Holiday Art - Never Too Late Or Too Early To Create These Projects!

While the holiday season has just ended, I thought it would be nice to showcase the fall and winter projects that my clever art students created. Not only are they the wonderful results of artistic minds but serve as inspiration for projects you might like to try. 

The fall projects included wreath making using the rich, warm colors of seasonal leaves, acorns, gourds, and found objects. A pretty welcome to guests coming to the front door or when used as a tabletop centerpiece.

Lin's wreath in-progress

 We had big fun making Halloween dioramas out of hollow foam pumpkins!

Alicia and Nicole's fright-tastic pumpkins

Carol's witchy creation

Sandy's pretty pumpkin

Kim's sugar skull diorama and kitty card

We painted wood slices for home decor or table top display.

Gold lettered quote

Stenciled molding paste design

Nicole's handpainted fantasy

Stacked trays made from stovetop burner covers and wine glasses or candlesticks make lovely towers for serving holiday sweets and treats.

Rosa's intricate trays

9-year-old Sophia's showstopper

Nicole's handpainted designwork 

The Christmas season gave us lots of opportunities to make ornaments, wreaths, and gift items.

Mini winter hat ornaments made from yarn knotted over toilet paper rolls

Who knew empty wine bottles could look so good! We used ropes of glittery pipe cleaners and hot glued them around the bottles for a festive design.

Nicole, Sophia, and Rosa show their talents

A quick and easy ornament idea is to fill clear acrylic bulbs with anything!

Bulbs filled with snowflakes and greenery

Red Dollar Store bulbs on a wire wreath

Silver and gold bulbs and garland from the Dollar Store 

We made reversible garlands to hang during the fall and winter holidays.

Burlap leaves and tiny bags decorated with glitter paint and felt leaves and acorns

Turn the fall garland over to show the Christmas decor - the tiny bags perfect for hiding small treats in

A clear plastic bulb filled with foam dots and and a child's sock fashioned as a hat

Oh what fun we had! It's never too early to begin a winter project and present someone special with a handmade gift. Christmas is only 49 weeks away!

Molding Paste Magic

I recently bought some molding paste after watching a couple of artist demonstrations. After playing with it on my own, I couldn't wait to spring it my art class students! We had a blast making bookmarkers and creating design-work in our journals. If you've used this medium before, stop laughing - sometimes I'm the last to catch on to cool products. If you've not used this stuff before, hold on to your hats - it's going to be a bumpy ride, literally!

Molding paste comes in a variety of "styles", from light to heavy to coarse. It creates a white or clay-tone finish that adds texture to artwork. It can be manuevered around while wet leaving peaks and shapes or it can be smoothed onto a surface for a bit of height and interest to a project. Once dried, it remains flexible without cracking and can be sanded, carved, and painted.

I bought the Golden brand of regular molding paste found at most craft stores and online. It has the consistancy of cake icing and is applied to a project with a palette knife, old credit card, or similar tool.

Here's what I did:

Materials

• Molding paste
• Cardstock or journal
• Palette knife or old credit card
• Acrylic paints
• Stencils

How To Make This

• Put a dollop of molding paste on a separate work surface, like a piece of paper or non-stick vinyl mat

 

• Add a few drops of acrylic paint to the paste and stir it around to mix the two - instant colored paste!
• Lay a stencil on the cardstock or journal page
• Use the palette knife to smooth the paste over the top of the stencil. Using an old credit card to smooth the paste over the surface of the stencil is another handy trick

• Carefully lift the stencil from the paper

• Admire your work and move on to another page!

It takes about 15 minutes to dry depending on the thickness of the paste that you have applied.

TIP: while the paste is still wet, try making marks and impressions in it by using different tools like a fork, comb, or paper clip.
TIP: try smoothing a thicker layer of the paste on your page or card then gently pressing a rubber stamp onto the paste surface so that it will leave an interesting pattern.

You don't have to color it if you choose not to - it looks great in its original white form. In my journal, I applied the paste without color using large stencils, let them dry, then put the stencil back over the now slightly raised images, and colored them by spraying paint over one image and sponging rubber stamp ink over another. Very cool! 

You could try spraying ink or dabbing a rubber stamp pad onto your vinyl mat then swiping your dried white paste project through the ink for another colorizing affect.

Now I'm anxious to try it on canvas to create peaks and patterns. Stay tuned!

For more ideas on how to use the medium, here are some youtube links that may spark your creative powers...

marime's small art

one lucky day

nika in wonderland