Affordable Artwork- The Concept

We have a blank wall above our T.V. and it gets on my nerves.  I want to put a big clock up there, so I can see what time it is when we are watching a show, but I don’t want it to just be a clock on the wall.  KWIM?

strecthed canvasSo, I have spent several months looking for artwork for my living room.  I visited brick and mortar stores, resale shops, and perused the web.

Of course, each time I find something I like, I look at the price tag affixed to it.  Apparently, I have rich taste in art, but not the wallet to support it.   Without fail, I’d be like, “Oooh, that’s nice…” then look at the tag and think, “but, not THAT nice.”  Or, “I think that would work…”  then, “I’d have to go BACK to work.”   I like pricey artwork.  LOL.

One day, as my frustration mounted at my inability to find artwork that 1) I like and 2) is within our budget, I found a GORGEOUS canvas on line.  Price tag?  $499. Irritated, I thought,  “My kids could slap some paint on a stretched canvas for a whole lot less than $500!”

Then I thought, “Why not?  Why not let the kids paint something for the living room?”

It would be in our budget, since we could determine how much to spend on everything.  AND, it would have intrinsic value that nothing else could compare to.

CandylandAs it would happen, Michaels ran a sale on art supplies.  Sixty percent off of canvases.  Plus, I had coupons.  So, Hubs and I took the kids to Michaels.  We purchased two white 18×24 canvases, brushes, sponges, and paint.  In addition to a large container of black paint, we let the kids pick eight colors of paint to use on our project.  Total spent= $26.18.

Hubs painted the canvases black, first, because we knew that we wanted to have some black lines showing through when all was said and done.  While we waited for the paint to dry… we watched the kids play a rousing game of Candyland.

After the black paint dried, we applied painters tape until we had a design that we liked.

Then we set them aside for our next art project day.

I’ll be sharing the progress with you over the next few days.  canvas with painters tape

Frosty the Snow Door

I am always on the lookout for cute (and easy) crafts to do with the kids.  So, when I saw Rachel’s Snowman Craft Idea, over at Yellow Tennessee, I had to pin it, so I could remember to try it.

 

Our refrigerator is a side-by-side, so I didn’t think it was a good candidate for the project.  Not to mention, I didn’t want to move their chore charts.  LOL.

We do, however, have six panel white doors.  I thought that would be perfect.

Frosty the Snow DoorFrosty the Snow Door

snowman craftsnowman craftsnowman craft

They agreed!

snowman craftsnowman craftsnowman craft

Thanks, Rachel, for such a fun craft project!

For this snowman, I used construction paper in the following colors- black, orange, red, and green.  I didn’t have two sheets of black, so I had to make the hat out of a very dark green.  LOL.  I also used tape, a 32 ounce cup lid, scissors, and a circle paper punch.

This Little Light of Mine

On New Years Day, I taught the preschool class at church (I teach that class about once every five weeks).  I had decided it was high time we work on a new song, as we’ve been singing Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star since October, and if I have to hear it one more time, I will rip my hair out.  this little light of mine craftOh.  Wait.  Anyway.  I decided to work on “This Little Light of Mine” with them, and thought it would be cute to make candles with the kids.  NO.  Not real candles. 

I determined what supplies I would need, which included:
Toilet paper tubes
Tongue depressors
Paperboard
Black and yellow construction paper 
scrapbook paper 
Glue sticks
A loaded stapler

this little light of mine craftSince I’ve been saving toilet paper tubes for projects at home, I had enough to spare for the project.  I knew we had construction paper, tongue depressors, glue sticks, and a stapler in the classroom supplies at church.  So, I grabbed the toilet paper tubes and a pad of scrapbook paper from my scrapbooking supplies. I could have cut paper to fit the tubes, but I knew we would have a shorter class period because of the holiday, and the precut papers fit perfectly. 

toilet paper tube craftpaper tube candleThe day before class, I used a lid from a 32 ounce cup to draw circles on paperboard and cut them out to use as the candle bases. Before the kids arrived in class, I affixed black construction paper circles to the paperboard, so they would be more attractive.  I also cut out the flames and affixed them to the tongue depressors.  I cut slits in the approximate center of the paperboard circles.

During class, we went over “This Little Light of Mine” a few times.  When craft time arrived, each child chose a patterned piece of paper for the outside of their candle.  After each child glued their candle cover on the tube, my classroom helper and I cut the base of each tube in four places, evenly spaced (if looking a clock, it would be at 12, 3, 6, and 9).  This allowed us to bend flaps outward from the tube.  We removed two (opposing) flaps, and used the other two to affix the candle stick to the candle base with the stapler.  After affixing the candle to the base, I slid the tongue depressor with flame through slit in the bottom of the paperboard circle. 

The next time we sang “This Little Light of Mine” I showed the kids how they could pull the tongue depressor down to make the flame disappear when they sing, “won’t let Satan blow it out”  or “hide it under a bushel.”

 

candle craftthis little light of minethis little light of mine

I have to tell you, I was a bit surprised by how well this project went over.  The kids LOVED it.  They really enjoyed making the flame disappear!  After church, I had the opportunity to speak with some of the parents, and they liked it, too!  Then our Worship Leader’s wife saw it, and fell in love.  She said she thought it would be perfect for the Easter program, and even mentioned it to her husband (the Worship Leader) and our Senior Pastor.

LOL… guess I’ll be hearing “This Little Light of Mine” for a few months now. 

This Little Light of Mine Lyrics

This little light of mine… I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine… I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine… I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine… Let it shine… Let it shine

Hide it under a bushel Oh no! I’m going to let it shine
Hide it under a bushel Oh no! I’m going to let it shine
Hide it under a bushel Oh no! I’m going to let it shine
Let it shine… Let it shine… Let it shine

Won’t let Satan blow it out! I’m going to let it shine
Won’t let Satan blow it out! I’m going to let it shine
Won’t let Satan blow it out! I’m going to let it shine
Let it shine… Let it shine… Let it shine

Is it stuck in your head now, too?  Good.  LOL.

DIY Paper Plate Basket Tutorial from Sarah Hearts

Sarah posted these paper plate baskets, and the tutorial, over at http://sarahhearts.com/.

They are absolutely adorable, and OH SO EASY!

I can just imagine all the fun uses for them!

#Free Apple Recipe Cards

Those of you who have read my blog for the long haul know that I enjoy digital scrapbooking.  In fact, my site started out as a digital apple_recipecard_coverscrapbooking site.  I still have a digital scrapbook store, though it is sorely neglected.  One of the things I learned while digital scrapbooking was that I could save paper, and money, if I would combine files into one document and print to PDF. tbc_applerecipecard_kidtested

I could create my files in whatever graphics program I was using, and save them.  I typically saved files in both JPEG and PSD format, so I could later make edits if I needed too.  If I was also using the files for my own projects, I  would then open a new document, and get as much on one page as I could fit, without cutting off margins or whatever, and print to PDF using a PDF converter.  That way, instead of wasting all of that blank paper, I could get the most out of my paper.

Like these Apple Recipe Cards that I created.  They are 3.5 x 5 cards.  With twenty one label cards to the set, not including the cover or actual recipe cards, it would be a HUGE waste of paper to print them all separately.  Of course, I could pay my local photo developer ten cents a print to print them, or I could put three to a page and print seven pages at home and have the whole set.  Which is what I did.  Then, when I need more recipe cards, I can print a couple of pages and be stocked up for a while.

Want a set of the actual recipe cards (pictured below)?

tbc_applerecipecard_nowyourcookin

Just click on the image above to go to the pdf file and print (it is formatted with three to the page).

I like to use a heavier weight paper or cardstock for mine, how about you?

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