Category Archives: Painting

Oct26

Calico Bags

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A spotty calico bag.

A spotty calico bag.

We have re-usable bags of all shapes, sizes, and colours. Some of my favourite bags are the calico ones, they are lightweight and scrunch up small enough to carry in my bag. They are great for shopping and make perfect library bags, but they can be a bit boring to look at, so we took fabric paint to some new calico bags to make them unique and appealing.

The tin of fabric paint.

The tin of fabric paint.

Squeezy bottles of paint.

Squeezy bottles of paint.

A while ago my mother had given me a tin of old fabric paint tubes. She wasn’t sure if they were any good, but thought I might like to try them out. As we went through the tin we found only a couple of the tubes were dried out completely, but almost all of the nozzles were clogged. For these tubes, I cut the end off them to access the paint. There were also some 3D fabric paints in squeezy bottles that were still fine to use too.

Making hand prints.

Making hand prints.

We set out our calico bags with a piece of cardboard inside to prevent the paint from seeping through to the other side, and pegged the bag taunt to make it easier to paint. The kids did hand prints, used stampers, paint brushes, and squeezed the 3D paint directly onto the bags to make each one special. They had a ball. And when all the bags were finished, we waited until then were touch dry, and turned them over and did the other side.

Stamping.

Stamping.

Squeezing on 3D paint.

Squeezing on 3D paint.

Brushing on paint.

Brushing on paint.

Splotching paint on.

Splotching paint on.

Spreading the paint.

Spreading the paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we were finished, we were all covered in paint, but we had had fun. Some of the paint didn’t come off as easily as others, and I needed to use some mineral turpentine to remove it from our hands and brushes. The kids thought it was super disgusting! Next time we buy fabric paint I will be checking to make sure it will wash off with soapy water.

Once fully dry, I heat set the paint with the iron. I used a tea towel over the design whilst ironing to protect the design, and prevent any stray bits of paint adhering to my iron. The finished bags look great, and are much more fun than the plain ones!

Dinosaur stamped bag.

Dinosaur stamped bag.

Hand print bag.

Hand print bag.

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Oct26

Rainbow Bookmarks

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I really love my laminator, it is so useful! Apart from preserving the children’s awards and other valuable mementos, it makes creating unique and durable bookmarks a breeze.

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For these fantastic rainbow bookmarks, we used colour diffusing paper (I bought it from Modern Teaching Aids). This sort of paper sucks up the colour and spreads it and mixes it, creating unusual and interesting patterns. Paper towel and coffee filters also provide a similar effect. This paper works well with water colour paints. Using felt tip markers (textas) to draw on the paper, and then using a spray bottle to wet the paper will also cause the colour to spread and mix. But for bright, vibrant colours, we always come back to using a few drops of food colouring in a small amount of water.

The kids used pipettes to place the coloured water onto the paper. They did big squirts and little drops, lines and puddles, using a range of colours. They enjoyed watching the colour spread out, and making new colours by overlapping the food colouring. They filled up each page with brilliant colour, and in A’s case, so much colour that some of the paper was actually dripping when I laid it out to dry!

A tray of food colouring and pipettes.

A tray of food colouring and pipettes.

Big spots.

Big spots.

And little dots. The blue and red puddle is mixing to give purple.

And little dots. The blue and red puddle is mixing to give purple.

Making lines.

Making lines.

 

 

 

 

 

I laid each of the wet pages out on a piece of scrap cardboard to dry flat.

 

Once these pages are dry, we can use them as beautiful and unique papers for any of our paper crafts.

Still wet paper.

Still wet paper.

Still wet. The pattern from the much mat can be seen through it.

Still wet. The pattern from the much mat can be seen through it.

 

 

A chose one sheet of paper to use for our bookmarks. The page was 30cm long, so I cut out six bookmarks, each 5cm across, by the width of the paper. I drew a faint pencil line on the back of the paper using a ruler to keep it straight, and then cut them apart. We fit three of these paper strips into an A4 laminating pocket, leaving plenty of room between the strips to make sure the plastic was properly sealed around the paper. L helped me position the laminating pocket and feed it into the laminator. It only takes a few moments for the laminating to finish, and then a few more to cool down.

The same page, dry and ready to use.

The same page, dry and ready to use.

I carefully cut the new bookmarks apart from each other, leaving a border of plastic seal around each one. I rounded the corners of each bookmark to remove the sharp point. L punched a hole in the top of each bookmark, and chose a ribbon to thread through the top. Once the ribbons were tied, the bookmarks were finished and ready to be used.

The paper cut into strips.

The paper cut into strips.

In the laminating pocket ready to be laminated.

In the laminating pocket ready to be laminated.

 

 

 

 

 

Finished bookmarks.

Finished bookmarks.

 

 

 

Jul3

Scratch Art

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IMG_0845Scratch art seems to be very popular with the kids at the moment, and I’ve been asked on numerous occasions to buy some of the scratch art card. I remember making our own scratch art paper when I was in primary school, so I thought the kids might like to try this at home.

A colouring in her paper.

A colouring in her paper.

A adding black paint.

A adding black paint.

We coloured in some sheets of paper using crayons, so that the whole page was covered in crayon. We used a rainbow of colours in no particular pattern. A just scribbled all over her piece of paper until it was mostly covered, and then I helped her fill in the edges. Once the colouring in was done, we used thick black paint to cover the paper, covering up the crayon rainbows. We left it to dry.

There was a shaft of sun coming in our lounge room window, so we positioned the paper on the floor in the sun to help them dry a little more quickly. There were still a few wet patches, when ,unfortunately, our cat came inside. I didn’t expect him to decide, not only to walk through the wet paint, but to lay down for a snooze in the sun, right on top of one the black pieces of paper! I have never been so pleased to own a mostly black cat before. When I shooed him off, he trod a bit of paint along the floor, which I had to clean up, but he took care of the rest himself (no need for a bath, luckily!) And what have I learnt from this? Well, for starters, I’ll make sure I shut the cat outside next time we decide to paint on the floor 🙂

L using a toothpick to scratch out her picture.

L using a toothpick to scratch out her picture.

So eventually, the paint was completely dry, and L and A were able to set about scratching the black paint off to reveal the crayon beneath. They tried a few different items to scratch the paint with, including the end of a spoon, a matchstick, and some toothpicks. They both agreed that the toothpicks worked the best.

A made a lot of squiggles all over her piece of paper. After all the scribbling, A did draw herself in the corner, which I thought was quite nice.

A drew herself.

A drew herself.

L drew all of the members in our family, and called her picture “Family Poster”. She drew A wearing fairy wings, and Big L wearing a tie. A has fairy wings on a couple of times a week, but I can’t remember the last time Big L wore a tie! She put glasses on the sun, and Baby T is in his cot.

The brightness of the crayons were a bit dulled when the paint was scratched off, so we might need to put the crayon on thicker next time. We could also try using  oil pastels instead of crayons to see if that works.

L drew herself too.

L drew herself too.

I really like these pictures. The kids had fun making the scratch art paper, and then using it to scratch out their pictures. This is something that was fun, and we will do again (though hopefully without the help of our cat).

 

 

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Jun27

Watercolour Rainbow

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Painting a rainbow.

Painting a rainbow.

We pulled out the watercolour paints today to paint a rainbow picture. A likes to paint, and she likes dipping the paintbrush into the water, and then watching the water change colour as she uses more colours. She painted a beautiful rainbow using lots of bright colours, even two shades each of blue and green.

Painting rainbow hair.

Painting rainbow hair.

Once her rainbow picture was finished, she painted a picture of what she would look like with rainbow coloured hair. I can imagine her coming home as a teenager with hair this colour….

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Jun5

Paint Stampers

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IMG_0262Using stampers with paint can be lots of fun. We have a few packs of stampers. In this set there is a heart, whale, star, butterfly, snail and smiley sun. Each stamp has a handle which makes them easier to use for young children, and it helps to reduce the amount of paint that gets on their hands during the activity.

Paint and stamps on sponges ready for stamping.

Paint and stamps on sponges ready for stamping.

I like to put the paint onto some clean kitchen sponges to use with the stamps. This helps with even paint coverage of the stamp, and makes it less likely there will be too much paint on the stamp to see the shape.

Using a stamper.

Using a stamper.

Both L and A got right into the stamping. A placed her stamps randomly all over her paper, while L made an earth picture. She used the whale stamp to create some water, before adding some whales jumping out of it, and there are stars and suns in the sky, and snails on the ground. She told me that she added the hearts to indicate that she would love the world to be full of nature’s wonders like whales for ever (she is environmentally conscious).

L's earth painting.

L’s earth painting.

Jun5

Paint Scrapers

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IMG_0266Big L’s birthday is coming up and A wanted to make some special wrapping paper to wrap his presents in. She chose to use metallic paints and paint scrapers for this activity.

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The paint scrapers we used.

The paint scrapers we used.

Spreading the paint.

Spreading the paint.

I bought the paint scrapers at Riot Art & Craft for a few dollars. They are sturdy plastic and each one has a different edge to make different patterns.

A used a sponge brush to spread the paint over the paper, and then while it was still wet she used the paint scrapers to make patterns in the paint. Most of her paintings were done in one colour, but the one I like the best has three metallic colours. It’s a bit hard to tell in the photos, but the metallic paint looks fantastic!

Creating a square pattern.

Creating a square pattern.

A really liked using the paint scrapers in one direction, and then in the perpendicular direction to create a pattern of squares.

Using one of the scrapers.

Using one of the scrapers.

L and A also did some paintings using normal paint and the paint scrapers. They both created some lovely artworks using this method. The patterns that the paint scrapers left were more obvious in the normal paint than in the metallic paint.

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May16

Pipe Cleaner Rainbow

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Placing the pipe cleaners.

Placing the pipe cleaners.

Another rainbow made by A. This time she glued pipe cleaners onto some paper to form a rainbow. She chose the order of the colours, and I helped by applying craft glue (the bottle is almost empty). A bent all the pipe cleaners into arches herself. When she was finished placing the pipe cleaners, I used sharp scissors to cut the bottoms of the inside colours to even the bases up a little.

Making clouds.

Making clouds.

Gluing the clouds on.

Gluing the clouds on.

Rolling the pipe cleaners up like spirals to form the clouds was A’s idea, and I think it worked well. She rolled up some white pipe cleaners for this.  I was impressed by how carefully and neatly she did this.

Once she had some clouds finished, she glued them at the bottom of the rainbow.

Painting the sky.

Painting the sky.

Having made the rainbow on white paper, A decided that it should really be in the sky, so the paper should be blue. I suggested she could use some watercolour paints to paint her sky. A liked this idea, so out came the paints. She carefully painted around the rainbow and clouds, making a lovely blue sky for her rainbow.

May12

Paper Bowl Spider

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IMG_9905A harmless spider made using a paper bowl and some pipe cleaners.

Painting the bowl.

Painting the bowl.

Hole punched side ready for legs.

Hole punched side ready for legs.

First A painted the bowl on the outside, and once that was mostly dry, she turned the bowl over and painted the inside of the bowl. She used a thick black paint. Once the paint was dry, I used a single hole punch to make four holes down each side of the bowl. A inserted half a black pipe cleaner into each hole, bending them a little on the inside and taping them down. I helped A to bend these legs into the shape she wanted, with little feet.

Adding googly eyes.

Adding googly eyes.

I thought googly eyes on the top would finish off the spider, but A wanted it to be a red-back spider, which are quite common here, so she also added a red feather to the back of her spider. A said that this spider is the Mummy spider, and she has asked to hang it in her room with her baby egg carton spiders.

May8

Painting with Marbles

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Blobs of paint.

Blobs of paint.

For these paintings each of the kids had a cardboard tray that we laid a piece of paper in the bottom of, then blobbed paint onto the paper. A requested a lot more paint than L.

Rolling the marbles about.

Rolling the marbles about.

They each chose some marbles to place in their tray. We have a collection of small marbles, and a few larger ones, over which the girls argued. The largest marbles made larger tracks in the paint, but the size of the marbles didn’t really matter for this painting technique. Both L and A placed more than one marble in at a time, and then tilted the tray about to make the marbles roll around. If they tilted the tray too fast the marbles would sometimes fly right out, and we ended up with a few splashes of paint, but that’s what the muck mat is for.

One of L's marble paintings.

One of L’s marble paintings.

Once the marbles ran through the blobbed paint, they transported the paint all over the paper, making lovely patterns. As A had used so much paint, some of her marbles actually got stuck in the paint, and we had to push them along. It also meant that the paint colours mixed together and covered the paper, allowing the marbles to form tracks in the paint, rather than making tracks with the paint.

These are easy and fun paintings to do, and they look great!

A's paper with lots of paint.

A’s paper with lots of paint.

A rolling her marbles through the paint.

A rolling her marbles through the paint.

More rolling marbles.

More rolling marbles.

 

A's finished marble track paintings.

A’s finished marble track paintings.

May3

Rainy Day Pictures

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IMG_9777While I was walking down one of the hallways at L’s school I spotted some wonderful rainy day art on the wall done by one of the classes. I liked them so much we tried them at home. At school they had used oil pastels and edicol dye, but we substituted watercolour paints, as we didn’t have the dye.

L drawing her picture.

L drawing her picture.

First we drew a picture using the oil pastels. Most of the picture was drawn in white, including the clouds and raindrops. L put big bolts of lightning on her first one too. I also drew a picture and added a rainbow to it as an example for A of what we could do. A copied this picture, adding rainbows to her art.

Adding watercolours paint.

Adding watercolours paint.

Once we finished drawing with the oil pastels, we used watercolour paint to cover the paper. The oil pastels resist the paint, so that only the blank paper is coloured, and the picture emerges clearly. I used black and blue for my clouds, light blue for the sky and light green for the hills. L made her first picture very blue with deep black clouds at the top. She also added some black in the background, giving her picture a cityscape look. She told me that the swirls at the bottom are from the drops of rain, but I think they look like scorch marks from her lightning. A had one picture copied from mine with black clouds, blue sky and green hills, but her other one was almost all blue. For this one she added some purple across the bottom, mixing it with the blue, and told me it was a river with lots of fish.

A's second picture.

A’s second picture.

My rainy day painting.

My rainy day painting.

L's thunder storm.

L’s thunder storm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A has a tendency to use a lot of paint in her art, and this left her paper quite wet and a bit soggy in places. Mine and L’s paintings dried quickly, but we had to wait a while for A’s. We have our rainy day pictures displayed on our living room wall.