An Autumn Collage

Nothing Earth shattering here. No new groundbreaking idea. Just my boy, some contact paper and a beautiful fall day.

Leaves, petals, grass...some tissue paper found its way out here too.

He is enjoying the light shining through.

Yes, he is kissing his creation.

And hugging it... (his cuteness is unreal:))

We hung it on the garage door to brighten the view once those leaves are all gone!

This was actually done a few weeks ago and it is a good thing it was. Things are not so green anymore, most of our leaves are gone. The marigolds have withered and our days to play outside without mittens and hats are numbered. Brrr. The thought just gave me a chill.

Pounding Flowers

We have been creating so many cool things these last few weeks, yet it has been a challenge to keep up with posting. I really admire the crafty moms out there who always post so regularly--you inspire me! Thank you to all who put up with my erratic posting. I should warn you that we have a 16 day vacation coming up so things will be quieter than usual. Once the cold sets in I will be much more inclined to post regularly. Okay, now for pounding flowers...

This was a very fun process. We have pounded flowers on fabric before and had great results. The color from the flower transfers to the fabric when pounded with a hammer or rock creating a lovely floral design. I thought we would try to do it on paper. The result was different from what I had expected. The color did not really transfer, but we got some super textures.

Gather some leaves and flowers. Thick sturdy ones with good veins work best. You will also need a sheet of heavy paper, a sheet of newspaper or lighter paper, a hammer or rock, a paintbrush, water and a watercolor wash.

Wet your heavy paper with water, then arrange the flowers and leaves. Cover with the sheet of light weight paper.

Press down carefully with hands, then pound with the hammer.

Remove top paper and use the watercolor wash to bring out the texture.

Fun and lovely--especially when held up to the sun.

Giant Dandelion Chains

Thanks to an endless supply of sunlight in the summer months, we have some of the biggest dandelions growing near our house. As you can see, they are at least 2 feet tall.

When you pop the flower off the stem you see that the stem is like a hollow straw. You simply loop the stem into a circle and stick the skinnier end into the thicker end.... then keep adding more loops. The smaller ones made nice round loops while the huge stems created more angular shapes.

I knew it was a good idea to let those sunny weeds grow free.

With Rocks and Leaves...

Now that spring is here, Hollin has been spending every minute she can outside.  Her being outside alone is new for us. I am so glad that she has a safe place to play and explore.
I was thrilled the other day when she showed me what she had been working on near the side of our house. She spent about an hour collecting, arranging and rearranging rocks and sticks to create the trees and flowers pictured above.
Last summer we created Earthworks which were similar to her recent creations. I often wonder if our creating together inspires her to do these things or if she would have done it on her own. I suppose there is no way to find out. I am looking forward to seeing what can be made once we have some color to work with.

Leaf Rubbing Gift Wrap

I had not intended to create a post about this, but I love it so I thought I would share. We had a little gift to wrap yesterday and we used a leaf rubbing for the papper and a leaf for the card. So simple.

Mouseterpiece

I love the fall. The leaves on the ground provide an unlimited number of creative activities. Today while walking along a golden path, Hollin observed that the leaves look like little mice. We collected a few and came home and created this mouseterpiece!

Make a Fall Tree

You can make an adorable fall tree using leaves from your yard, a few items from your recycle bin, some glue, scissors and a marker. In the past I have made trees with little ones in a similar way--only I used to have them paint the "trunk" and use tissue paper for the leaves. That is still a great way to do this project, but I needed to make some changes to fit our current situation--all of our art supplies are in storage and I have no room for tissue paper or paint. So instead of painting our tube, we covered it with the white side of a long receipt, added some detail with a marker, and used real leaves we collected outside.

1. Start digging in your recycle bin. You will need a paper towel tube, a piece of cardboard for the base (we cut a circle from a cereal box), and a long receipt or other paper that you can use to cover the tube. We made a white birch tree. Feel free to make any tree you wish. 2. Cover the tube with glue and cover it with your receipt.

3. Cut short (1/2 inch) slits along the bottom. These will be folded back and glued to the cardboard to secure your tree to a base. Cut longer slits along the top. These can be various lengths as they will become the branches of your tree.

4. Add detail to the bark with a marker.

5. Cut a hole in the tree so a little critter can have a home in your tree.

6. Fold back the little tabs you cut on the bottom of the tube. Apply a generous squirt of white glue to each tab and press firmly to the cardboard base. Have your child hold it in place while you count to 100 together. That will give the glue enough time to keep the tree in place though it will not be sturdy enough to lift and move around for a few hours.

7. Fold back the branches and glue on some leaves. Add some leaf litter, pebbles and grass below.

8. We stopped here, but may come back to this later and add some fun details--a nest, squirrel, birds, a swing, tree house, etc. You could make an entire forest--the possibilities are endless!

A Walk in the Woods = New Place Mats

We are now somewhat settled in our new home. We have been enjoying the beautiful weather as we explore our new surroundings. Yesterday we took a little walk along a little path at a picnic/ camping area in town. We went with the intention of simply taking a stroll, but before we knew it, we were collecting leaves and getting to know the native flora. Of course, we couldn't simply collect the leaves, we had to make something, so... instead of purchasing much needed place mats for our temporary quarters, we decided to make them.

I am a huge fan of clear contact paper as for the under 5 crowd. We are always using it for something--sun catchers, stained glass windows, bookmarks, cardboard house windows, fishbowls--you get the idea! It is great to use as a collage medium for the youngest artists because all they have to do is place something on the sticky paper and it will stay put--no glue needed. You can find it with the drawer lining paper in most grocery or box stores.

Decide how big you want your place mats to be and cut 2 sheets of contact paper for each place mat. Tape the non sticky side on to your workspace. You can tape it right onto a window or glass door. Notice that we were working in the bathroom of our one room temporary home because Waylon was napping on the bed!
Once it is taped down, peel the paper off to reveal the sticky side. Start arranging your leaves, tissue paper, or other flat materials. When the design is complete, peel the paper off the second sheet and stick the sticky sides together, sandwiching the the leaves inside. Be careful here, make sure you have it where you want it because it will not come apart easily. Now, peel off the tape and trim the edges.

We were able to talk about and identify the different leaves. This is great to do in the fall and can be adapted for any season.

Earthworks

I love the natural sculptures created by Andy Goldsworthy http://www.morning-earth.org/ARTISTNATURALISTS/AN_Goldsworthy.html. His work was the inspiration for the earthworks we created in our backyard. I don't even think instructions are needed. Just go outside and collect. Then arrange your treasures in interesting ways. There are endless possibilities here. You can explore color, value, line, shape, patterns, textures and size--not to mention the botanical and geological contributions. When you are finished, take photographs. You can create a slide show or make a book. You can also start out or finish up by looking at Goldsworthy's work. I really enjoyed doing this. Hollin and I worked on this while Waylon was napping. We talked and worked collaboratively. So often I give her materials and she works independently. It was nice to do this together. I am looking forward to making this a seasonal tradition.