Hand-painted Stationery

This project would be fun to do with your child, side by side.   It uses brushes and watercolors. You can even use the pan sets that your kids might have around the house. 

Materials:
Watercolors--in tubes or pans.
Heavy-weight paper--at least cardstock
Old plastic shower curtain or something to protect the table
Containers for water
Large plastic lids or watercolor palette

Procedure

Cover the table with the plastic, fill the water containers, and lay out the paper.

First, dampen the paper.  Expect some curling and buckling.  Don't worry about it right now. 
Add just enough water to your paint to make it easy to push around.  Below, I am covering
the entire sheet with a background of yellow.  In the areas where you plan to put actual words,
you'll want to keep the paper light, and the patterns to a minimum. 

Next, I decide to add a top border. Right now, the paper doesn't look like much, but as
the late Helen Van Wyk used to say, does a bowl of cake batter look like the cake?
Do not succumb to frustration.

When lifting your brush out of the water, you will need to make use of your paper towels.

Hmmm....This border is beginning to remind me of mildew, so I'll put in some red, and work
with it.  I will not succumb.

Below, I have played around with the red, and now I'll add some blue.  Later, I decide to
paint a heart in the lower right-hand corner.  Don't be afraid to experiment. 

When you have finished, go away and let the paper dry. You may want to place it on a towel. 
The paper will now have a different texture. It reminds me of parchment.
If it is entirely too curly, an INTELLIGENT ADULT can put it inside a pillow case and go over it with a cool iron.  While it is still warm, place it on a flat surface, and put a heavy book on top.  Be sure to unplug the iron.

Results are below.  The one on top is the illustrated project.  Please comment with any questions.

    

Kids' Illuminated Initials

This idea comes from the old illuminated manuscripts.  A Google search will bring up a lot of information on that.  You may especially be interested in the Book of Kells, a beautiful old gospel manuscript.


Here are the steps for the project:

1.  Go to MS Word or other software, find your favorite font, and type the capital letter of your choice.  It is probably pretty small at first. You need to highlight the letter and change the font size to about 500.  Adjust as needed. Then (if you are in Word), highlight the letter and right-click, then click "Font."  In the pop-up box, check "Outline."  The letter should then be an outline, and not solid black.  Most other word processors allow this also, but I'm not sure of their methods.  Alternatively, you can carefully draw the capital letter yourself.
Hint:  If you very lightly draw the skeletal part of the letter with pencil, you can use that as a guide as you make it fatter.  Then, erase the guideline inside your fat letter.

2. Now that you have your letter, add the rest of the child's name, as shown.

3. Now the child will add her favorite objects to the artwork and color the piece.

My imaginary Jake likes sea creatures, so we have added them to the art piece. Here are some ways to make the drawing easier:
1. For the fat fish on the left side of the "J":  Very lightly draw a circle.
2. To the circle, add an eye and a mouth, as shown.
3. Put some spikes on top and a small shape on bottom.  Add a fin behind the eye.
4. Put a tail on the back of the circle.
I have found an illustrated example of how to draw a fish at this link. The fish looks a lot different from mine but I hope your fish looks like no other, no matter whose directions you use.  Make it your own.

For the starfish, you can just lightly draw five lines that meet in the center. Then, flesh them out by drawing lines around the outsides of your five lines.  Then, erase the initial guidelines.

If you have questions about this project, please use the comment section.  Thanks for stopping by!

Chunky Beads for Kids from Air-Dry Clay

  Here is something really fun to do with light-colored air-dry clay.  You will be making chunky beads with wide enough holes to be strung on almost anything you may have around the house.

  Note: Look below directions for another picture.  I used Prang metallic watercolor to paint these beads.  For a bolder color, use regular watercolor, tempera, or acrylic CAUTION: Acrylic, once dry, does NOT wash out of clothing!  And it can dry very quickly.


Materials:
1. Air-dry clay
2. Texture sheets, netting, or anything with texture that you can press into the clay without mashing it flat.
3. Watercolors
4. Drinking straws, cut into two or three pieces to make it easier to work with them.5. Yarn, twine, fishing line, or something similar for stringing.
6. A large-eyed needle or a piece of pipe cleaner that can be attached to the yarn and bent to grip it.

Procedure:
1. Pinch off a small ball of clay with a diameter of about one inch. Roll it in your hands to smooth out the cracks.  You may need to add a very, very small amount of water. Experiment with the shape. You might want a round bead, or you may want your bead to be more cylindrical.  Try to make some of each.

2. Pierce the bead with a piece of drinking straw, pushing it all the way through. 

3. Take your texture sheet and press it gently into the clay. Set the bead aside and repeat the process with each bead.

4. Give the beads a few days to dry. Then, use watercolors, tempera, or acrylic to paint the beads.

5. When the beads are dry, string them onto the yarn or whatever you have chosen.

Here is a closer view; I apologize for the blurriness: