Kid's Project: Whimsical Owl

Chloe and I have been having lots of fun creating this whimsical owl wall hanging.

We started by rolling out a ball of clay about 3/8" to 1/4" thick. We made the pieces in a variety of ways—some we molded, some we cut following a pattern, some we free hand cut. For the body and the tummy piece, we cut around mixing bowls that were the right size. For the wings, we used a tart mold as a cookie cutter, then cut the clay piece in half lengthwise for the two wings.

The two circles for her eyes were molded. The head, beak, and feet were cut free hand.

Eyes	Beak and feet

We added different textures to the head, wings, and body using embossing folders and clay texture sheets.

Here are all of our owl pieces laid out to dry.

When the pieces were completely dry, we painted them with acrylic paints and glued them together using E6000 adhesive. We added a jewelry bail to the back of the head for hanging and adding her bow.

This owl wall hanging brightens any place she perches.

Carole	Chloe
Table Cell	Table Cell

Never Too Early for Christmas Ornaments

I my book, it's never too early to think about Christmas and holiday decorations. And right now there are fewer than 100 days until the big event!! So, Chloe and I started making ornaments for our tree.

We began with a ball of Creative Paperclay® that we rolled out to a thickness of about 3/8".

We placed this slab of clay in a snowflake embossing folder. 

When the clay was between the leaves of the folder, we gentle pressed on the top to emboss the design onto the clay.

After transferring the embossed clay slab to our work surface, we outlined the simple shape of a Christmas tree, and cut it out.

Next, was making the ornaments for our tree. We traced and cut out a star, and rolled small balls of clay for ornaments.

To make the ornaments easier to paint, I inserted a pin into each one. Now, all the pieces were set aside to dry.

Before painting with acrylic paints, we sanded the rough edges of the tree with Sandits. These are the handiest sanding implements!!

After painting, the last step was to glue a bezel on the back for hanging. 

Here's out finished ornament, all ready for our tree.

Carole	Chloe
Table Cell	Table Cell

Delightful Little Monsters - by Tori West

My youngest grandson loves monsters - he loves to draw them, make up stories about them, etc.  I am lucky enough to be his art teacher via Skype, so I decided we should try making our own.  We used Delight™ Air Dry Modeling Compound, materials found around the house, and lots of silliness and imagination to come up with our creations.

Tools and materials for monster making:

-  Delight™Air Dry Modeling Compound
-  newspaper, or other scrap paper
-  scraps of cardboard and/or card stock
-  white glue
-  rocks that have been washed - size is up to you.  The ones we used were about 1" to 1 1/2"
-  decorative glass filler material pieces
(flat on bottom and rounded on top,
available from most hobby stores
in the floral department)
-  scissors
-  hole punch & black construction paper
-  chenille stems
-  masking tape
- acrylic paints/paintbrushes
- your favorite sculpting tools
-  Creative Paperclay® modeling material for teeth if you choose to give your monster some teeth
- optional - work board or surface you can leave the monster attached to while you are working on it

To begin the monster, decide how many legs you'd like it to have then select some suitable rocks for the feet.  Wrap 2 chenille stems around the rocks and twist them together to form the legs.  If you want longer legs, twist in more chenille stems as you go.

Next make a body shape from crumpled newspaper and wrap with a layer of paper.  Tape that together, then spread the top of the stems on the legs apart just enough to be able to put the body shape on top.  Tape your assembly together.  

If you want arms and hands for your monster, push some twisted 

chenille stems into the body and then glue or tape some cardboard cut-out hand shapes to the ends.

Glue on a layer of newspaper strips to strengthen the body and secure it to the legs and arms.  If your monster is large, you may want to add two layers of glue/newspaper over top.

While the glue is drying you might want to sculpt some teeth.  Creative Paperclay® is a better choice for this since it is harder and can hold it's shape better.  Not having a specific plan in mind (because that is the most fun way to make monsters) I just sculpted a bunch of teeth - some pointy, some flat, various sizes, etc.

When the glue on the monster body is dry, begin covering the monster with Delight™ starting with the bottom of the feet and working upwards.  Use small pieces of clay and work your way up a little bit at a time.  I stuck my monster down on a work board so I don't have to keep picking him up and having the legs dangle while I'm working on it.  If you have trouble getting the clay to stick when you come to the body section, add a thin layer of glue and let that get tacky before adding more clay.  Again, it is helpful to add small bits at a time rather than trying to cover large areas at once.

Add the teeth and eyes to your sculpture, but set the teeth in lightly so they can be removed when it's time to paint the monster.  The eyes are made by placing a black punched construction paper circle on the clay and then adding the glass filler bead over it.

Before painting, remove the teeth and place in order on a strip of tape.
I also numbered them and marked a "T" or "B" on the backs (for top or bottom row)
just in case they came loose from the tape.
***He looks a little worried about his teeth*** 

Paint as desired and replace teeth!

I'd love for you to join me for more projects & art adventures on my personal blog

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Fairy Village

This is a super simple kid's project that is perfect for those rainy summer days.

Chloe and I have been admiring all the fairy gardens at our local garden stores this summer.We decided to make some of our own fairy houses using Creative Paperclay®.

We started by rolling out a small ball of clay to a thickness of between 3/8" and 1/2". Next we used a plastic picnic knife to cut rectangular and square shapes. These varied from 1" to 2" in height. To form the roof, we cut away a small triangle on each side of the top.

We used a toothpick to etch lines for doors, windows, and shingles. When he clay pieces were dry, we lightly sanded them, then painted accents with acrylic paints. This was our smallest house—a one story.

 Our two story houses gave a bit more surface area for decoration. We were able to attach a real doorknobs made from tiny balls of clay.


Our three houses already have imaginary fairies living in them!!

Fairy house village

Carole	Chloe
Table Cell	Table Cell

Delight™—ful Bookmarks

In our house, we love books!! I think we have enough books to open a small library. Chloe could shelve the children's section with hers alone. She's always enjoyed pretending to read, telling a lively story, turning the pages of the book much like the library's story hour reader. Well, now she is beginning to read, and books have a whole new fascination.

Together we decided that a new reader ought to have bookmarks to go along with her books. We started with a ball of Delight™ modeling medium about the size of a golf ball. Chloe flattened it a bit and rolled it through our pasta machine (the one reserved for crafting). With every pass through the machine, we adjusted the settings to produce an increasingly thin strip of Delight™.

We set the strips aside to dry overnight. They curled a bit, but were easily flattened with a warm iron.

I used a paper cutter to trim the uneven sides, but you could as easily cut the strips with scissors. We decorated them each in a different way. This one we embossed using an embossing folder and Cuttlebug, then sponged acrylic paint over a stencil.

These we decorated using border punches. 

This bookmark was stamped. 

We also colored some of the Delight™ with acrylic paints before processing it through the pasta machine. Just knead a few drops of paint into the modeling medium for clay the color of your choice.

I think making your own bookmarks is a great way to encourage a child's interest in books and reading. 

Carole	Chloe
Table Cell	Table Cell

Spring Bird's Nest

Spring is on its way!! We hear the birds chirping their morning greetings. This month Chloe and I decided to make our own bird's nest.

We used Creative Paperclay®, a clay extruder (my favorite clay toy tool), and a canape cutter.

Chloe rolled a piece of clay into a log and put it in the extruder; I did the plunging. We coiled the extruded strands into a nest shape.

Next, we rolled out a piece of clay to about 1/8" thickness, and cut a circle for the back of the nest. We used a thin layer of slip between the nest and the circle to be sure the two pieces fused. This circle serves two purposes—it closes the bottom of the nest and provides a flat surface to attach a pin back or necklace bail.

Three small pinches of clay were formed into egg shapes to fill our nest. 

After the nest and eggs were complete dry, we began the painting process. Before applying paint I always seal pieces with PPA. A short wait for the PPA to dry, then painting. We used raw umber acrylic paint for the nest and turquoise, golden yellow, and maroon for the eggs. (Game of Thrones fans do you see a connection here???) When those were dry, we dry brushed both the nest and eggs with a gold metallic acrylic to add highlights. 

Our nest and eggs are tiny!!

Here's our finished bird's nest—the perfect decoration for spring. And don't forget that you could add a pin back or jewelry bail to have a wearable piece of art.

Carole	Chloe
Table Cell	Table Cell