I worried? Heck. Yes.   Nah, what can go wrong?

We covered the pieces in newspaper strips dipped in the flour & water paste. After spending 2 1/2 long days at school, I decided it was time to take the pieces home and give them all their finishing touches. Mostly, this just meant more layers of papier mache. But I also needed to put staffs in the hands of the shepherds and gifts in the hands of the wisemen.

Originally, I was going to have the kids paint their pieces. But. I had already spent 2 1/2 school days on this project, pulling the kids in & out of their classroom. And I knew it was going to take up way too much time for me to load it all back up, set up the tables, paints & bring them out in small groups. I knew I wanted a very minimal look to all the pieces anyway (no faces or details), so I thought for the minimal painting that needed to be done, it was probably not worth me loading it all up, setting up camp & dragging the kids out of their classrooms for another day or 2. 

I really loved watching the pasty looking newspaper 'blobs' come to life. It is amazing what paint can do. I wrote the names of each student on the bottom of their piece once they were all dry.

Below are the two finished nativity scenes (*the stars were then wrapped in wire so that they could be attached to the stable). I really love the way they turned out.  Together they raised almost $1,500 for our school. As I told the teachers after the auction was over ... "Not bad for recyclables." :)

I think they are a beautiful reminder of what the season is really about.  The birth of Jesus to show God's love for mankind. Appreciating the simple things around us and using them for good. This was made mostly with things people no longer wanted. Yet for our project they allowed us to create a masterpiece and allowed families to be generous with donations to our parish school. Sometimes so much more can come from giving up what you don't need so someone else can treasure it. 

Just last week I found this project called "Light 'Em Up" which gives some ideas for random acts of kindness you can spread around your city, family and friends. If you have ever been on the receiving end of a random act of kindness, then you know it doesn't take much to have a huge impact (here is  what $10 once did for our family). I love that it helps teach kids that the focus on the season should be about the giving not the receiving. We picked out some stars off the "Giving Tree" at church, but I [mom] did all the shopping for it.  So this week, as a family, we're going to pick out a few items and help bring some "goodness and light" to Kansas City. 

"Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go."- Mother Teresa

Small things ...

I was asked to head up the PreK class gift for our big school-wide auction [our biggest fundraiser of the year]. I put a lot of pressure on myself to come up with 'the perfect gift'. I think there is already pressure there knowing that the item you create & present is supposed to raise a lot of money. So then it just snowballs from there. There's pressure to come up with an item that would appeal to a lot of people [the parents of the PreK]. Pressure to come up with something that someone would want to put in their home / somewhere. Pressure to come up with something that was worthy of taking up room in someone's home; in this case worthy of taking up precious wall space. Our school is in an old part of Kansas City where most of us have sacrificed indoor & outdoor space for being in a beautiful, established, historic part of town. So again, space is an issue ... at least it is for most of the people I know that live around here! :)

Last year, this grade submitted framed artwork made with the children's thumbprints. It was so darling & perfect for that age. But now that they are getting older, I wanted them to be able to do something themselves. But not too difficult. Which is a very fine line. [And which is why I was stumped for months]

So after months of stressing out & drawing a blank, it f.i.n.a.l.l.y came together. I got a package of 100 4x6 white [acid free, etc] paper, 2 sets of 50 washable [PreK, hello] Crayola thin markers, a package of multi-colored [acid free, etc] paper for mounting, used an acid free Elmer's glue stick & then got 2 approx. 14" x 19" 'multipurpose floating' frames. Originally $35 a piece, I got them when they were on sale 1/2 off. I got thin markers knowing the space they'd be coloring in would be smaller than they were used to & I was hoping it would still give them a chance to get more detailed. I was happy to find the 'floating' frame [meaning what you frame is floating between 2 sheets of glass, you can see through it] because that way you don't have to worry about a mat & there's a better chance that it'll work with someone's decor since their own wall color shows through.

I traced a heart on all the white card stock before taking them into the classrooms. Additionally, I found out how many tables there were & tried to divide up the markers ahead of time, giving each table a good range of colors. I made a few examples to show the kids because as I have learned ... a little guidance is good. So I made a few ahead of time with easy ideas: stripes, flowers, a 'self-portrait', stars, etc. Then I also listed off some ideas to get the kids thinking about what they were going to do before they began.

Above are some of the hearts from one of the classes. I left the teachers with some of the supplies because there are some kids that don't go to school certain days of the week or were absent.

[side note: The one on the bottom left with the stick figures ... that boy told me it was himself & a friend, and 2 people were jumping over them. :) The one above it is of a black dog. After I brought up the idea of drawing your favorite animal or your pet ... a little girl came up to me & shared the story about how she had a black dog that died. Looks like she decided to make her heart a tribute to her pet. :) Sweet ... but definitely one of those 'oh boy why did I have to go there :( sad' moments.]

I played around with different arrangements, trying to separate ones that were similar in color or in design.

Then I picked out a coordinating color on which to mount them.  I'm glad I decided to do this step after all. It definitely finishes off the piece. And it gave me a nice visible spot to put their names on the back. Which ... because it's a 'floating frame' you can see through. I like that the front has some anonymity; they all have a similar shape & size, but the designs make them unique. But for those that want to know whose is whose, they can still see on the back.

This quote came to mind as the idea formed ... all the kids would be doing their own thing. And by itself it might be small & insignificant, but I knew if we grouped them together it would make a nice piece. The uniqueness & individuality all grouped together is what makes it beautiful & makes a statement. Originally, I wanted enough space for all of the quote:

“What I do you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do.

The needs are great, and none of us, including me, ever do great things.

But we can all do small things, with great love,

and together we can do something wonderful.” - Mother Teresa

But in the end due to the lack of space, I had to settle on the condensed version. It still means the same thing. :) [fonts I used were 'butterbrotpaper' & 'commercial script'] I mounted it on green because it is our school's color.

Above is Libby's class. Libby's is 4th row, 2nd column ... she called it "rainbow tic tac toe". :)

And here is the other PreK class. I turned it on the horizontal because there were so many, it worked better [again, space became an issue].

Total cost for materials comes to about $25 a piece.

I know I'm biased, but I think they turned out cute. My goal was to have something that could be hung just about anywhere. I thought if I could achieve that, then it would appeal to more people increasing the chances of getting a bigger bid during the live auction! :) I could see this in a hallway, a child's room, play room, entry way, doctor's office, waiting room, etc. Regardless of where they go or how they do in the auction, they're done. The weight has been lifted. My mind is free to put creative thought towards other things. And they turned out pretty darn cute. *phew*

[UPDATE: One of these was bought before the auction began for $500! The other was bought during the live auction & went for $425! Woo hoo! Way to go, little Picassos! :)]

RWE x 3 ...

I had fun with the colors ... changing it up. :)

Can you tell I am feelin' spring?

Well, I was.

Then we woke up to 5.

Degrees. :P

These will be listed in my shop soon!

The Valentines No One Else Will Have ...

Ever since Brett's 1st year of preschool, I have made our own Valentines to pass out. Bummer ... I can't seem to find a photo or the image I used for those, but I had used his own drawing [at 3 years old] of a bumble bee & tied it in with the message: "Thanks for BEE-ing my friend". I think Valentine's Day for kids is kind of silly anyway when there's really no crush involved [at 5 & 8?], yet most of the messages are professing that ... so I always try to celebrate the "friendship" aspect of it. :)

Brett had just done the drawing of the C-130 & the little guy with the red flags. He's obsessed with drawing C-130's, but this was the first time I'd seen the guy with the flags. I told Davis to draw something - anything - & I'd turn it into a Valentine for him. I gave him some blank paper & he traced his hand. Then wrote "I LOVE CATS". Umm... that's the most random thing he's ever done. So I told him to draw something else. He said "what?" I said "anything." He said "I did draw anything" [referring to the hand tracing & "I LOVE CATS"]. So I just dropped it & we picked up the project again the next day. Royals baseball. Perfect. Took a photo, uploaded, tweaked, added text, printed, cut, punched, Davis added the reinforcement stickers, cut the ribbon, Davis threaded the ribbon ... and I tied them around the mini M&Ms.

I thought they turned out really cute ... and I know for a FACT we couldn't have found a C-130 or a Kansas City Royals Baseball Valentine anywhere. These are as custom as they come. That definitely lessens the worry that someone else is passing out the same Valentines. :) ha ha

The ones the boys made last year can be found here. :)

Fairy Tales ...

{Libby & Grandma}

So I was thinking ... after putting the colors together for this one, that it's kind of juvenile. Like, it looks like it was made for a little girl's room. And then my next thought was, "Well... little princesses need to probably hear this message more than anybody."

Life isn't perfect, it's not always a fairy tale.

But it can still be wonderful.

But it's not like I know of any family that needs to start teaching this message to their young daughter. Like I know someone whose little girl insists on wearing a toddler sized evening gown everyday or at a very minimum a dress from her own wardrobe. Total meltdown if forced to wear pants because it's like [quote] "a kid" & not "a pin-cess"? That would be crazy.

No, I don't know anybody like that. ;)

Found here.

Sweet Little Birdy ...

Here is my sweet niece, little Anna. She is just a bundle of floppy cuteness all wrapped up in the comfiest of clothes. It's impossible to keep your [hand-sanitized] hands off of her. :)

Animals for Baby Annie ...

My little sister is expecting a little girl named Anna. Her best friend is expecting a little girl named Annie. They will be just a couple weeks apart. :) Annie's mom I've known for about 16 years now ... since she & my sister Leah were in [at least] 7th grade.

She came to me several weeks ago asking if I would make something special for Annie's room. She listed some safari animals ... said they wanted 3 canvases, 1 animal on each. My mind incorporated them into a larger scene ... all sharing a canopy of trees. Here is the final result.

{Sorry for the terrible photo ...this is more just to show you how they all work together.

Can you see there is 1 little butterfly on each canvas?}

I can hear Annie & her mommy now ... pointing & identifying the animals, body parts, colors & butterflies. Artwork can be such a great conversation piece ... perfect for little ones that are building up their vocabulary. Then sooner or later, someone will have to tell Miss Annie that giraffes aren't pink ... but that there's nothing wrong with a little imagination. :)

Next, it's Anna's turn!

For the Brothers ...

This is the Quote I have painted the most times, I do believe. I feel the need to always keep one of these in the shop. I sold one last week, so had to make one to fill its spot. Found here. :)

Don't Give Up ...

I fell in love with this quote by Babe Ruth & I had to do something with it. It had been awhile since I did one of these ... since the whole reason behind doing this was to get rid of the canvases I had painted with the intent of having them personalized {remember?}.

I have baseball on my mind because Brett's birthday is coming up & he wants a baseball party. :) I am loving this message and I think that everyone {young or old, baseball players or not} can benefit from this kind of positive thinking.

{Found here}

Nest Quote, Take 2 ...

I have done a 2nd Nest with Quote since the other one sold so fast!  You can find it here.  Next up ... I am working on the largest Quote Canvas yet.  It is a custom 22" x 28" for someone that contacted me through Etsy.  Cross your fingers that I don't go cross-eyed.  :)  It's a lot of text.

Owl show you what I made last week ...

A sweet little girl needed some art above her crib.  Her mommy wanted something with pinks, yellow, brown, trees, an owl & this quote I had done on a quote canvas from my fundraiser.  This is what I came up with.  I hope little Viv likes her new artwork!  :)