Happy New Year from London

Well it's officially 2012 in London and I just thought I would show you a few photos from the past few days.

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

Some treasures from the British museum.

Wall painting from the tomb of Nebamun.

The Portland Vase.

Head of the horse of Selene from the Parthenon.  Way too many pictures to show you here.

The Painted Chapel in Greenwich.

and for all you Tudor fans the site of the original home of the Tudor palace and birthplace of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and Mary I at Greenwich.

Two of the ravens at the Tower of London.

Some graffiti at Beauchamp Tower at the Tower of London site by a prisoner.

And finally the view of the Tower Bridge from the wall at the Tower of London.

That's all for now.  Wishing you a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2012!

 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

So it's been a busy 2 weeks but today is the last day of school.


Here are the Pastel Resist Madonnas Grade 3 made.

Grade 2 did the Family Snowman portraits on canvas.  I can't show you those because of all the last names.  Grade 5 did their own version in clay.  I can show you a couple as the names are harder to read.

Last week the kiln began having thermostat problems....big headache!, but we were able to rescue our projects.  Luckily all the bisque fires had been done. 

Grade 6 ended up painting their Poinsettias with acrylic instead of glazing and I think they turned out great!

Grade 1 made their Angel plates.

I don't have a picture of the Nativity Plates by Kindergarten but they turned out great.  We modified the design a bit, just going with the Baby Jesus in his cradle with lots of stars.  It was easier for them to construct and very successful.

Grade 3 made wooden Christmas houses that are based on a house idea I presented at the last ECEC session.

I'll post the full tutorial for you in January.  Again a big success!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and all the best in the New Year!

I am off across the pond and my next post to you will be from London.  I hope to share some of my photos with you during the holidays.

Take care everyone.

Chiristmas Inchies Version 2

Well here is the second set of Christmas inchies in traditional colors.

Please click on picture to see larger.

Remember each square can be easily be made into a larger project all on it's own.

I did all the backgrounds first.

- red paper, green paper, white paper

- then paint 3 squares, green , red and white glitter

- then I used plastic wrap on one, stamped on white circles with a pencil on another, and added a metallic sheen to the last one

Square "1 Christmas Tree:

- red painted background
- triangle cut out of green painted paper
- trunk is little rectangle from a book page
- little gems for decoration




Square #2 Candy Cane "J": 

- green painted background
- cane cut out of white paper
- painted or colored red stripes
- little bit of glitter glue

 Square #3 Holly:

- draw on little musical notes with sharpie or cover inchie with sheet music
- cut holly leaves out of green paper
- add veins to the leaves with green marker
- use eraser end of pencil and a little red paint stamp in some circles for berries

Square #4 Christmas Lights:

- paper is painted with white glitter paint
- using fine sharpies and markers draw out lights

Square #5 Christmas Wreath:

- red painted background
- draw on a "o" with glue
- cut little squares of tissue, crumple and stick on glue
- add embellishment

Square #6 Poinsettia:

- green painted background with piece of plastic wrap placed on it before drying  
- cut out petal shapes from assorted red papers
- little gems added to center

Square #7 Santa:

- green paper background
- cut circle out of brown paper
- cut hat out or scrap of red felt
- glue on mini pompom
- glue on googly eyes
- pink pencil crayon on cheeks
- add scrap of white fun fur for beard

Square #8 Bird in Tree:

- cover background with circle stamps from pencil eraser in off white paint
- paint or draw on silver tree branches trying to form that "Y"
- I used a punch but you could just draw a bird for the tree
- add a little glitter snow

Square #9 Gingerbread Man:

- red painted background
- cut out gingerbread man out of brown paper
- add details with white gel pen and sharpie
- add a few sequins

That 's it your done.  Mount on black paper and add to your growing collection.

I find myself doodling out more and more inchie designs. They are getting to be addictive.







Hope you give them a try and we will see you soon.

How to make a Christmas Angel

I have another post for the Hive today on how to make this great Angel using Activa's Rigid Wrap.

You can check it out here:

Christmas Angel

Last Friday was our Christmas craft Day at school.  A big thank-you goes out to all Moms, Dads, Grandmas and Grandpas who helped!

I really appreciate it and we could not do it without you.

I'll have another post for you tomorrow.......here is a sneak peek.  That second set of Christmas inchies, finally!






See you then.

"We Three Kings" Christmas Craft

Here is a new Christmas Craft I've put together for our annual craft morning at school.

"We Three Kings"




It's a quick and easy project for one of our 12 craft stations.













MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- 3/4 by 3/4 cedar trim (nail strip)
- sandpaper
- felt
- acrylic paint in flesh tones
- fine sharpies, white gel pen
- tacky glue
- assorted embellishments
- glue gun, optional



PROCEDURE:

I bought my cedar trim at Home Depot.  I purchased a bundle which was about 24 - 4 ft long pieces.  That was plenty for the 150 kids who will be participating and cost me around $1.25 per 4 ft piece.

I then had a volunteer (Mrs. B's husband) cut all the pieces.

For each set you need a 4" piece, a 3" piece, and a 2" inch piece.

Sand the ends slightly.

You then want to paint one end of each piece a different flesh tone.






Let dry.

You want to cut a rectangle of felt for each King.  We are using green, red and blue.

The rectangles should be shorter then each trim piece so the faces will show and long enough to wrap completely around the piece of trim.

Put some tacky glue on one side of the felt.  Lay your trim down in the center and then wrap.

The seam will then be at the back.






Using fine sharpies and white gel pens mark on the faces.  I prefer them with the eyes closed but I'm sure we will get lots of different expressions on Craft Day.  You can color in some hair but it will only really show up on the sides of the heads.

Now add the crowns.  Use what you have.  I'm using some wired mini garland,  gold brocade trim and a gold snowflake that I cut in half.  Glue into place.  (all from the Dollar store)












Add the presents.  The kids are using little presents cut off some garland, a gem embellishment, and some little glittered styrofoam balls.  I found all of these supplies at the Dollar store.

Finally glue all your Three Kings together.  We will be using glue guns on Craft Day (operated by adults).  This just makes it go faster so the kids gave a completed craft to go into their bag.
That's it.













 A quick and easy Christmas craft.

See you next time.