Summer Finds...

Our summer so far  here in Poulsbo has been anything but spectacular...We still haven't got the part for the Wake Board Boat..The weather has for the most part been...DREARY, (we are lucky to get above 70)...my oldest has Mono and his races keep getting canceled due to rain...

But on the up side...I have had a great time shopping at the Good Will...

So I thought I would share a few of my finds...

I got this tray the other day, before it had even been put on the shelf...

I think it's Silver Plated, but don't know for sure and for that part don't even know how to tell....

Although...truth is it doesn't really matter to me I-LOVE-IT!!

These are the markings it has on the back...If any of you know what that means I would love to hear from you!

I think my favorite thing about it...other than it's weight (It's nice and heavy), is the feet it has on the bottom...to give it just that little bit of lift.

I don't think you can tell from this picture but you can kind-of see that the stamped design shows slightly on the bottom of the tray too.

Anyway on to my glass finds.....

One of the days Garrets race was canceled Autumn and I discovered the G. W. in Shelton....now we always try to leave in time to stop there!!!  (My son race's cars and often competes at Grays Harbor Raceway, in Elma Wa.).   Prices are considerably less than the one at home...the first time we stopped Autumn got a Wet-Suit for $13.00...They run around $30.00 at ours which I find ridicules!!!

Last time we visited I found this lovely glass set with two large bowls and four smaller ones.

I also picked up a candle stick...Thinking I would glue it on the bottom a larger bowl...giving it a pedestal...but now I'm not sure.

What do you think?

And what about my tray any idea on its make or worth....I payed $10.00 for it.

As always thanks for stopping By!

Denise

I am linking to these wonderful party's:

Easy Batik

Finally...Here it is my..... recipe for BATIK...

I've been wanting to share this for SOOOO LONG but I was waiting for my Summer Art Class to start up so I could get pictures of all the steps along the way.



Cute Puppy Dog with Bone

Let me start with just a little history behind this project....

My son was studying Africa in his 3rd grade class and I was the Art Docent (At his school an Art docent was a volunteer that came in, gave art history lesson and the usually did a project along with it)....I was never very good at the history lesson, but I sure had fun with the art part...

Anyway I always tried to pull the lesson in with what they were studying...which is where the Batik project came in.



Cool Abstract Design!



The kids enjoyed it so much...That I have done it ever since!!

(Not to mention the finished project got rave reviews from the parents)!

I should also add that the melting wax...Hmmm shall we say... kind of smells...We had the Principle along with many of the teachers poking their heads in to see what we were up too. :) 

So here we go:

First of all, I purchased muslin fabric, washed, dried, and then cut it into rectangles...(mine were 15" X12" ).

For the School project the kids had to draw African animals...but for my summer classes they get to draw what ever they want...The only criteria is that The drawing has to be LARGE...When your painting with wax its hard to do paint fine details and thin lines!!!

I mix my own wax using a 50/50 mix of bees wax and paraffin wax. (The bees wax absorbs better into the fabric..but the paraffin dries harder..making it crackle better when you ball up your project before dyeing it).

We add crayons to color the clear wax and of course the kids get to choose their colors...I melt them on two griddles using cup cake tins to hold the wax....

You want the wax to be hot enough or liquid enough to soak though the fabric...

Have the kids paint the smallest parts first...like the eyes...dots on the butterflies etc...Once the fabric has absorbed the wax anything painted on top of it wont show after you iron out the wax.

The other thing to remember is ... they have to move fast...dip the brush and then quickly get it to the fabric!

Drips of wax happen...That's OK it just adds to the "Batik Feel"!

When they have finished the front, have them turn it over and paint any places the wax didn't go through on the back.

I don't think I mentioned that I usually do this as a three day project:

The first day we design our pictures starting out on  paper and then moving to the fabric.

Day two is of course painting with wax and....

Day three we dye!!

My favorite dye bath is black...I just like the way it makes the colors pop...with that being said I also offer the kids one or two other colors depending on what they painted.

I think one of the hardest part of this whole process is scrunching up that beautiful wax painting to put it in the dye bath...but they all do it!!!  :)

Art work in a black dye bath.



Nicely Scrunched!!

I then go home and iron out the wax using an OLD iron (that I just use for crafting) and paper towels..

So here are some more of the finished Batiks....



Handsome Raccoon




Lovely Pony



Some of the kids choose not to paint the whole fabric piece in wax...This is just fine but it does leave a waxy outline or shadow around the picture.

The kids who do cover all of the fabric get a more conventional Batik look.



This Rat is one of my faves...I don't think my picture does it justice!



Yummy Cupcake!



So there it is in a "Nut Shell" ...Easy...Messy... Fabulously Fun...Batik!

Give it a try at home and then just maybe...just maybe... at one of your kids, grand kids, neighbor's kids...(you get the idea) School!  :)

I will be linking up to many of those Awesome Link Party's in my side bar...

Check them out they are so full of great ideas!!!

And once again...

Thanks for visiting!!!

Denise

Kids Art...Drawing Owls

Hi Everyone..Let me first of all apologise for not posting anything for the last week and a half...but I have a good excuse...Really I do... (well at least I think so)...;)  I was getting ready for the "Art Camp" I teach threw Parks and Rec....and of course I had great ideas.... But true to my nature I waited till last minute to put them together.  On the upside I now have some really fun projects...(not to mention some AWESOME Kids Art) to share with all of you.

SO LETS GET STARTED!

One of my favorite things to do with kids is a directed draw.  I show them step by step how to build a drawing by breaking it down into simple shapes....Here's a couple of finished pictures...Just to get you interested!

Many of the kids added the moon and stars to their painting.

So this is what I did..

I drew the Owl at home using several different references...I numbered each step as I went along so it would be easy to share with the class.

I draw on the white board as the kids follow along...

The first thing we did is draw the two circles for the eyes.

We then drew the beak...one line at a time...

I use simple terms...Like the top of the beak between the eyes, I called a upside down smile...the bottom of the beak is of course, is just two straight lines...coming together in a point...

I think You've got the idea!  ;)

I is important to remind them to draw softly with the pencils...because there are parts that will need to be erased...

NOW FOR THE FUN...

Once the Owl was drawn...I let them choose what they wanted to color it in with...

Water Colors, Markers or Oil Pastels...

I also showed them different ways to do the breast feathers and wings....

The rest was up to them...

And as you can see...

Everyone of them is LOVELY...

Unique...

and totally AWESOME!!

Give it a try...the kids in my class ranged from 8 - 13.

I will be joining up to many of those wonderful "Bloggy Link Party's" on my side bar...If you haven't checked them out, please do... they are chalk full of ideas!

As always...Thanks for visiting!

Denise

PS:   If you missed my Directed Draw for a Sea Horse You can find it here:

Directed Draw: Sea Horse

Coffee Table / Pet Bed

Ever since I saw this floating around the Internet, I've been dying to make one...A coffee table converted into a Pet Bed...What a great idea!!!   Anyway it wasn't hard to get Autumn on board (If it has to do with pets...she's in)!!  So we hit some garage sales and ended up with two tables...I think we'll paint the next one black.  :)



Calico really likes this idea!



This is the first one we found...it was in grate shape and only cost $5.00....Because really.....who would want a  fake wood Formica tables out of the 70's???? 

We took the doors and the magnets that kept them shut off and then filled the holes with Glazing Putty (It was what we had around the house...after all my Son and Husband are "Motor Heads"...and they said "It will work great!!

Next step was to paint it with a primer (Zinsser, Cover Stain Primer).

Just one coat.

I then painted it with three coats of Valspar's Premium Decorator Enamel in Dover white.

To make the cushion I measured the inside of the table...Then using the old string and pen trick made marked and cut out a circle to fit...sew...fill TA-DA Done.  :)

I must say we are sooo happy with the finished project and are planning to move it to Autumns room... a night stand for her and a get away for Callie.  :)

I'm linking up to my favorite Parties (on my side bar) ...

Please check them out...there are so many great ideas roaming around you don't want to be left out!!

Denise

PS: leave a comment...I would love to know who has stoped by!

Kitchen Pot Holders

Here's my "Crafty" post of the week...And you have no idea how hard it was to get up!!  My goal was to post on Tuesday night.  But then, my darling son was feeling so CRAPPY that he actually asked to go to the doctors.....He's been fighting something for a while and it finally got the best of him...he said the back of his throat was killin him...Well it should have been ...it was full of white blisters...To make a long story short ..He has MONO!!  :( 

So I got up early Wednesday morning only to find my Internet down....Another sad face :( ....

Well here it is Thursday morning and I am happy to share with you my KITCHEN POT HOLDERS...

YEA!!!!

These were so fun to make...Joann's had a 50% off sale on their cotton fabric so Autumn and I trotted down there to pick out our fabric....I had a tough time deciding....but these are the ones I narrowed it down to.  (OK I admit it ...I'm not very good at narrowing down)!  Anyway my kitchen has lovely brown counter tops with a Harvest Orange paint on the walls...This explains why my color choose looks kind of "fallish" for the first of July.  :)

The first thing I did was cut the background fabric into 9" squares...

I then ironed Heat-n-Bond onto the wrong side of the piece I was using to applique...The cool thing about Heat-n-Bond is that you can draw your design on it and then cut it out!!

You then peel the back off...

And place it on your background fabric...moving it around until you get the look you want....Then simply iron it on.

Next step is to place the applique piece right sides together with the fabric you choose for the back....On top of that I added a insulated lining (Insul-Bright).  I cut this piece just a little smaller (8 1/2" square) so the seams wouldn't be to thick....Now sew 3 sides of your pot holder together, clip corners and then turn right side out....

 Pin the 4th side...sew along all 4 edges.

Stitch around you applique design...

Stop admire your work...and then hurry off to make more!!!

I spent $13.00  on materials and have enough fabric left over to make at least 4 more pot holders...

so the cost was under $2.00 each!  :)

RIGHT ON!!

I'm linking up to those WONDERFUL LINK Parties on my side bar...

Won't you join me?

Denise