5 Easy Arty Crafty Ideas for Homeschool

Chase does best with some hands on projects we can do together.  These would make great gifts for grandparents or to sell at craft fairs/yard sales.

1. Rock Paper Feather: Quick Craft: Popsicle Stick Bookmarks: written by: Stacia Grafton

   He is an avid reader, so one thing we can never have too many of?  Bookmarks!  These can be collected in a cup on his nightstand and be ready for any book he reads.  The best part, polishing off some popsicles to get these sticks!
   
   

2. Tic Tac Toe Rocks Activity or Gift: written by: Megan Bray

   
   Always collecting rocks and pebbles, this may be a fun activity for him to find use for them.  Perhaps even painting the entire rock.
   

3. Decoupage Paint Stick Magnets: written by: Amy on Stow & Tell U

   

4. Marshmallow Shooters: written by: Heidi on Happiness is Homemade

   
   This would just be super fun.  Maybe more of a spring/summer activity, but one to keep in mind for the future.  Edible ammo.  This would pair nicely with our plans to build a Nerf obstacle course in the backyard.
   

5. Beautiful Wrapped Bottles: Found on homedit.com, via Penelope and Pip (blog no longer active)

   

All images and project ideas belong to their respective copyright holders.  If any of these are accredited incorrectly, please contact me with the updated information.  These are all projects we haven't tried yet, but I've made this list to bookmark them for inspiration.  I'd love suggestions for similar projects, crafts that can be done with items on hand or very inexpensively.

I think I'll have Chase make a DIY.org entry for one or more of these.  He loves the DIY and Life Hack type of things.  Hands on learning is the best kind 💚

Mayan Book - Grolier Codex - Activity Page

Free drawing coloring page for the Mayan Civilization.  I'm using this as part of my lesson plan to go in Chase's Social Studies interactive notebook.

Recently, PBS published an article finding that the "Grolier Codex", originally thought to be a forgery, was in fact, a true artifact, depicting deities that were unknown at the time of its discovery and therefore could not be faked.

It has several images linked from a gallery of the pages.  For my unit, I am having Chase study the images, watch some videos on Mayan culture and read the article about the "Grolier Codex".  Also, there was an interesting tidbit about the Quetzal bird, a very long feathered and beautiful bird, that was seen as a messenger to their bird deity, Quetzalcoatl.  They used the feathers of the male bird for their headdresses and ceremonial adornments.

For this activity/coloring page, I have adorned the borders with Mayan styled drawing, using the apparent number code from the codex as the side borders.  The Mayan culture revolved around the stars and the dates, so those would be recurrent themes as well.  The sheet is 8.5" x 11" but can be shrunken down for interactive notebooks.  I set mine to print as 8" x 10" and deselected "fit to page" in the Windows print options.  Your printer may need adjusting, run a test print.

This could be used for guided drawing.  Tell them to draw a one sided figure, like in my drawing and to exaggerate the nose.  Tell them to draw an animal on top of their head with big eyes, like a funny hat or headdress.  Then they can choose what the character is doing.  Holding corn or a snake by the tail, or holding a spear.  Then, they can decorate the empty spaces with patterns from lines and dots in elliptical shapes, kind of like a rounded rectangle.

Latest Arty Project - Texas Auction

My family is holding an auction and fundraiser to help my Uncle after losing his wife to cancer this year and he has fallen into some financial strife.  I'm making a new mixed media painting, which will be going to auction.

Spent half the day yesterday and today assembling roses and making petals.  These will be attached to the canvas with gel medium and all painted and incorporated.  I may not be able to send it to Texas in time for the auction, but perhaps as an online auction instead.  I'll have to contact my Aunt for details.  I would prefer to send it directly to the recipient.

I wanted to make something special for the auction, rather than send an existing work.  I may be sending prints of my other works for the actual auction.

Tosanoides Obama Pyle Fish

Next assignment for Chase is on the newly discovered "Tosanoides Obama Pyle Fish" from the genus Tosanoides.  They are named after our President for his conservation efforts to expand the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

So, I've decided to release a little clip art of this cute little fish.  One b&w version with just the lines and another of the colored version.  JPG and PNG version of each.

I used a photo reference from National Geographic's website, taken by Richard Pyle, the man who discovered this new species.  As such, this is a completely free resource with share and share alike permissions.  As in, any products made with this should also be free.  It is an educational resource from a news source and I am uncertain if it is in the public domain or not.  This is, of course a hand drawing that is watercolor painted on card stock paper.  So would fall into fair use, however, I feel this little fish should swim freely.

Don't know what his non-Scientific nickname will be, I am guessing "Obama Fish"  ;D

Download on TeachersPayTeachers

This fish will be named in honor of President Obama for his commitment to protecting nature through the expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

PHOTOGRAPH BY RICHARD PYLE

Bonus!  Free Coloring Page!  Just randomly decided to make a coloring version print page.  You can give guided instruction for the colors of the fish, or use print outs of my watercolor version as example, or let the students color however they like.

Digital Stamps

I have several digital stamp files, wondering if they would be useful clip arts for TeachersPayTeachers.

Just printed some out onto watercolor paper as a batch of Patron rewards.  Debating whether or not I should color them with my shimmering watercolors or send them blank for them to paint/color as they please.

These can be attached to a card face as focal images of greeting cards, or added to art journals, scrapbook and mixed media collages.  I've tested my printer ink and it doesn't seem to bleed with a light amount of watercolor.  Not sure how it would do with a heavy wash yet.

These are currently available on my Patreon and also my Gumroad as digital downloads.  Print on paper of choice and they are ready to go.  If you have a laser printer, you can do image transfers, just remember to mirror the image first.  That is the ideal method of transferring digital stamps into art collage/art journals, as it gives it a perfect blend.  But you can also print onto tissue paper, attach it to card stock securely first, and then, print and it can be decoupaged into the project and the paper will fade into the bg.

So, opinion poll, painted or not?

Watercolor Zen Doodle Printable

Free Download on TpT

Finished scanning and uploading my watercolor doodle from last night.  This was a great way to wind down after boning up on lesson plans for Chase.  I stayed up way too late.  This seems to be every night.  These are now available both the freebie and the complete set of full resolution images as clip art with permissions for personal and commercial use.

I've also made the download for the entire set available to my Patrons on Patreon who pledge $1 or more per month.  I have about a year's worth of free download content exclusive to my Patrons, and access to all of that is only $1.  Patreon is a crowdfunded platform where people subscribe to creators at a pay-what-you -want model.  Some creators offer rewards.  I offer all my digital downloads to various levels of my Patronage.  Higher tiers have access to everything.  I also offer more rewards, like Artist Trading Cards.   I mostly have artwork there, but will also be sharing my teaching resources.

Join me on Patreon

The complete Zip set of files on TpT

Top Hat Dude Storyboard

Overall, today was a great day of school.  He got a little behind on worksheets, but made up for it by doing his 'homework' (finishing anything he didn't complete before he is allowed on the computer) and doing an excellent job with everything else.

We did the PBS Learning Media lesson I made on the Pledge of Allegiance.  He followed directions and wrote down his notes and vocabulary and made his own conclusions at the end.  I'm pretty happy with how that lesson went and he liked using the website.  Found it easy to use and likes it more than other sites we've tried.

So, I used their Lesson tool to create an assignment for his DIY.org challenge for the week.  I chose storyboarding as his topic, as it falls in line with his school project.  He will need to know how to storyboard as he plans out his game.  It will also help him take notes and visualize the D&D sessions.

I had him do a practice storyboard for fun.  He made this little day in the life of type of story for one of his stick men characters, "Top Hat Dude".  Yes, that is his name and he is rather dapper.  He is a hero sporting a rather fancy top hat and has no super powers, just a good guy.  Without further ado...

Top Hat Dude by Chase C. 2016

These aren't posted on the website yet, but will be soon.  This is under the 'animation' category, though it is also under 'filmmaking'.  There seemed to be more things he is planning to do for his project under the animation challenges.  Perhaps he can animate his scenes next week.  :D

Tomorrow's agenda is some epic Bill Nye in the morning and D&D in the afternoon.  I have some flats to color for Kevin's inks and need to upload all my plans to PBS Learning Media before school starts.  I was up too late working on it last night.  :B

Watercolor Doodling

It's late and just finished doodling.  Planning to make some digital graphics from this as a freebie.  Maybe as cut outs and as a whole.  It measures 2.5" x 5".  So, not even a proper bookmark size.  ;P  Wishing I had a paper punch to make some awesome circles or something out of it.

This was inspired by a Pin on Pinterest.  Shared it to my homeschool board.  Think we might do this next week.  I like to do paint doodles.  Ultra fun.

I'll scan these up tomorrow.  In the meantime, enjoy the preview ;D

Character Portrait - Kai by Chase

Kai - Human Fighter

After computer lab and worksheets in the morning, we got to do a much more fun art class in the afternoon.  Chase got to design his character portrait for D&D.  We demonstrated how to use a stencil template that Kevin had made to speed up character sketches.  Then we measured out proportions of where all the facial features would be.  Kevin drew a few variances of character design using the same template.

My cell phone cannot handle the lighting.

Kevin demonstrating different characteristics added to same template.  The template was made from a plastic container, he cut it, ironed, cut out forms, sanded it smooth.  Originally from a peppermints bucket.

So, we had Chase start with some preliminary sketches until he was happy with his character.  Then he redrew that using the template, and inked it.  He's not really into coloring much, but we'll get him a program on his computer so he can color digitally if he likes.  

New Watercolor Borders for TeachersPayTeachers

Three new borders for TeachersPayTeachers.  All are hand painted with watercolor.  Available in my store, "Watercolor Borders".  

Patrons who pledge +$3 per month will receive these as part of their rewards, as well as everything in my Patrons only feed.  Monday, August, 22nd is the One-Day Sale on TpT.  All my items will be 20% off, including these!

These can be used in personal/commercial art projects as well as your TpT products and class materials.  Full permissions is granted, for everything other than redistribution as is.  Hi-res scans and png images are included of each.  These can be enlarged by 200-300% without loss of quality.  May be suitable for poster sized printing.

For art class, try printing these on watercolor paper if you are able.  Test your printer ink for smudging once it is completely dry.  Sometimes, heat setting will prevent printer ink from bleeding.  It may have a desirable effect.

Possible uses: Class fliers and worksheets, classroom posters, bookmarks or hall passes (add text and laminate), task cards, use online for digital layouts, and more.  These can be printed at smaller sizes to be used as digital stamps in your art projects.  Just reduce the print sizes and add text/etc you like, print, cut out and add to your collages and greeting card embellishments.

Available on TpT or Patreon

Homeschool DIY

This year, I want to focus more on project based learning.  Found a great website, DIY.org that gave us a head start on that goal!  Chase is super enthusiastic about it, doing challenges on his free time.  We're on Day 2 of the school year and he already has 5 projects posted and is about to upload another.

Yesterday, for our first back to school day, we created gelli printed covers for his new notebooks.  I had him create his own foam roller stamp texture tool and demo'd how to use the gelli plate.  We bought the Student Kit which comes with 2 stencils and a brayer.

Gelli Arts Student Kit

I had a few different types of paper for him to try and Kevin's old craft paints.  He chose his colors and began rolling.

The project ran a little long as he had 5 notebooks to make.  Next time, we'll have to do something a bit smaller.  He started getting bored after the first hour!  hahaha, poor guy.  Art is boring!  So, he liked the change of pace by picking his layouts and gluing them to the faces of his notebooks.  Then he got to label them all.  I used his left over gelli prints for his two pocket folders, which we're using for daily worksheets and print outs as morning busy work.  This morning, he had a great attitude and I'm feeling pretty good about this school year.

Craft paper from a package filler, mini watercolor paper from his pad, and the purple stars in a printed cardstock from DCWV.  We also used tissue paper from my Spoonflower order, trying to reuse packaging.

Lunch's project was chocolate covered strawberries.  Well, they turned out to be a fail as the chocolate burned in the microwave.  But no worries, they still tasted great and the DIY site has a Chef Fails challenge!  Because we learn from our mistakes.  I think it was our bowl, actually, that thing got super hot.  But this is the first time we've used the new microwave for melting chocolate.

Today's DIY Challenge, I wanted to use up the scrap paper from the new printer, so I cut each sheet into quarters and pre-cut a cover, spine and back board for a mini note pad.  Of course there is a Bookbinding Badge to earn, found the challenge to match our project and sent him an e-mail with directions.  I did the straightening and clipping part for him and made sure his glue wasn't too bulky.  While the glue dried, we uploaded all his other projects and he did a quick Minecraft challenge.  Pixel art from blocks.  He made a Creeper house with TNT.

Here's the scratch notepad, which he is now busy filling up with doodles!

It has a target sight on it.

(for some reason, it dropped all the pictures in out of order and I really don't feel like fixing it)

Members can follow Chase's stream by adding him to their favorite creators.  All submissions, comments, etc are moderated before they go live on the site, very kid friendly/parent happy website.  So, not all of his current projects are publicly visible.

DIY/XtroyX0r

Tomorrow's project is D&D School with Daddy.  Kevin has an adventure school planned out, made a giant floor map, which he has a game mat to cover.  He's been taping all the pieces together and filling in the texture of the map with crayons.  Chase has wanted to play D&D with us since we had a small weekly online stream going last year.  So this has been in the works for a while.  Kevin has adjusted the rules a bit and simplified some numbers and attributes.  Of course, Chase already knows 3.5 pretty well, as he has read all of the Player Handbooks!  He loves strategy guides, reads them like they're stories.  He is a bit game obsessed.  

So, gaming is actually going to be a core focus of this school year.  Friday is D&D/board games.  Tuesday is game design using RPG Maker VX Ace and incorporating our D&D sessions into the story line of the game.  RPG Maker Web actually has a lot of great tutorials which we will be going through together as part of the curriculum.

Oh no, Kevin said he has no story yet, but he has a map!  hahaha, D&D is tomorrow!  lols.