Growing Up Creative

Eco kids craft – Weatherproof Butterflies Mobile

As promised, here is a tutorial for making paper butterflies that will fly come rain or shine…. there are 2 steps to the process: the first one is folding the butterfly and the second is dipping it in melted wax. This is overall an easy tutorial. I have been making them with groups of kids ages 4-11 for a community art installation called more than 1000 Butterflies currently showing in Ramat Handiv in Israel, you can read more about the installation here.
The reason for dipping the butterflies in wax is to make them water resistant, so they can be hung outdoors. in the process of dipping them in wax, I found how amazing the transformation is. It makes the butterflies durable, yet extremely brittle. It turns the paper translucent, one can freeze a shape, and when the wind blows and the butterfly touch each other ever so gently, they make an extraordinary soothing sound.

^{butterfly art installation, Ramat Hanadiv, Israel, photography Nirit Gur-Karby}

You will need
For the butterflies:

• Recycled/used paper (i have been using old encyclopedias)
• Scissors
• Paper clips

For dipping in wax:

• Wax (you may use candles)
• Oil pastels in a color you like
• Pot
• Foil (to protect cook top and working surface)
•  Tongs

For making a mobile:

• Fishing wire
• Beads

How to


   1. Fold the paper in 2
   2. Draw a curved line on the open end of the paper
   3. Cut along the line (you may rip the edge instead of using scissors)
   4. Open the page flat, now you have a symmetrical shape that looks somewhat like a butterfly.
   5. Fold the paper an accordion fold
   6. Unfold a paper clip (or any other wire you may have) and twist it around the center of the accordion fold, spread the wings, squish the folds close to the center a bit to keep the wings open


Now for the wax -

   1. Melt wax in a pot
   2. protect working surface with foil
   3. Add oil pastels in the color you like
   4. Very carefully dip the butterfly in the wax (make sure there is parental supervision)
   5. Put aside to cool down , you may dip a few times. Try and alternate with different colors

 
After the wax cooled down you may turn the butterflies into mobiles by tying a fishing wire to the butterfly and adding some beads if you like.

^{butterfly art installation, Ramat Hanadiv, Israel, photography Nirit Gur-Karby}

 

# 8 How-to make a tote bag out of an old (I ♥ NY) t-shirt

I ♥ NY ….
I used to say that one of the best things about living in Boston is the proximity to NYC.
One of my favorite things to do was to take the first bus to the city, walk from the central bus station on 42nd all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge via Union Square, the Flatiron building, and ABC Carpeting (one of my favorite stores). Then, Take the last bus going back; recharged with energy that lasted for at least another month. 

Now, the closest I can get to the flatiron building is by staring at my over sized IKEA print hanging in my bedroom. 

I love the logo - I ♥ NY
This brilliant logo was designed by Milton Glaser, and it has been used since the mid 70’s to promote tourism in New York (city and state). For some odd reason, my girls have four  I ♥ NY t-shirts, So it was no problem to spare one and turn it into a tote bag. This project was made by Zoe, her first project using a sewing machine; make her Ima proud….

This is how you (or your child) can make a tote bag out of an old t-shirt:

You will need:
An old t-shirt (dah..)
Scissors
Sewing machine or needle and thread

How to:

1. Fold the t-shirt in 2
2. Trim the neckline
3. Trim the sleeves turning the t-shirt into a tang top
4. Turn the t-shirt inside out
5. Fold the shirt so the side seam is in the middle 
6. Stitch the bottom, use zigzag if you have it, or hand stitch.
7. Lay the bottom of the shirt flat, Stitch the corners of, make your miters even and perpendicular to the side and bottom seams, (stitching the miter will give volume to the bag)
8. Turn it right side out

And, TADA

Thoughts and variations:

• This is a great project for beginners like Zoe (7)
• Can be used as a gift wrap instead of paper
• Use large t-shirts to make eco friendly grocery bags
  
  I am linking this post to Craft Schooling Sunday

#06 How-to make over sized flowers made of used plastic bags

This is a fun project to do at home or in a class room. I first tried it during a craft show with some random kids that joined in, and I have to tell you that my best audience were boys with the coolest hair cut, wearing soccer uniform (approximately 10 years of age). They thought it was a great idea to make a flower for their mom. If you don’t have plastic bags to spare, I am sure your friends will, you may also reuse tissue paper.
At home we chose to decorate our bare tree in our backyard. It looks much happier waiting for its leaves to sprout.



You will need:

• used plastic bags (the noisy kind). Each flower requires 10-12 single sheets of nylon (5-6 plastic bags)
• scissors
• pipe cleaner
• string

How to:

1. Flatten all plastic bags, pile them one on top of the other, and smooth them straight.  If you have different size bags, organize them by size.
   
   
2. Trim handles and bottom of bags. You should have the bags as tubes now, stretch them out and keep them flat.
3. Trim sides, so you have single sheets.
   
4. Fold the sheets of nylon stacked on top of each other like an accordion. 
5. Twist the pipe cleaner over the center of the accordion; you may make a small loop at the end of the pipe cleaner so you can tie a string to it. 
6. Trim both ends into either a pointy shape or a curved shape as desired. 
7. Fan out the ends into a butterfly shape.
8. Open up the flower by peeling each layer separately. Do the same on both sides.
9. Fluff the layers of nylon to get a full and puffy flower. Give it a little hair cut if needed.
   
   

Things to think about:

• Depending on the plastic bags you have, you may make nice color combination.
• The flowers are great for outside as well as inside
• An easy and inexpensive solution for a birth day decoration
• If you make them smaller, you may use the pipe cleaner that ties the flowers as the stem. 
• Zoe had to add a touch of perfume to them (she sprayed it on the pipe cleaner).
  
  
   
  

I am looking forward to see your flowers bloom in the flicker shared photo pool, and please, contact me with any question.

I am linking this post to Craft Schooling Sunday

Happy happy spring
tali

#5 Eco kids craft - How-to make a bird's nest

This project is one of my favorites. It was inspired by a poem - a Bird’s Nest, written by the Israeli national author Hayyim Nahman Bialik. This could be a fabulous project to celebrate spring.

In the process of deciding how to make a nest Zoe and I were trying to think of the nature of building one. We have decided that just like the birds we needed to make our nest from bits and pieces of materials we have gathered about. Materials such as lint, leaves, rags, strings etc. And so we did.

Nests are incredible Eco structures. There is a very nice collection of nests at the Harvard Natural History Museum, in Cambridge MA. If you are in the area you should pay a visit. Its right next to the MUST SEE glass flowers exhibit.

This project has 2 parts, the first is making the nest and the second is decorating the eggs to fit within the nest. The nest takes a couple of days to dry depending on the weather, so plan accordingly.
WARNING: This is a messy project, but it is a mess well worth cleaning

Part one:
MAKING THE NEST

You will need:
Gather bits and pieces of material that is around you such as: old t shirts (ripped into strings), leaves, Small branches, lint (could be some from the drier), strings, left over yarn, etc.
1 Balloon per nest
1 Bowl per nest
Scissors
Newspaper to protect your working area
Craft glue (white glue)

Note: you may use cornstarch glue instead of the craft glue, it is Eco friendly and  biodegrade. I have never used it before therefore I cannot tell you much more about it but send you to this link.


How to:

Start by covering your work area
Collect all your bits and pieces for the nest.

Blow the balloon, and place it in the bowl with the knot facing down (the size of the balloon will determine the size of your nest

Pour some glue into a paper cup/ bowl
Start with the longer strings and t shirt strips you have, dip them into the glue and place on the balloon. You may squeeze some of the glue access off the strings but don’t get rid of too much, this project needs a fair amount of glue.

Keep on going around and around layering all the bits and pieces that you have gathered. If you are adding leaves, make sure you are securing them with another layer of strings on top of them.


When you think you are done set aside to dry. This may take a couple of days.
Once it is dry, pop the balloon.

Part 2:
DECORATING THE EGGS

You will need:
Fresh Eggs
Embroidery Needle
Markers, acrylics (use your preferred medium)

How to:
Empty the eggs first by pocking two holes one at each end of the egg. One hole should be no bigger than a needle’s head, and the other hole can be slightly bigger.

Blow air into the egg through the smaller hole, make sure you have a bowl under the egg, the content off the egg will come out, I promise.
Rinse the eggs, set aside to dry
Decorate the eggs


Place in nest.

We have cushioned our nest with an extra layer of rose petals from our garden.



I hope you will enjoy this as much as we did.
Let me know if you have any questions.

tali

I am linking this post to Craft Schooling Sunday

#02 Newspaper Doll

 

I have learned this sculpting technique together with Zoe on Family Sundays at the LACMA, which if you happen to be living in the LA area you must check out. It was a rainy day (rare occasion in LA) so instead of doing messy pottery outside we were shown how to sculpt neatly with paper and masking tape inside the Greek and Roman gallery of the LACMA.

In the following tutorial I will share that technique with you, demonstrating how to make a doll. Keep in mind that with this technique you can sculpt anything you can imagine, it is physical and soothing at the same time. some background music is a plus. 

Although this technique is more suited for ages 6 and up, you can do this with younger kids with some assistance. Working the paper will strengthen the little hands and prepare younger kids for fine motor skills. the project can be as simple as a ball or as complex as a bust with curly hair.

A note about the masking tape:
I was looking long and hard for a biodegradable masking tape. I found a company in Australia that sells it. I couldn’t find any standard biodegradable masking tap in the US, but i did find Japanese colorful tape made from Washi paper that seems amazing for this project or anything else for that matter. 

Pardon my appearance as i am still unpacking.

You will need:

Newspaper
Masking tape
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations
Drawing tools

Optional:
Colorful magazines
Scissors
glue

How to:

Rip one newspaper page and crumple it into a ball

Place inside the center of a spread,
turn over and twist the newspaper around the ball to form a head.
Tape around the neck.

{{At this phase Zoe insisted me taking a picture of the amazing olives we got in the desert, she wanted to share them with you but only in virtual way, they are way too tasty to give away (she is very protective of her food). yes, we usually eat when we work...maybe next time I should remind her to wash her hands...}}

Use another spread and scrunch it the long way.
Place inside the spread tight to the head, this will become the hands.
Tape around the upper body, forming the shoulders and waist.

 

You may choose to end the doll in this phase, make sure you tape around the head, torso and hands. You may add a string on top, with some colorful beads. If you add wings to the back, you may just get a fairy…Hang somewhere special.

^{made by Zoe when she was 4 1/2 (with just a little help)}

Crunch another spread for legs.
Start to tape the figure, add crunched newspaper for extra volume where needed: belly, nose, heels, etc. tape over added mass.

 

Tape all around the doll.

 

Draw her facial features

^{doll by tali (with help from Zoe)}

Zoe said she will make the doll some cloth so she is not cold and naked. I will post it when she does.

You may also clip some images from colorful magazines and collage over the doll. 

I am looking forward to seeing your projects in the shared flicker photo pool.

Enjoy
tali

#01 Flowers expended to wall art using paper rolls

After much demand, I am finally starting a new feature on my blog: I call it Eco Kids Craft, which is a fancy name for craft tutorials made of recycled materials. The main purpose of these tutorials is to guide parents and educators through the phases of some easy craft activities that encourage recycling, creativity and making with what you have.

If you have been following my blog you should know that I tend not to put an emphasis on the final product, but rather on the process and the exploration. These are going to be no different. The tutorials will get you started by opening an endless world of creativity and imagination.

Thank you Shoshanna Strauss for the graphics.

Lets get going

You will need:

Toilette Paper rolls
Scissors
White glue
Stapler
Paint + brushes
Glitter
Laundry pins

How to:

• Crush paper roll

• Cut into approximately 5 equal parts don’t have to be exact

• place the rolls on a flat surface creating a desired  pattern. spend time trying different compositions and patterns.

• glue where rolls are touching, hold with laundry pins to dry. You may use a stapler as an alternative, what ever is easier. I find that glue is easier for the younger kids.

• You may paint and add sparkles. Sprinkle the glitter on the wet paint, this way it will sticks and you wont need any glue.

• You may expend the pattern in to an organic cell growth. The challenge is when to say STOP.

You may see some more examples for this project at the shared flicker photo pool. I hope you will upload yours as well, if you cant figure flicker out, drop me a note.

tali