Flower Prints

Hello Everyone!

Spring is here, well ignore the cold-but there are a lot of beautiful flowers beginning to come up from the ground. We are going to do a project that will work for all FPLS kiddos and community members and create Flower Prints.



To create a flower print all you need to do is forage for cool colors, textures, and shapes of foliage, sticks, berries and whatever else you can find!

Using the materials you found to create a little Flower Prints or Nature Print. You can create a little scene like Little Red Riding Hood below or flowers, birds, really whatever you would like to create.



Here are some other examples for inspiration too!





To complete your artwork you may choose to place it directly under glass in a frame or glue the pieces down to your canvas. It may also be a good idea to apply polyurethane or a spray clear coat (for charcoal or something similar) to help keep the artwork.



As always, have fun and be creative!

Cement Mushrooms

Hello Everyone,

We are officially back from Spring Break and hopefully, you all enjoyed your time. I was able to find an awesome aesthetic Nordic Blog (https://bohoandnordic.de/diy-pilze-aus-beton-pilze-mal-anders) and acquired a super cool project for all of us to do...concrete mushrooms. This project will work well for all age groups.



Here is our rendition of this project!

Materials:
Concrete Mix OR Drywall Mix OR Grout (something that you mix to be wet then it drys hard)
Water
Yard Sticks (Cut to 2" sections)
Empty Egg Shells
Egg Carton
Paint and Paint Brush (if you so choose!)



Step 1:
After opening the eggs from the top of the shell and emptying them rinse them with water and allow them time to dry. Sit them upright in the egg carton.

Step 2:
Mix your concrete mixture or whatever you have chosen to use. Carefully add your mixture through the broken part of your eggshell. You only need to fill the eggshell halfway up the egg. 

Step 3:
Stick one of your yardstick segments into the mixture. This will be the stem of your mushroom. Then wait for the concrete to dry. I would suggest just allowing it to dry for a day or two to be safe! :)



Step 4:
Once your mixture has dried begin to pick the eggshell off of your concrete mushroom. If little bits of the eggshell are stuck you may want to gentle use some sandpaper to help get the shell off.



Step 5:
You can add little dots or maybe paint your mushroom red and add little dots if you so chose.



As always, have fun and be creative!

What's The Teacher Been Up To??

Hello All!

Its Spring Break (!) and we are all getting comfy with our quarantine status I thought it would be fun to share some of the projects that I have been working on with you guys.

Many of you know that I have a strong infatuation with all things Folk Art and Fabric Arts related and I have been working a lot within these mediums during our break. (Ug-sorry about the pictures. I promise to get better shots once they are officially complete).

The first quilt we have been working on was a quilt that I started when I was eleven on vacation with my family. My Mom and Nana bought my cousin and me a pack of cross-stitch quilt blocks 6 blocks for each of us. I had complete one and a half of them on vacation that year and they sat in my closet ever since! I found them and finished the cross-stitching and started to piece together the quilt from there. Almost 20 years later and it is finally getting done!



The second project I did over break was embroidering my kiddos names into their Easter bags for egg hunting (we have planned to set one up at our house!).

G and I completed a handful of painting projects too. I made a name sign for the new baby. G painted an Easter color (yellow and white) abstract piece for an empty frame we had. We also used fingerprints and pen scribbling skills to make some close family members cards for the upcoming holiday and mailed those today.

Today I was working on a new quilt for Baby I today (well mostly finished at least). About five years ago I spent a summer working at a camp in Maine, Tripp Lake Camp. During my pre-camp travel, I drove by an outside antique swap meet and decided to check it out for a souvenir. I like to try to buy something from Goodwill or an Antique Store while vacationing rather than a tourist trap store-I find that it makes for an interesting story later. So, long story short I found these awesome six hand-stitched quilt blocks made from old clothes or feed bags or who knows what. I think I paid $15 for them or something. I LOVED them, and they have sat (again) in my closet for five years. I pulled those cuties out and all of the scrap fabric that I could find and started looking for an interesting design. I wanted it to be modern with an old-timey feel that did the original blocks justice. (Again sorry for the awful picture-it is hard to get up high enough to see everything!) I decided that this would be Baby I's quilt.



My husband and I started trying to make some masks for family members. That is so much more difficult that it seems. Especially, since it is impossible to find elastic. We are trying to get creative, but we are currently on the learning curve there...

Lastly, I found a huge canvas in the garage and G was feeling creative and wanted to draw so I gave him a pen to use on the canvas and he did a great job! Lots of circles...he is a fan of circular designs I suppose. I'm ordering some Elmer's glue (that I will tint with white or black paint) and outline all of his lines. Then I'm planning on watering down some bold acrylic colors and painting all of his negative spaces in his designs. I really have fun trying to come up with ways to elevate his awesome artworks into home artworks that we actually hang and keep up! I will post a picture once we get that big project done.

So, that is what I have been up to. I would love to hear about some of the creative things that you guys have been doing during this break too! Comment below if you like to share it with our community. Take some time and be creative-try new things and if it goes wrong just toss it and start over; we have the time!

Stay healthy and stay safe!

As always, have fun and be creative!

Field Day Fun

Hello Everyone!

Happy Spring Break! I wanted to take advantage of our Spring Break and post something a little different than usual but still really creative and fun. FIELD DAY ACTIVITIES! :) Due to the virus and the unknown return date back to school I wanted to create a post so that our Elementary FPLS students could still have some Field Day fun!



Many of our projects have kinesthetic and STEM themes this week. Some of the projects/activities will require a little pre-construction but placed all together they should help to create fun at home 'course' where the family can compete against each other for bragging rights or whatever your family decided is a worthy award!

Here are our Field Day Activities!
1. Wooden Stilts Race
2. Lego Maze w/ Straw Race (STEM)
3. Wind (breath) Powered Sailboat (STEM)
4. Pool Noodle Horse Hopping Race
5. Floating Ball Race
6. Hallway Obstacle Course
7. Catapult Cups (STEM)
8. Paper Plate Ring Toss

(Feel free to switch up the order and add additional requirements for your family!)



Wooden Stilts Race

Materials:
2 - 4"x 4" x 4" wooden blocks with holes drilled through
Rope (various lengths for different heights)

Concept:
The first one to finish from the start to the finish line using the wooden block stilts wins!



Lego Maze w/ Straw Race

Materials:
A Table
Legos (placed in a maze formation)
A small ping pong ball
A straw (one per person)

Concept:
Using the straw the participant must blow the ball through the obstacle course to complete the maze then move on to the next activity.



Wind (breath) Powered Sailboat

Materials:
Cardstock or cardboard for the sail/base
Something circular for the wheels
Straws to help attach each element
Something to help attach the wheels (playdough, glue, even gum!)

Concept:
Create a start and finish line and blow your Wind Powered Sailboat across the finish line then move to your next activity!



Pool Noodle Horse Hopping Race

Materials:
A pool noodle
Some tape or string to bend the head
Any decorative materials (including a costume) if you so choose!

Concept:
Using a start and finish line ride your Pool Noodle Horse hopping or galloping across the finish line to the next activity!



Floating Ball Race

Materials:
A straw
A small paper ball
A funnel of paper (just rounded and taped to the straw)

Concept:
Create a zig-zag obstacle course where you have to continuously blow the ball into the air while navigating through the obstacle course! Think of a creative egg race! 



Hallway Obstacle Course

Materials:
Crepe Paper Roll or Painter's Tape
Hallway

Concept:
Create an obstacle course (think lasers in an action movie) in a hallway or room in your house. The goal is to be the first to get through the course without knocking down the 'lasers'.



Catapult Cups

Materials:
Tongue Depressors
Rubber Bands
A Spoon
Small Paper Ball
A cup (or solo cup)

Concept:
Using your catapult fling the paper ball into a cup prior to moving to the next activity.



Paper Plate Ring Toss

Materials:
6 paper plates
1 paper towel tube
Scissors
Tape

Concept:
Throw the paper plate with holes onto the paper towel tube. The first person to ring all the plates first moves to the next activity.

Hopefully, some of these Field Day Fun activities can work for your family. Take pictures and have fun. Don't forget to send your extended family pictures so they can enjoy the fun too! Also, you may choose to add specific stipulations to the activities to make the activities fit your family better!



Lastly, who can forget about the beloved awards ceremony!! The awards do not have to be fancy but taking a little extra time to make simple paper awards for our 'winners' will help them feel extra special!

As always, have fun and be creative!!

Shadow Drawing (Silhouettes)

Hello Everyone!

We have a project specifically for our Pre-K to Elementary kiddos today. We are going to be using the sun to help us make shadow drawings! Shadow drawings may be better known as silhouetted drawings.



Materials:
Paper
Pencils, markers or anything you like to draw with
3-D toys or objects that you will be drawing

Directions:

Step 1:
Layout your paper outside of in front of a window with lots of natural light. (This process will work the best from (9-11 am or 4-6 pm) so the shadows will lay horizontally.

Step 2:
Please your objects to draw at the base of your paper (closest to the light). You should see your shadows/silhouettes right away!

Step 3:
Using your drawing materials trace the outline of your objects. You may choose to get creative and draw in the details of your object or make your object a true silhouette and make them solid black.

As always, have fun and be creative!

High Impact Simple Designs

Hello Everyone!

We are going to use modern wallpaper as our inspirational project today. We have all seen these simple lined repetitive designs that create a lot of visual interest without a lot of work. Today you can re-create one on a canvas of your choosing or even a little accent wall if you are feeling confident and adventurous! This is a project that any FLPS student or community member can create (it is very simply scaled for our younger FPLS-ers by creating a cardboard stencil for tracing the repetitive designs.



I will post a few inspirational pictures that are very different for this project. The great thing is that you can really make and create anything that you find interesting. The goal is to represent with bold, simple black lines!



You can also use paint, markers or color (in whatever manner you chose) to create emphasis and contrast!

Materials:
Black marker
Black paint and paintbrush
Color Paint if you so choose
A cardboard or (multiple) templates
A canvas or even a wall *with parental approval of course :)



Directions:

Step 1:
Decide on a design (cars, house, horses whatever sounds good to you) and sketch a few options out onto a piece of paper.

Step 2:
Once you have decided on your base design start from the bottom of your canvas or wall and start to fill the gaps with another object. Be repetitive, do not stress if a line or two goes wrong because the design is so full that it will be hidden. These types of designs are VERY forgiving.

Step 3:
Once you have filled your canvas space or wall go back through your design with a black marker and bold some lines to create interest. Use the marker to also create little elements of interest (such as the grates in the cars or the word "Taxi" as seen in the car design.

Step 4:
Finally, if you so chose you can simply add elements of color interest. I would suggest not painting or coloring in the entire design (unless you have a wide variety of shades and tints to create a wide range of hues), but using the color as little vignettes of interest. Do your best to either create a specific pattern or be very purposeful to not create a pattern at all.

Step 5:
Sign your artwork, it is officially an original!



As always, have fun and be creative!

Blue Jean Landscape

Hello Everyone!

Today we are going to upcycle a pair (or a few pairs) of old jeans. You can re-use the extra from our Blue Jean Race Track if you have leftovers! All of these projects are about reusing and upcycling old items or just using things from nature or our home. This project can scale to any FPLS student or community member.



Materials:
Scissors
Old blue jeans
Fabric or hot glue
OR
Sewing materials (needle thread or machine)

Instructions:

Step 1:
Collect your jean materials and cut them at the seams.

Step 2:
Identify the landscape that you are trying to create. It would be a good idea to sketch out your landscape prior to cutting the jean pieces.

Step 3:
Cut out the jean pieces to fit onto your landscape sketch.

Step 4:
Either glue or sew the pieces of your jean landscape together. Allow time to dry flat.

Step 5:
If you have chosen to sew your landscape think about making it into a pillow or loop the top to make it a wall hanging! Here is a video tutorial for how to make a pillow sham https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-QV3kA8WIM if that is something you may be interested in!



As always, have fun and be creative!