Girls' Art Class

For the last two weeks, we've been working on Folk Art drawings,

with lots of bold patterns and bright colors....

 {{amazing results!}}

 ...and bead-making, with this salt dough recipe.

 We also make necklace pendants and itty bitty houses.

I can't tell you how delighted I was to see my little pupils painting their homes with stripes and polka dots! That's what I love about kids!!-- their imagination is the limit!

Round house? Why not! Polka dots and swirly doors? Sure!

 It was sooooo gorgeous last week, so we did our lessons and snack break outside on the porch,

along with a little stretching (goofing off, whatev')

The sky is the limit!

Make some dough, mold your scuptures, and let air-dry.

(We left ours under the couch for a week, and painted them during the following lesson.)

Use tempera or acylics to paint them.

These are great, cheap, easy, personal Mother's and Father's Day gifts!

Spring days are here again

Things are starting to turn green again, y'all!!

We even hiked in tank tops and shorts last Saturday, and felt pretty sweaty after 5 miles.

 The breeze on top of the dam felt wonderful, and we took our snack/water break up there,

while watching boats go by, and rappellers descend.

 THIS is why I stay in Arkansas.

I dislike the cold, wet lingering winters (I know, you Northerners, I am a wimp!!)

but I looooove the forests and hills, boulders and bluffs, rivers and caves. I love the abundant sunshine and gorgeous views. The Ozarks are truly one of the most beautiful places in the world, especially when everything turns bright and blooming. {sigh} Can't wait.

 Two of my four kids looking. ha. It's hard to get the whole crew still and facing the same direction!

Oh, spring, hurry along!! I had to wear gloves on my bike ride again today, and I'd much rather don the tank top and shorts again instead!!

Boys' Art Class

In my Boys' Art Class, on Tuesday, we worked on Modigliani Self-Portraits in Chalk pastel!

First, with our black paper in hand, we created creases to help with the proportions that Modigliani is so well-known for.

 The boys were great about following directions, and listening to the very brief description of Modigliani's art.

 After sketching out their self-portraits, they colored them in entirely, and started adding the details.

We talked about blending pastels, and how to use fingers to smooth the color around.

Modigliani also typically left his portraits with a "blank" stare (think- no eyeballs), but only two of my students wanted to leave their self-portraits like that, which is okay. It IS a bit creepy looking.

Next, they outlined their entire portrait in black pastel.

I love that this sweet little dude even copied the pattern on his shirt!

In our remaining time, we molded volcanoes out of the air-dry modeling clay I had mixed up before class.

By our next class, they will be dry and ready to paint!

Enjoy art every day, folks!

It's all around you, in everything you see!

Jello Playdough in Art

The best thing about jello playdough? It smells aaaamazing!

Your whole house will smell marvelously yummy while you cook this.

I hadn't intended to make more playdough so soon, but our art lesson with professional artist John Lasater required play dough in primary colors. And, wouldn't you know it, Wal-Mart had only blue and yellow. Being in this little town, with no Target or other means to search for red playdough, we decided to make our own! 

Below, my amazing Jello Playdough Chef.

He poured, he mixed, and he was the first to try out the goods. 

~Jello Playdough~

 •1 cup of flour

•2 Tbs salt

•2 Tbs cream of tarter

•1 cup water

•2 Tbs oil - (I used canola oil, but I'm sure any edible oil would work!)

•1 3oz. pack of Jello in the color of your choice (the off-brand will work fine)

I doubled this recipe, for our group.

First, mix all your ingredients in a pan or pot.

Mix in your jello and watch it turn a bright color! This is the strawberry flavor.

After it's mixed, turn the heat to medium-high and stir constantly. Works those arm muscles!

It will start smelling great. It will also start slowly thickening and clumping together, after about 2 minutes. It's done in about 6-7 minutes. Just make sure there aren't wet areas, and it's in a ball.

Let cool. If it seems a bit sticky, add a touch more flour. It should be smooth and pliable.

Store in an airtight container or plastic bag, and it should last quite a long time.

It was a hit with the little artists!

A huge thanks to our guest speaker, John, for the lesson he shared about values, hues, and color mixing!

Our homeschool group has so many wonderful opportunities and so much support!!!

I love watching kids take such joy in art!

When I grow up (ha) I'm going to be an elementary art teacher!! --

....wait, I already get to do that!

I live such a great life! :D

International PenPals

The kids are studying Germany right now, and we're lucky to now have not one, but two international penpals, both in Germany! Woot!

One of our penpals, Sybille, stayed with my family when I was in high school.

I can't imagine how hard it must be for foreign exchange students,

to be thrust into totally new surroundings.

But I am so thankful that she braved the new country and joined our family!

Over 15 years later, and we still consider Sybille one of our sisters.

She lives in Kassel, Germany. So it's one of our first places to study.

As far as the mail goes, it costs $1.10 to send an ounce to Germany, and takes about a week to get there.

Our other penpals, Miriam and her family, live in Kandern.

Their family recently moved there, as missionaries.

When I was in high school, I met Miriam through our local homeschool group. I still remember spending the night with her, and getting up eeeearly in the morning to count cows. ;) Never could have imagined that, nearly 20 years later, our children would be writing letters back and forth across the world.

Here is our outgoing mail to them.

I do so loooove snail mail, giving and receiving.

The kids wrote letters, drew pictures, included some play American money, seals, verses.

I contributed by decorating the envelope with happy little characters.

(I have a love for stamps, too, and finally got to use some of these awesome blue cougar stamps!)

Homemade Dye-free Playdough Recipes

Just mix 1/2 cup white glue and 1 cup corn starch!

 This is the consistency of modeling clay, not play dough.

It is thicker, a bit tougher, and a bit stickier.

My kids love it!

Next, we decided to make some play dough, for a softer consistency.

 This is the BEST recipe I've found!

It is soft and pliable, not at all sticky, perfect for shaping just about anything.

Love it! For both recipes, store the dough in an airtight container, when not in use.

Enjoy!

Bright Partying!

I had a little party for my art students, for the big V-Day.

I'll tell you, I ached to do the swirly bright cakes, and the rice krispie marshmallow treats that look like paintbrushes (check pinterest), and all that creative sugary awesomeness ...

BUT my family has issues with that much sugar,

plus we had gluten-free attendees and also vegetarian attendees.

Sooo....

we stuck with turkey and cheese mini sandwiches on wheat,

some veggie-"meat" sandwiches, lots of fruit, nuts, olives, and so on.

The kids didn't miss the sugar a bit!
Love these two little ones, stuffing their faces with healthy goodness!

The thing is, my boys are super-hyper. I know most boys are movers, tumblers, wall-climbers....

but two of mine almost seem to {{vibrate}} when they get too much sugar!

*And then there's Fred. {sigh} That's a whole 'nother post!*

Everything in moderation, yes, but I know we still need to make some changes.

No more dyes, please! It's in everything from medicine to pickles to olives to jello.

I wonder how much dye we consume a year! I might have bright insides by now!

We also recently went with a dear friend and her kids, to Crazy Sock Jump Zone day (discounts!!)

I've known this sweet girl since she was born.
 

We managed to wrangle some of the kids into a photo.

Two of my boys are in red, my niece and nephew are the other blondies,

and the dark hair kiddos belong to October.

Love all these little munchkins!

Bright, Happy Party Central!