Starry Starry Night Pumpkin Patch

A Vincent Van Gogh  PumpkinMasterpiece 

I love Halloween & Fall! Seriously. Love it. But I do not like the creepy & bloody decor. I really get into giant piles of pumpkins, gourds, brightly colored squash - the sweeter side of Halloween, and art with kids.

This is a super fun art project for any age, we created these with 4th graders. There are a few easy steps to help keep it simple. I found an image from 

Mr. O's Art Room on Pinterest and ran with it.

You can create this in either order (background or pumpkins) and then glue pumpkins to the starry background. It helped to have different paint stations in the classroom. 

NIGHT SKY

(full sheet black)

We painted the starry starry night sky with light colors first then dark colors,  so it would show up on the black paper. 

I gave them examples so they could see the two projects before they were glued on top.

 PUMPKINS
(1/2 sheet white)

• They drew the pumpkins with pencil, then outlined with permanent black marker.                 

• Next they painted from light oranges to darker oranges for shadows to create a more 3-D effect. It's a hard concept to grasp and I think those that dared to try did awesome.

• Once the paint was dry, they cut out their pumpkins and glued it on top of their starry night.

 

I encouraged them to paint a variety of pumpkins- because there are so many shapes, sizes and colors.  

Happy Fall Y'all!

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My School Christmas tradition: Cookie-Cutter CERAMIC Ornaments

I just realized that I have been making and painting ceramic Christmas ornaments with our elementary school since my son was in preschool. He is now in 4th grade, so it has been 6 years in a row! Originally I was able to use the local university kiln, but I recently purchased my own kiln. It has been much easier for me to fire close by.  I am not able to glaze (the shiny coat) and fire ornaments in the Winter due to the super cold temperature in my garage! The glaze would crack right off after  being fired because it needs to cool very very slowly. So we painted the ornaments after the first (bisque) firing was complete. 

This year with the help of other teachers and moms we cookie-cut, fired, and painted 90+ kindergarten and 20+ 4th grade elementary students' Christmas Ornaments! I loved every moment of it. This is what it's about.

 Some of the 4th grade freshly painted ornaments. . . H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S.

Below are only a handful of the freshly painted ceramic ornaments that the kindergarten classes painted! They used glitter puff-paint to detail their ornaments and it worked perfectly. 

Thank goodness my 2 year-old was able to play at a friend's house while we painted the ornaments at the school. This picture was taken at home, during our  mommy "paint date." He's a super awesome painter when I don't leave him on his own. I cherish creating memories and hand-eye cordination skills at the same time. 

I know these are simple and goofy ornaments,  but I am addicted to helping kids  believe they can create art at whatever level or medium it may be.

"En Plein Air" Kid Painting- a.k.a. Free Paint Time!

"En Plein Air" is French, meaning to "paint outdoors", but to me in my world, it is to create art "without rules" or any "preconceptions." I always have a project in mind when I give my kids or students art materials. My own kids sometimes just ask "Mom, can we just make an art project without having you tell us what the theme is?" Oh yeah, that would be nice right? Why didn't I think of that? 

So... one "to do" we wrote for our 

Family Summer BUCKET LIST:

• Buy blank white canvas!
• Paint whatever you want!
• No Rules!

I didn't exactly make time in the Summer for this type of painting. Turns out it is a great idea for when the older kids are in school! I loved watching the facial expressions of my 3 1/2 year-old -choosing colors, brushes and paint and whatever entertained her cute little mind...

A therapeutic painting exercise for all ages... even adults.

FISH JUMPING OVER THE RAINBOW WATER... AND A BIG SHARK... AND A BIG RED WHALE 

Didn't ya know?

Just in time for Mother's Day! Children's art cards for sale {Batik Painting on Canvas}

KIDS HAVE WONDERFUL & CREATIVE IMAGINATIONS! These artworks are one-of-a-kind created by my 6 year-old and 9 year-old originally made to hang on their wall.

So here they are! My kids wanted to earn extra money and hey, since they have a mom that can help out a little, their art cards are available to everyone. 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . 

The cards are blank inside and can be used for gifts for thank you cards, birthdays and any occasion!

Go to this posting to see how they painted their glue batik on canvas Simple Batiking on Canvas.

Go here to see how you can purchase a package at My Etsy Online Shop or contact me directly at candiceashment@gmail.com.

Go to my shop and purchase a package for your children's teachers or for Mother's Day!

All proceeds go to my kids. Promise.

Circles, Circles, Circles... My glue batik "Designer" Pillow

I thought I would share one last post for this week that didn't have to do with Valentine's. I'm trying to get a few little and big art projects (maybe house-related projects, backed up photo albums... you know) complete before I have our 4th baby in March. Yikes... 

This glue batik took me a lot longer than I had planned, but I now I have a "designer" pillow, right? Wa wa. 

(For tutorial, go to Simple Glue Batik on Canvas post). 

I think this pillow adds a nice flare to our "rather sad couch" (as my husband states too often)! The yellow pillow on the left was sewn from a Japanese kimono I knew I would never wear.

Letting the water soak out the washable glue... My 2 1/2 year-old daughter threw her rubber duck in for a bath. 

 

BEFORE washing the glue & AFTER washing the glue off.

Ahhh... A little color to my "sad" couch.