Marble Painting

Marble Painting

 

What you need:

Paint (as many colors as you like, I used three)

Marbles (again, as many as you like, I used two but you can use just one if that's all you have)

Paper (whatever color you like)

Pencil

Scissors

Foil pan (a cardboard box works as well)

Tape

This project is ALWAYS a hit with the kids at work! It can be used for so many projects! White paint on a winter scene makes a cool snow storm affect. But today we are focusing on space...outer space that is! We made marble painted planets!

First things first, get your paper and draw a circle.

Cut out your circle and add tape to the back. This will help with your paper not sliding around.

Take your pan and add your paint toward the outer edge of the tray (sorry I didn't snap a pic before it got all messy).  You don't need a ton, just enough for the marbles to roll through.

Here are my marbles! I thought I lost them ;)

Place the marbles into the paint.

Place the circle in the middle of the pan.

Gently rock the pan back and forth. If your marble gets stuck you may need to be a bit less gentle. Haha! Tilt the pan back and forth, side to side, all around, rolling the marbles through the paint and across the paper. If you have a younger child you think may get a bit carried away, try purchasing the foil pans that have the clear lids. This will allow your child to enjoy watching their painting, without the marbles flying across the room...some kids like to make the marbles bounce...

When you are satisfied with the outcome, remove your paper and let it dry! Okay, okay, I know what you're gonna say..."Why did you cut out the circle before the painting? Why not paint the paper and then cut the shape when it's dry?" Well since you asked, where I work, we have to do art as fast as we can to ensure all the kids get a chance to do it. I gave each child the paper and let them trace their own circle and cut it out. That way they get to practice tracing, cutting, and the painting all in one project. Had I waited for it to dry it would be a two day project. Any more questions? Haha! Seriously though, if you have the time, do the whole paper and once it's dry cut out any shape you desire and it will have this neat paint design.

Enjoy!

Oh SNAP Painting

Oh SNAP!

I'm gonna start this post with a warning....THIS PROJECT IS MESSY!!!!

That being said...

What you need:

Some sort or tray with raised edges (like a cookie tray)

Rubber Bands (however many is up to you, I used three)

Various Water Colors (diluted food coloring will work but will stain clothes!)

Water Droppers (Not sure what the real name is but an old medicine dropper will work)

Paper (I like white, shows the colors better)

Napkins or Towels for the mess!

oh, and one more, an apron or play clothes you don't care about

Alright, first take your tray and place you rubber bands around it. STRETCH!!! I used three.  Next, slide in your paper.

Did you mix your colors? Well hurry up, I'll wait.....

Okay, good. Oh, below are those dropper things. See 'em?

Take your dropper with color and drip it onto your rubber bands. It will probably roll off and onto the paper, no worries, it's ok.  

You can do one color at a time or do multiple colors before the next step.

Once the color is on the rubber band, brace the tray with one hand, use the other to pull back the rubber band and SNAP IT!

I wish I could post the reaction the kids at work had to this! (But i wouldn't do that without parent's permission) The look of complete surprise and utter excitement when the paint splattered all over the paper, themselves, and their friends next to them was priceless!

Repeat as many times as your heart desires! This is such an easy and fun project a kid of any age can enjoy it! I only used a few colors for my example, but my kids at work made beautiful works of art!

I would love to know how this works out for you! Don't forget to leave comments!!

ENJOY!

Felt Flower #4

What you need:

Two sheets of felt ( of two different colors)

Scissors (Sharp, trust me. If you don't believe me, try dull ones)

Glue gun 

Glue sticks (cause your glue gun doesn't work with out them)

Alligator clips (optional...I'll explain later)

First things first, get your first sheet of felt. This is the color you want for the outside of your flower. I chose light purple. It's just a standard size felt sheet you can find at Michaels, Walmart, or Hobby Lobby.

From here it is EXACTLY the same steps as my original Felt Flower.

Cut a circle (the larger the circle, the larger the flower). Make a cut in where you plan on starting your spiral. PLEASE read my other Felt Flower tutorial, it has more detail. 

Cut out your spiral. 

Now, your scallop. (Confused?? You wouldn't be if you would have read my other tutorial like I told you...I'm just saying...)

Set this aside. Now, take your second sheet of felt and cut a strip about 3" or 31/2" from top to bottom, and as wide as you want. You can trim this down before adding it if you see it's too long.

Fold this in half. Now this is where the optional alligator clips come in handy. Technically you can hold this with one hand and work with the other...and if we had THREE hands, that would be fine! But since we don't, I found it's easier to use the alligator clips to hold the folded felt. My apologies to any three handed followers...

It's times like this I wish I was making a video tutorial for you guys (coming soon).

Take your scissors and cut on the folded edge of your felt about half way down. DO NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH...

So far, so good? Now, begin rolling from end to end.

This is what it should look like from the top. You can add a dab of glue the end of your roll to secure it for now.

Okay, go grab your spiral. Go ahead, I'll wait....got it? Okay. Take the end of your spiral and glue it to bottom of your flower center.

Begin wrapping the spiral around your center, scallop side up. When you get to the end, add glue to the bottom and attach the circle from your spiral.

This is what the bottom should look like.

Flip it over and TADA!

Enjoy!

Felt Flowers #3

My friend Jamie says I'm the only person she knows that has a stock pile of felt...haha! There's nothing wrong with that! How can I NOT when there's so many great projects I can make?!

What you need:

Two sheets of felt 

(one for the flower, and one for the leaves... technically you can use scraps for the leaves. There's NO way you will need a whole sheet!) 

SHARP scissors (like I said last time, you can use dull ones...but you'll be sorry...)

Glue gun

Glue sticks

Paper (I suggest a card stock, because you will be using this over and over)

Pencil

Ready? Okay, first thing you have to do is make your paper pattern. It can be whatever size you like. The larger the template, the larger the flower...the smaller...well surely I don't have to spell it out for you, right? Ok, good. The template is a 8 petal flower design. Draw your template and then cut it out. Mine is about 3" wide.

Now, take your felt sheet and cut a strip as wide as your template, and long enough to get four flower shapes.

I then cut the strip into 4 equal squares. Now, if you have sharp scissors, you can probably cut out two flower shapes at a time, if not, cut out all four shapes one...by...one...(bet you're kicking yourself now for not listening to me about those scissors, huh?) You can cut around the template (which is what I do...cause I'm awesome like that) or you can trace it with a pencil first.

So far, so good, right?

Take one flower shape and fold it in half.

Then fold it in half again. It will have this triangle shape.

In between the second fold, add a dab of hot glue and hold it together.

Repeat for the remaining 3 flower shapes.

Cut a small circle for the base of your flower. This is what holds it together (well, this and glue..)

Begin attaching with glue...all four pieces.

Looks pretty similar to felt flower #2, I know. But now you add some dots of glue to the up-facing petals, and fluff them up and hold them together.

And that's it! Add some felt leaves, or whatever your little heart desires!

Hope it made sense, feel free to comment with any questions. Enjoy!

Couldn't resist sneaking a pic in of it in use. ;)