Creative Expressions - Clay Art

An alligator and a mouse found their way into our home last week.
The children found an unused bag of modeling clay and set about to remedy the 'unused' description.

Creative Expressions During Christmas Break

 

Every year, we purchase a couple of gingerbread house kit. Typically, two houses are built 

and the children sharing construction and decoration duties.

This year, I found a kit for a gingerbread house village with four houses.

Since each child would then be able to build their own house, it was perfect.

 

 

They spent an hour or so of Christmas afternoon creating these.

 

 

And, today, on New Year's Day, they will eat them!

 

 

 

 

 

For Christmas, my oldest daughter got a soap making kit.

She spent an afternoon making a few bars from it.

 

 

 

Additionally, we made snowflakes from these patterns

and others like those pictured above for this school. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homemade Gifts - Sunbursts

 

Our youngest son's Travel the World lessons have taken a definite turn

toward incorporating Christmas into his European unit.

Actually, it was extremely easy using many of the resources we have on hand.

 

One day, my son {and actually, all our children} made Sunbursts from Sweden, which we found in

 Papercrafts Around the World, by Phyllis Fiarotta and Noel Fiarotta. 

The instructions were easy to follow, and all the children worked independently

to create sunbursts of all colors.

 

 

After the ribbons were added, my son decided who would receive his homemade sunbursts.

Next, we plan to make "Wiehnacht Angel: Germany" from the same book.

Though the instructions are a bit more complex,

I hope he can work on most, if not all, of the project by himself

to create gifts which are truly his own works of art.

Homemade Gifts - Doll Apron

 

One Sunday afternoon, my youngest daughter and I sewed these simple aprons.

She had been trying for a week to sew one by hand.

Though I have very limited sewing experience, aka home-ec class in middle school,

and even less skill, I decided to try to help her.

We picked out a few fabrics.

 

Four doll aprons were planned.

I fashioned a few straight seams, and viola...

 

an apron for my daughter's doll

 

and another for my other daughter's doll.

My daughter made two as well.

 

This is for one of her cousins,

and the top one in the first picture is for another cousin.

Both have dolls of the right height for these aprons.

We decided to try them out on her dolls

before wrapping them.

 

In Her Words

Shyly, she asks, "Is that the picture?"

"It is," she breathes out her own answer before I can reply.

We were in Washington, D.C. viewing an exhibit on photography in American history when she found it.  She saw a copy of the face which had touched her last spring in a co-op class.  The class, an art, history, and writing combination class, was taught by another mom and myself.  We combined the three subjects by using pictures and paintings from American history with accompanying art and writing lessons.

One month we spent studying the photograph of "Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange.  If ever we wanted a piece to convey emotion, this was it.  The children learned the story behind the photograph and gained a general sense of the time period.  They were then assigned the task of writing a poem about the picture.  Our oldest daughter, who was 11 at the time, chose to write from one of the little girl's perspectives.  Her poem follows...

A Little Girl's Story

I'm a little girl, one of seven.

I'm only about three

with six other siblings,

five older than me.

I'm a little girl, one of seven.

So many mouths to feed,

how can my mother do it

without a husband's lead?

I'm a little girl, one of seven,

with a tent for a home.

Inside the dark woods

is where I get cold.

I'm a little girl, one of seven,

waiting for this to be over.

So I can be satisfied

and Mother can rest.

Creative Expressions - Gifts from the Heart

Our two daughters have a sweet way of creating beautiful gifts to give to others, like

a ribbon purse for a cousin's birthday...

and a necklace for Nana.

Creative Expressions - Stamping Gone Wild

The two younger children painting with their stamps.

Creative Expressions - Beach Crafts

...from Vacation Bible School

This year's theme, Adventures on Promise Island, was beach related.  There were island locations {stations} to visit like "Life Guard Lagoon" {Bible Study}, "Fun Time Falls" {games} and "Coconut Cafe" {snacks}.  One of our younger children's favorite place to visit was "Project Pointe" {crafts}.  They had a grand time making and creating three different projects during the week. 

Some of what they made...

{my youngest daughter's shrinky-dink-like magnet,

folded onto itself when heated, and made a neat form}

{sand decorated crosses made by the three of our children who attended VBS}

{my youngest daughter's beach towel,

decorated with permanent markers one day, tie dyed the next}

Creative Expressions - Caterpillar Pictures

This summer, we are taking some time to create.  We checked out a few art books from our library at the beginning of our summer break.  Among them was 1, 2, 3, I Can Make Prints! by Irene Luxbacher.  We have enjoyed these easy to do projects, especially because we already had all the supplies on hand.  Our youngest two made their own caterpillars following the directions in the book. We only altered one step. 

By using a cotton swab, instead of a finger, the children dotted small circles at the end of the caterpillar's legs. The cotton swab allowed for a more uniform appearance, but still fell within the printing theme of the project.

The final results?
My nine year old daughter's picture...

My five year old son's picture...

Both children completed their projects on their entirely on their own. I really like how you can see a bit of their personalities and preferences in each one, despite it being the same project.