How adorable are these donut charms?! We made them at our day-long donut art camp this fall and they were a HUGE hit!
They are pretty impressive looking and not-too-difficult to make. If you want to try it out at home with your kids or you're just curious about the process, Miss Sam and I made a video:
If you make some, let us know! We'd love to see pictures of your art!
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Creepy Crawly Spider Webs
Prep paper with blue tape border.
Teacher tip: Tape it to the table too! Since we're going to be covering the page with watercolors, this will keep the paper from wrinkling up too much.
Talk to your young artists about what spider webs look like. Show some pictures of spider webs--trace the lines with your finger!
Hand out the paper and invite artists to make their spider webs with the oil pastels. (After all, what are spider webs except a bunch of lines!?)
Once we have a good start on our webs, every web needs a spider!
Some artists will know immediately how they want to represent the spider. Others will need help breaking it down into steps and shapes. If they need help, ask "what shape do you think our spider's body should be?" "How about the head?". "What do our legs look like?"
Teachers, you can demo this drawing step-by-step for your artists: Draw a circle or a dot for the spider body and another circle/dot for the head. Add those spider legs (could be eight...could be more 😉).
Your artists might begin to add more details to their drawings. Additional spiders. Excessive webbing. Random objects that have nothing to do with Halloween or spiders. Don't stop this. Even if it "ruins" their drawing. Follow their lead. If a racecar or Minecraft character ends up in their spider web, let it go. It's their art, not yours.
Let's make it look like nighttime. Paint the whole page with black watercolors. Remind your artists to keep the brushes juicy...don't let them dry out!
Notice how the really really dark paint doesn't cover our spider web! Oil pastels RESIST the water paints on top. Yeah, science!
After the paint is dry, add those googly eyes with some glue and then remove the blue tape.
Preschool Art doesn't have to be complicated or stressful. A few quality materials and an opening idea, question, or inspiration is all you need. Let the artists do the rest.
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Foam Printing Tutorial
We used some shape stickers and these animal stickers because our story for the day was "Put Me in the Zoo" by Robert Lopshire. This silly book has a number of animal illustration in it so it was a good lead-in into our animal sticker collage.
Our preschool artists choose their animals and worked hard to get the paper backing off of the foam stickers.
A NOTE ABOUT THIS "HARD PART":
We stuck our foam stickers onto squares of foam core. You could also use corrugated cardboard as the base. We cut ours 4x4 because that's what fits into our stamp pads.
We talked about composition and how the animals were arranged. The only "rule" that we gave our artists was that they animals couldn't be on top of each other. (Because an elephant could crush that little alligator, duh?)
Our artists stamped their pictures onto different sizes of paper. We noticed that the animals printed backwards which led to a discussion of WHY. We noticed that we had to press the stamp evenly on both the stamp pad and the paper in order to pull a great print. It takes core strength and shoulder stability to all that printing! (Love when an art activity uses the big muscles)
In the end, both the stamp itself and the print were beautiful. We ended up trimming some of the prints and mounting them on black construction paper for a pretty presentation. But that step is completely optional. Because, it's beautiful just like this, too:
I hope you get to try this out with your class or with your kiddos at home! It's such a versatile activity that could because use with almost any theme (maybe even some holiday gift wrap!?). Let me know if your try it out with a tag on social media; we're @orangeeaselart on facebook, twitter, and instagram.
Supplies for this lesson:
Below are the supplies we used for our lesson. The washable watercolor are not needed if your stamp pads are new and fresh! We bought the animal stickers from Amazon. Everything else came from Discount School Supply. (Foam core was from Dollar Tree because you can't beat that price anywhere).
So, we've got our online classes for the big kids now, but we need something for our littlest artists. Are you ready for this?
In January, we're launching a preschool ART BOX (name still tbd) that will have process art materials and curriculum for your 3-5 year old artists. We're taking the BEST of our Preschool Fundamental classes and smooshing them into a box, just for you. Learn art techniques and art history in a way that is engaging and age appropriate for your little artists.
Want to be involved in the creation of this program? Maybe do some testing for us? Watch this:
And then, join this:
Exciting things are happening here at Orange Easel! We'd love for you to be a part of it!
The base for the dollhouse were these wooden dollhouse from Ikea.
Technically, Ikea lists them as shelves, but they work great for a floor toy. They are BIG...standing almost two feet high. They also take a minute to assemble. If you're putting together one dollhouse, no biggie. When you have 20+ that need to be assembled, it's a little more daunting.
Thankfully, we have a great team here:
We never have any fun.
Our artists started their blank house and a design book. We got our book template from another incredible art studio, Make Art Studio (Heather creates the the most beautiful handouts and downloads). The book helped us to organize our ideas. There's only four rooms so each artist needed to decide on their floor plan.
We had a special guest visit the studio on the first day of camp. Toska Tiemann, an interior designer and color expert from Unique Painting, met with our artists to talk about the task ahead of them. They had so many design choices to make...interior and exterior colors, wallpaper or paint, accent walls, flooring, etc.
In addition to designing the walls and floors, our artists also had to create all of the furnishings for inside their houses. The studio's closets were empty this week because every single art material in the studio was sitting out in the large classroom. We used polymer clay, fabric, cardboard, beads, string, mosaic tiles, wire, pom poms, and recyclables. And lots and lots of hot glue.
The results were incredible. I love all the details. We've got pillows. And house plants. And even perfume bottles.
It was an epic week. This is how art camps SHOULD be: A whole week filled independent and passionate creation.
This is a project that could be completed in the home studio to whatever level of intricacy you desire. After you get everything painted, it would be fun to have as an ongoing project--something you continually add new furnishing and details too (just like our real homes!).
I hope you enjoyed seeing pictures from our camp in the studio and that you get a chance to try this one out with your kids!
If you want to see more, we took a live video tour of each of the houses. Our artists explained their choices and their favorite parts.
Fairy Jars Step-by-Step Tutorial
Cut out and glue fairy to the inside of the jar (hot glue if cardboard, Mod Podge if paper). If you have the foam sticker fairy, remove backing and press against the inside. You can substitute fairies for dragons, elves, or whatever you like.
Lightly brush the outside of the jar with modpodge.
Place a single layer of tissue paper over the Mod Podge. Too many layers will make the fairy hard to see, and we're going for a “frosted” glass look. Smooth the tissue paper out with your fingers and coat with modpodge (don't worry, it will dry clear!)
While the modpodge is still wet, roll the bottom edge of the jar in iridescent glitter for shimmer. Don't cover the whole jar--glitter isn't as see-through as you think it is!
Add your battery-powered lights and close lid. Turn off the lights to see the MAGIC!!!
You can decorate the jar top with whatever you like (flowers, ribbons, twine, etc.).
That’s it! Such a simple craft with such a magical result.
A fairy light would look great in a bedroom or bathroom as a night light, or as living room décor. They add ambience to any outdoor gathering, or a touch of the mystical to your Halloween decorations. And of course, what fairy garden would be complete without one?!
What are you waiting for? Catch a fairy today!
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I love how they are all miss-matched and not perfect spheres. They remind me of little polished pebbles!
The project was so popular, we had to do a live tutorial for our community on facebook. We've linked to that below so you can see all our tips and tricks. If you try it out, make sure you post a picture and tag us @orangeeaselart on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. We love to see your art!
Let's make some happy-rainbow-swirly-beads together, okay?
Whether it's painting, drawing, or sculptures.... art unleashes the creativity inside.
There's a reason why therapists recommend stress balls, they've got the same effect as using play dough or modeling clay.
Completing any type of art project gives the child a sense of pride and accomplishment, as well as a self-esteem and self-confidence boost.
Art gives children an outlet for their creativity, which helps them focus better on their school work. Doing simple tasks like doodling with a piece of chalk or grasping a paint brush assist in fine motor development. When children experiment with materials, they dabble in science. By the time a child reaches Kindergarten, they are expected to know how to draw circles, squares, and be able to cut straight lines with scissors.
Nurturing a child’s creativity helps her mental, social, and emotional development. Kids learn to experiment with art, make mistakes, and try new ways of thinking--a skill they can use into adulthood.
Art expresses what words cannot. Even a child too young to speak or speak well can express their thoughts and emotions through art. Just a simple painting or a drawing can express a lot of things without the need for words.
Keep your kids on the right path developmentally and socially. Take the time to create with them at home--be it building with Cheerios or making paper airplanes. You can also enroll them in art classes. Our fall schedule is ready and waiting! Just make sure your children have the opportunity to create and express themselves whenever possible.
Watch how we did it!
Watch our facebook live broadcast for a step-by-step instruction on how to make these sweet butterflies:
Once you've finished your butterflies, you can hang them from the ceiling, attach them to a window, or even use some floral wire to have hover above a houseplant!
I hope you enjoy this simple summer craft!
Content inspired by the artists and art created in our studio.
Orange Easel began as a small art studio in my basement and continues to grow and serve our community. Read more about our story here.