Easy, affordable ornaments/ hanging sculptures

 I have been making ornaments with my students in the art gallery program and the after school program. I even used the first one as a station project when substitute teaching for art. These are quick easy and affordable.

primary color scheme ornament

 The first one is a paper ornament. Any paper will do but card stock will work the best .You could also recycle thin card board boxes from tissue or cereal(already patterned on one side, less coloring).  These are two same size circles sliced in half and and the slices slide together. I traced the bottom of a cup for these ones. I use one piece of  scotch tape where the pieces connect then pop it back put 1 hole punch at the top of the bottom circle which has the slit facing upward to hang the ornament. If you are making a couple tracing the circles is easy enough. For use in the classroom I recommend tracing a sheet of circles drawing the slits and using the copier to run sheets of circles and then cut them in groups of twos.

Secondary color scheme ornament

Step 1 Trace circles
Step 2 Cut out circles
Step 3 Color front and back of circles with markers, crayons. pencils etc.
 Step 4 Slide slits together
Step 5 Hole punch the top of the bottom circle( the one with the slits facing up)
Step 6  Tie yarn or ribbon through the hole
Step 7 Secure center circles with small piece of clear scotch tape or white glue where they meet up.




 Card board tube ornaments

Cardboard tube ornament painted with acrylics

 Thinner cut version of ornament

 These project uses card board tubes from paper towel or toilet paper.  You can choose to cut the tube into  thicker pieces 1 inch to 2 or thin1/2 inch pieces.  I have included pictures of a few finished ones to give you some ideas.


Step1   Choose to make an ornament with 3,4,5 or 6 pieces.

Three piece ornament

Five piece ornament

 

Six piece ornament

Step 2  Press the tube flat to make the cutting easier, cut the piece of the tube so they are all the same size.
Step3   Hole punch the pieces at one end in the middle of the piece.
Step 4  Decorate the cardboard pieces with paint, markers etc.
Step 5   Thread yarn or ribbon through the holes and tie them tight together so they pop out.
Step 6  Choose the top the the ornament and tie a loop of yarn or ribbon through it to hang it from.

The thing I like about these is that they fast, easy and can be personalized any way you want. These do not have to be a "holiday project." They are good for gifts, party favors, or for teaching: color schemes, 3d vs 2d,spatial reasoning, numbers and counting, sculptural elements and positive and negative space.

ho ho holidays

So the holidays are upon us and the holiday crafting with the kids started in Dec 1st. I will not recap on all that we have done but here are two quickies you can try with your little ones to let them make some things they can give as gifts.

Stamped wrapping paper use plain white butcher paper or news print sheets. You can use some sponge stamps and paint or some foam or rubber stamps and stamp pads. The example below use chunky foam stamps I found at A.C. Moore for $1.00,or go after the 26th and get them on discount for a lot less then save for future projects) I also picked up some $1.00 stamp pads.

 

Pop up cards. Use basic construction paper and fold into four equal sections. On the inside fold cut two small slits about one inch apart. Use another color of construction paper and cut out small trees, stars or other shapes then "pop up" or pull the cut section up and away from the top layer and glue the shape onto the fold of that section.

Paper pots

I was fortunate enough to be a teaching artist for a family day event at the Memorial Art gallery for the Native American family day last weekend. I wanted to share with you the project that we did and a few finished examples of it. I used some construction paper to create a template which I then scanned and was printed onto card stock so that participants could cut the template, decorate the cut out shape then fold on the lines to create their own small paper pots. We had images of Native American south west pottery there to serve as inspiration and some finished examples. These are the full page templates that you can print out.