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Zen Houses Workshop with Jodi Ohl

I have been a fan of Jodi Ohl‘s artwork for many years.  She has a fun, whimsical style.  Last summer, I went to a workshop taught by her and had so much fun that I signed up for another weekend painting class with her.  The theme last summer was Zen Painting (in an abstract style).  This summer, the class I signed up for was Zen Houses, which uses similar techniques taught in the Zen Painting class.  I loved both of … Read more…

Summer Art Challenge 2018

About 6 years ago I came up with the idea to do a Summer Art Challenge, based on the fun I had as a girl doing those summer reading programs where you earned a little prize at the library. You can see the first one my students did back in 2012 here.  They brought in their summer artwork and we had a great display! In 2015, I did another summer art challenge with printable handouts on my blog. I think … Read more…

Milk Carton Sailboat Tutorial

My 1st graders are working on these fun boats now to go along with their explorer unit.  Okay, I know they are not really explorer ships, but we can pretend, right?  And they are so fun and cute.  The kids love them! How to Make a Boat:  Gather empty milk cartons from the lunch room.  Wash and wash again to get rid of all those icky germs.  Let dry overnight.  Use a utility knife to cut the milk carton down … Read more…

Painted Rocks with Magazine Cut Outs

At the end of the school year, my students had fun painting rocks and using magazine words to decorate them. We used acrylic paints to paint the rocks. Then, we used Mod Podge to glue down the words and seal them. The metallic paint was from Target’s little acrylic paint jars.  I have some printable magazine word cut outs in my shop for easy use.  Just print, cut out and go!  These are perfect for collages, art journals and “About … Read more…

Lego Mosaics at the Brickworld Convention

I have more pictures to show you from the Lego Brickworld Convention that was held in Schaumburg, IL this summer. If you love Legos, be sure to check out my first post about this convention. I know some art teachers make mosaics with their students, so I decided to group all of the photos I took of the Lego mosaic art that was at this convention.  At the bottom of this post, I have a few links to some ways … Read more…

Lego Brickworld Convention 2015

Are you a fan of Legos?  Did you know there is a new documentary film coming out July 31 called Beyond the Brick: A Lego Brickumentary?  You can see the official trailer here.  Have you heard of the Lego Brickworld Convention? In June, I went to the Lego Brickworld Convention in Schaumburg, IL.  My husband went for the entire 4 day convention as an exhibitor with his Lego User Group.  I attended with my kids for the afternoon on the … Read more…

3 Art Projects Using Leaves

Summer is the perfect time to create art with your child.  Nature provides endless inspiration for art.  Here are three fun art activities using leaves that you can do with kids or just on your own! This post was created as part of the Elmer’s Crafty Bloggers team. Learning Activity Topic:  Using nature to inspire art Educational Foundation: 1.  Identifying and sorting items from nature 2.  Using shapes and variety to create a composition 3.  Learning about negative and positive … Read more…