Tree Weavings: 4th Grade

Tree Weavings in Progress

This is the lesson made famous by Mrs. Cassie Stephens!  I usually do a more traditional rectangle 9in x 13in weaving.  However, time seemed in short supply this year.  The tree weaving takes a lot less time & is more forgiving for those students that struggle with hour glassing.  Week one I had students draw & paint a landscape for the background.  Week two they warped their loom & started the first string.  Week three students continued the weaving and began adding beads.  Most students are almost finished after week three.  It will take a partial class to finish the rest.  They've loved it!!  Adding the beads was a new trick for me....but I really like it.  Even if I return to the rectangular weaving...I think I'll keep the beads!!  

                                     

Peacock-A-Palooza Part 2: Paper Marbling

Shaving Cream & Liquid Watercolor  

(You can also use acrylic, tempera, food coloring, or even Kool-Aid to create the color.)  

We made available Sharpie, gems, feathers, beads, colored glue, and other crafting items to embellish their marbleized peacocks.  So fun to see the variety of ideas. REMEMBER...these were created by art teachers.

Completed Flower Mixed Media/Recycled Project: K

I may add black glitter in the center of the flowers, but we're calling these done!  Cutting the butterfly from the diffuser paper was a challenge!  We ended up telling the students to cut out 4 circle/ovals & then gluing the pieces together.  The fabric was also a big challenging for some, but overall most student were able to do it unassisted.  

Experimenting Again: As Seen On Pinterest...Bead Bowl

Here is the pinterest pin link!

http://www.wooz.dk/?page_id=2611

I saw a very cool melted bead bowl on Pinterest & wanted to try it myself.  The blog it came from was in a different language...and even with Google Translator...I felt I was missing some information.

I first rubbed the inside of my dish with veggie oil & heated my toaster oven to 200 degrees(this is info I got from the google translator).  I grabbed a couple handfuls of beads from my craft supplies and spread them out in the bowl. I "baked" the beads for 10 minutes, but could tell hey had not really melted.  I was concerned that the beads were too thick/hard, and may not be the type of beads used on the post I had seen.

After pulling the bowl out after 20 minutes in the toaster oven, I realized I probably was right.  The beads were not the kind used in the images I had seen on Pinterest.  Oh well...I was experimenting...so failure is fine. You learn from your mistakes and try again!

This time I went through my beads and found ones that looked like what I had seen.  These were thinner & seemed to be softer.  I had ones that had painted stripes & ones that were solid.  I placed the striped ones in the bottom and a majority of the solid ones on the sides (no reason..just how I did it?!?).  Back into the toaster oven at 300 (I upped the temp a bit).  I quickly realized the beads on the side were melting, but the beads on the bottom seemed to not be?!?!  I left them in for about 15 minutes, and here are the results.

The bowl worked this time!  However, I do not see this being a lesson I could really use with my classes during a regular school year.  It may be a project I file away for an art camp.