Paper Plate Turkey Wreaths

Here is my last Thanksgiving post...Paper Plate Turkey Wreaths.  This can be a nice quick project to do before the holiday!

To create a Paper Plate Turkey Wreath you'll need:

a paper plate

scissors

 paint or crayons

real feathers or construction paper feathers

glue

First, draw a a circle in the inner part of a paper plate and add a turkey head within the circle.

Then, cut that part out.

Now, either paint the paper plate and let it dry or color it with crayons to make it a quick project without dry time.

Then,  add an eye, beak, wattle and feather lines. We used real feathers, but you could use construction paper feathers too. You can hang it on your door for a festive decoration.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Turkey Pinch Pots

This is a fun clay project that can be done with fire clay, air dry clay, or even play dough. We've done it with all kinds of clays and doughs and it works well.  I've made them with elementary art students in the past and most recently with my daughter C.  These Turkey Pinch Pots make great Thanksgiving Day decorations and gifts.

To create Turkey Pinch Pots you'll need:

Clay or Play Dough (We use Crayola Air Dry Clay)

A pencil or a pointy object for adding detail

Acrylic or Tempera paint

Mod Podge if a shiny finish is desired

First,  begin with a small golf ball size of clay or smaller.

Use your thumb to create a hole, but not all the way through.

Pinch out the hole more by turning it.  Don't make it too thin because you want to add the head and tail later.

Pinch out the head and wattle.

Then pinch out the tail.

Use a pencil or toothpick to add eyes, wings , and detail on the feathers.  Now let dry for a few days if air dry clay.  If play dough, just have fun creating turkeys and make new ones the nest day.

Now,  paint the turkeys.  We used brown, orange, yellow, and red.

Then display or give as gifts.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Enjoy your family and friends this week and be thankful for them too!

Fried Pumpkin Seeds

This is a new one for me.  Have you ever fried pumpkin seeds? I've always baked Pumpkin Seeds, but my husband came across a recipe for frying them. They may not be as healthy, but the great thing is that they only take 5 minutes or so.

To fry Pumpkin Seeds,  place the clean Pumpkin Seeds in a about a couple Tablespoons of oil with salt in a frying pan at medium heat.

Then use a spatula to keep moving the seeds around for 5 minutes or until they are somewhat brown.  They are surprisingly delicious! I actually like them better than the baked version.

Of course my favorite part is carving the pumpkins and I had to share some of our pumpkin designs here too:

My design

C's Design

Have a Happy Halloween!

Autumn Treasures Shadow Box

We were inspired by Teach Preschool's Post: Our Nature shadowboxes in preschool to make our Autumn Treasures Shadow Box.  It was so easy to make and it was a neat way to collect natural items..... which all kids love.  Keep reading to find out how to make one!

To make an Autumn Shadow Box you'll need:

a shoe box lid

white glue

natural items

glitter for fun

yarn for hanging

First,  put about a half inch or so of glue (or a little less)  in the lid of a shoe box lid.  Next,  place your natural items in the glue and then sprinkle with a touch of glitter.  Then let dry flat for a day or two.

After about two days this is  the result.  I think it is beautiful....  The glue seals the leaves and other natural items into the box frame and it dries clear.

We added a string/yarn and it was ready to hang!  Such a fun, simple and lovely project.   Hope you enjoy! What a splendid Autumn decoration or for anytime.

Pumpkin Pinch Pots

This is a great little project that I wish I could have done with my elementary art students, but then again I could do this with my High School students on a larger scale too.  High School kids (and adults) love holiday projects so it could be done with any age! I love pinch pots and making them into little pumpkins makes them even more fun! Keep reading to find out how my daughter and I created Pumpkin Pinch Pots. You could make them for any of the Autumnal Holidays.

First we began with a small ball of Crayola Air Dry clay.  This is some amazing stuff.....almost as good in quality as Kiln Fire Clay.  If you don't have a kiln or access to one this is a great choice. There is link to Crayola Air Dry Clay at the end of this post.

Then we put our thumb into the center of the clay ball.

Next we used our thumb to pinch out the pot to make it bigger.

And bigger...

We also fashioned some lids with a pumpkin stem.

After that that, we carved in lines for the ridges for the pumpkins.

Ta da!

And you can even make a jack o' lantern faces.

Hope you have a Great time with this idea!

Coffee Filter Turkey Cards

This past weekend we made Thanksgiving cards with coffee filters, watercolor paints, and paper! I love using coffee filters for art because they are cheap and accessible!  We had quite an assembly line going and created over 20 or so cards!!! WOW!  C enjoyed making these turkey cards quite a bit!  We were inspired by Dilly Dali Art and their Spin Art Turkeys! They made Turkey Table Toppers.  Here is one of our finished cards.

First we painted coffee filters with watercolor paints.  Make sure to have newspaper underneath because they will soak through.

When the coffee filters are dry, cut them all in half like this.

Then glue the half of the coffee filter on a folded card or any paper if you don't want it to be a card.

Tear a piece of brown tissue paper (or construction paper) for the head.  We used two paper punch holes for the eyes and added black dots. You could use googly eyes too.

Now add a red piece of tissue paper for the wattle and a yellow triangle (and nostril holes) for the beak.

Finally, add lines for feathers and crumple brown tissue paper for the wings.  You could use real feathers too.  We drew the legs on and added grass for a background.  Simple and sweet! Very cute!

More cuteness!

They are adorable! Aren't they?  Don't you wish that you were receiving one?

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This post is linked to: It's Playtime, Tip Toe Thru Tuesday, Thanksgiving Link-up

Outdoor Fall Leaf Art

Fall seems to be coming to an end in this neck of the woods.  Mostly all the leaves have fallen and there are a few isolated trees that have some color on them.  Winter will be here before you know it so we decided to take advantage of this past beautiful weekend to enjoy a little hike through one of our local parks.  Whenever I am out in the woods I think about the Land artist Andy Goldsworthy and am tempted to create something with the surrounding natural elements.  Usually I can get C to get involved because it seems to come natural for children to create with what is ever around them!!!  Also, we have done quite a bit of Land Art here and here and here so it didn't take much inspiration.  Here is our creation:

Placing the stems of each leaf into the bark of the tree.

Admiring our creation and wondering if we should add more leaves?

Or not...?

It was a simply BEAUTIFUL day!

C had a lot of fun jumping and running through the woods!

Do you see she lost one of her front teeth??

We LOVE Fall just in case you haven't noticed!!!