Kid's Quick Halloween Art

It's quick. It's easy. And the kids had a great time doing it.

At our Brownie Girl Scout meeting today, we traced our body outlines onto banner paper. I know, I know...it's been done a million times before.


But instead of filling in their everyday features, I asked the girls to draw Halloween costumes on them. They were so excited to give each other a "sneak peek" at what Halloween night will have in store!

And about the photo: no, my troop isn't really made up of faceless creatures (even at Halloween), I just didn't want to post their photos online. (I'm sure you understand.) You'll have to take my word for it - they're cuties!

You can see how much fun they had with their projects. Try it with the youngsters (yes, I actually just used that word) in your life.
Happy Halloween!

Spell It Out!

Happy Make Your Monday!

A friend's daughter recently redecorated her room and asked if I could make something with her name on it.

The colors she chose were brilliant, and fun to work with so I took a pillow sham to Michael's and purchased a few matching acrylic colors. While there, I also bought six 4x5" canvases (one for each letter),a wooden dowel, two wooden end caps, and a pair of wall hooks. I then stopped into the local fabric store to pick up a couple of packages of white bias tape and some cording to complement the color scheme.

I primed each canvas with white paint. While they were drying I played with different fonts on my computer, and printed out the letters.

After the base coat dried, I gave each piece a couple of coats of color. This was a good time to add the end caps to the dowel (which had been cut to 24" in length). A bit of wood glue secured them, and then it got the same painted procedure that the canvases received.

Now, there are MANY new super-cool ways to transfer letters and designs these days, but I just did it the quick-and-easy, old-fashioned way. I gently sketched pencil lead across the backs of the pieces of paper, then flipped them right-side-up on the canvas for a quick trace.

I used black paint to apply the lettering, but a nice, fat Sharpie would have been easier.

Again...drying time...

The finishing touch was to edge the pieces with bias tape with the help of good ol' hot glue.

I cord was cut into equal lengths, and the ends stapled them to the backs of the canvases.

Then...just hang the letters from the dowel!

Such a quick project, and the little girl loves it!

Now I'm trying to think of a word to do for my studio!