What to do:

• Have children nail the nails or tacks in the middle of the block of wood.
• Cut 3 pieces of wire approximately 12" – 14" long.
• Wrap one end of each wire around the nails.
• Now it’s time to begin manipulating the wire into a form – animal figure or an abstract form. You may add more wire to the shape as you go, building the armature for your sculpture.
• When the form is complete, cut strips of plaster gauze approximately 6" – 8" long.
• Dip gauze in water softening the plastic. Using your hand, smooth the strip and get rid of excess water.
• Begin applying gauge to the wire smoothing as you go. You want to build it up so that no wire shows. HINT: You may mash the gauge together to make hair or facial features or add definition in any area.
• Sculpture should dry in 8-12 hours. When dry, paint with acrylics. Remember to paint the wooden stand! You may also add more wire. Your figure can jump rope, go fishing, jiggle, etc. Final touch is to name your work of art!

 T-Shirt Art

Get out your favorite stamps to decorate a bold design!

What you’ll need:

• T-shirt
• Masking tape
• Brushes
• Fabric paints
• Meat tray
• Large stamps
• Gold paint pen (optional)

What to do:

• We first make the background design using masking tape to mark our "canvas" area. The tape also acts as a resistant to the paint so where ever you place the tape, the color of your shirt will remain.
• Add tape to inside of your painting area to make designs.
• When finished making your background, apply fabric paint to open areas.

HINT: You can get paint on the tape. We will pull it off later after the paint dries.

• When shirt is completely dry, pull off tape!
• Make a stamp pad out of a meat tray.
• Brush a thin layer of dark (black, brown, navy) fabric paint over the surface. Press your stamp in the meat trap, checking for excess paint. If you have too much, gently press on a paper towel, then print on your shirt.
• Continue stamping and printing until you have a completed design.

OPTIONAL: When dry, go back in and highlight areas with gold paint pen! This adds another dimension! 

Clay Dogs

If you can’t join one of our clay classes, here’s a recipe for cornstarch dough.

What you’ll need:

• 1 cup cornstarch
• 2 cups baking soda
• 1 ¼ cup water

What to do:

• Combine all ingredients in a pot. With an adult, stir over low heat. Be careful not to let it stick to the pot!
• Stir until it looks like mashed potatoes.
• Remove and cool; gather mixture together with a floured surface and when it is cool, knead until smooth.
• Roll out dough to approximately ¼".
• With a template of a dog or other animal, trace around outline. Put paper towels or fiberfill to hold the legs apart so that it will stand.
• Let dry completely lying flat.
• When dry, you may paint with acrylics.
• After paint dries, you may want to further protect with a thin coat of clear, acrylic spray.

 Fish Batik

What you’ll need:

• Black construction paper
• School glue in squirt bottle
• Pencil
• Fish design
• Oil pastels
• Stapler
• Hole punch
• Curling ribbons

What to do:

• You may draw any design freehand or use a template as we did of a fish/
• Trace around and draw lines inside to show design. If you want this to be a mobile, you will do 2 sides.
• With glue, draw over your lines. Let dry.
• When completely dry, color with oil pastels. The black paper makes the colors vivid and bold.
• If making a 3-D piece, cut around 1-1 ½ " larger. Staple half way around, then add crumpled newspaper or fiber fill. Continue stapling until done.
• Punch holes in tail; add curling ribbon, then use scissors to curl.
• Hole punch a hole in mouth. Add ribbon to hang.
• You may fill the fish, or other animal you make, with candy to make an easy piñata!

Art Display Rack

What you’ll need:

• Yardstick
• Wood scraps or wood shapes from craft store
• Tacky glue
• Clothespins (spring type)
• Acrylic paint
• Brushes
• Drill

What to do:

• Begin by drilling 2 holes at each end of yardstick
• Pick out wood shapes and arrange on yardstick, leaving room for 5 to 6 clothespins to be spaced between wood shapes.
• You may paint each piece before gluing on yardstick, allowing paint to fry first, or you may glue all pieces down. Let dry, then paint.
• After painting, add extra designs like polka dots, stars, etc. with smaller brush or permanent markers. Gold paint pens look great!
• Now hang your display and attach your work for all to enjoy!