paint cut paste

i’m almost certain that you’ve seen this eco-chic interior design element out there in the d.i.y. blogosphere… the transformation of a paper towel or toilet paper roll into wall art. (who doesn’t drool over design sponge? adore them.) that’s where i first saw this cute project, and it captured my interest, but it seemed a rather adult art project to me. i always get excited about the idea of using things from our recycling bin!

naturally, i wanted novi to join in the upcycling fun. i mean, this truly is a paint cut paste project (uh… cut, paint, paste) so we tried it out… cutting through cardboard with kid scissors isn’t too much fun, so i cut up two paper towel rolls into little rings that were about an inch wide. i didn’t measure to be exact – i just eye-balled it.

for some odd reason, i figured that i’d spray paint (alone during nap time: spray paint + kids = no way) the rings white. i thought it’d make it more brilliant when she painted them with colors, but honestly it made no difference. skip this step, unless you want your finished product to be white and modern (aka: not a kid craft.)

when the white paint was dry, the fun began. novi chose the paint (we used acrylics) some of the rings lavender and some of them spring green. she had lots of fun painting her hands the rings. she opted to only paint the outsides of the rings (though if you were able to paint the insides, too, the finished product may be more cohesive.)

once the colorful paint dried, we had fun arranging the rings into shapes. i had spray painted a box top white earlier, and novi decided this would be her frame, and she wanted to make a flower inside of it. we glued the rings together in a flower shape, holding them with mini clothespins until they were dry. (any clips will work.) if you’re not doing this with kids, staples may be quicker.

after the leaves and petals had adhered together, novi drizzled the glue generously onto the back of the flower, and i pressed it into her frame. (elmer’s glue dries clear so no worries on the drizzling.) she was excited about the results!

with the remaining “leaves” we decided to glue them together at random to make a cluster. right now it’s just sort of hanging out in novi’s bathroom.

i’m considering doing a natural-colored (no painting involved) version of this for our playroom wall, above novi’s fairy treehouse… if i do, i’ll letcha know!

this post is truly for the birds… it’s a way to help our little winged friends pimp their nests for spring, while also using up the scraps you have cluttering up that art bin.

think of these as ornaments for springtime… to be hung outside on the trees in your yard so that birds can peck into them, between the wires, to retrieve lovely adornments for the nests they’re building. this is also a great wintertime project, especially if you are in a snowy area, as it is harder for birds to find scraps and things with which to create nests in such conditions. over the winter, i saw a nest kit made in what looked like a tiny crab pot cage in a gift shop. these can be made inside of lots of things – think mesh bags from the grocery store, little crafty bird cages, etc. i opted to come up with my own homemade version.

the first part is a grown-up (or older child) task: take some wire (i recommend 20 gauge or thicker) and wrap it around one of your child’s balls (ours was tennis ball size, but you can use any sized ball you wish.) i used one of novi’s squishy water balls so that i could mush it to slip it out easily when i was finished wrapping.

after you’ve wrapped it sufficiently, bring the ends of the wire to meet at the top, for a loop, and twist around it with some small pliers. then gently pull the ball out of a larger opening. once you do that, you may need to manipulate your wire back into a ball shape with your hands. you can get creative with sizes and shapes. i strung a couple of wooden beads into ours for fun.

then grab your little one and go hunting through your art cabinet/closet/drawer/bin for scraps of felts, fabrics, ribbons, raffia, moss, feathers, or anything that seems soft and strong enough to hold up to rain. think earth-friendsly and biodegradable. (no plastics, please!)

our scrappy mess

if scraps are large, cut them into little strips.

you and your child can have fun stuffing the wire ball full of these scraps. we enjoyed thinking of color schemes or themes for each one.

now just hang your little orb on a tree outside and see if it draws any feathered friends to it. days or weeks later, it can be fun to take your child out on a nest quest in your yard (or neighborhood) to find little birdie homes that include your groovy treasures. one fun part is that once the birds have emptied your orbs, you can refill them!

these make great gifts for spring birthdays, easter, earth day, mother’s day, and father’s day! just be sure to include a note with it so the recipient knows just what to do with it and doesn’t think you haven’t lost your mind by sending them a ball of art scraps.

i remember the curious process of making paper when i was a kid — it was always sort of odd to me that we’d take perfectly good paper, shred it up, get it wet, and make it into new lumpy paper. curious, indeed, but making your own paper is a fun and wonderful way to recycle scraps you may have laying around the house into something lovely (and something that blooms – read on!)

i was inspired by a guest post on make & takes and decided that creating plantable paper with flower seeds in it would make for lovely mother’s day cards. so novi and i got busy collecting select colors of paper scraps we had around our art studio. (we chose analogous colors so that when they blended, they’d make a color that was not brown. novi’s favorite colors are purple and red, so this worked out well. she helped in hunting for the scraps in our art room, and chose to recycle some of her own preschool art work and valentine hearts, too.)

then the ripping process began! little did i know that tearing is a good lesson for little hands! i sometimes forget that these seemingly ordinary tasks are things we learned along the way, so i took the opportunity to teach novi about tearing. we tore them up into little bits no bigger than a square inch.

next we put the colors into our blender.

we added just enough water to cover the paper shreds, then we blended until it looked like, as novi said, “a raspberry smoothie.” after that, novi sprinkled flower seeds into the pulp. (we chose zinnias.)

do not blend after the seeds are in – just stir them into the pulp with a spoon.

after that, i strained the pulp through a mesh strainer, pushing the water out with a wooden spoon. (if you don’t have a mesh strainer, just place a thin towel in the bottom of your colander and that should work, too.)

i had prepared a cookie sheet with an art rag/towel on it, then a layer of felt. once i pressed the water out of the pulp, i attempted to spread it out evenly onto the felt sheet. (this is where i realized that it may be really hard for this pulp to dry in such a way as to make a sheet of paper – it seemed really clumpy and separated.) i pressed on it (to squeeze water out) with another towel on top. novi even helped with this using her small rolling pin.

i put it aside to dry overnight… and it actually took about a day and a half. once it was dry, i attempted to cut it into cute flower shapes; however, as i suspected, it was crumbly and very little of it was able to be cut. i tried and struggled a bit to get a few good pieces that look like flowers. you could also make hearts, butterflies, or whatever you wish… or whatever you can manage to cut. i get the sense that using cookie cutters when the pulp is almost dry would work better. or even using a stencil after to make a nice, clean shape. i think that next time we do it, we will try for a finer pulp so that it can be spread more thin on the felt, and hopefully stick together enough to make a sheet.

then we chose some colors to make a few cards, and glued the seed paper flowers onto the cards, using buttons for flower centers.

we will write a note inside with the planting instructions for the pastel zinnias in hopes that the recipients will watch these paper flowers bloom into real blossoms… sweet spring, easter, or mother’s day cards.