Mosaic CD Picture Frame

Looks like mosaic glass, right? It’s actually just an old CD cut up and glued to a wooden frame and painted with green metallic paint.

1. I used a heavy duty scissors to...

“Stained Glass” Holiday Candles

 I’ve found that a candle theme works well for the holidays as so many religions celebrate with them. This is simply drawing candles and then breaking up the background for a faux stained glass look.

1. The students drew one candle...

Monoprint Holiday Stars

 My afterschool printmaking class last week learned how to make simple monoprints. I found that given the diversity of students (and the young age) this very simple star drawing on plexiglass plates worked really well. Some also drew simple snowflakes after their stars were complete.

1. Each student worked...

Giant Paper Mache Nutcracker, Part 2

My paper mache Nutcracker is now ready to be covered with a layer of white paper towels. The outlined figures represent 4 ft. tall students, which shows just how tall this guy really is. I’d love to make a whole row of these to line our school hall.

An overview of the work done so far...

Giant Paper Mache Nutcracker, Part 1

I had often thought that my collected juice cartons could make a really cool giant paper mache figure, so with my Nutcracker theme going on this year, I guess it was only a matter of time before I put the two together. This figure is made from heavy cardboard cartons that contain 12 of the pouch-type juices. There are many brands, but the sizes are all the same and the boxes are all wonderfully strong.

I started by heavily taping together...

Gingerbread “Cookie” Painting

This is a good way to turn ugly brown construction paper into something pretty cute. The white tempera paint looks a lot like real frosting, and oil pastels are an easy way to add details.
With an 18" x 12" sheet of...