Plaster of Paris - Not as SCARY as You Might Think!

My fondest memories of being a kid was during the summer. My mother never sent us to camp, instead she would take us out to interesting places or create fun crafts out of low budget materials. For 2 years straight my mother and her best friend Sandy, joined "magical mommy" forces and created a superb experience for all us kids. We would later dub it "Camp Bloomskey" taking both our last names and merging them into one AWESOME unit :)

One of the BEST projects that we ever did were plaster of paris hand molds. I actually saved mine throughout the years and I would suspect that it's somewhere up in my attic. You can find the project here with all the steps on how to make it with your own kids. I just want to say a couple things. You can buy plaster of paris easily at any craft store like Michaels. Right after you make the impression of the hand and it's still wet, write the child's name and year of the project with a stick - like a BBQ skewer. You could also wait for it to dry and use a sharpie pen and write the same info on the back. Also once it's dry - paint it with any acrylic or tempera paint. That will prolong the craft for another day and give them more hours of enjoyment. An alternative project would be to use the same tins, but instead of making hand shaped molds, you could get pretty mosaic stones to decorate the plaster. Once dry you can place the molds into the ground creating a stepping stone pathway in your backyard. 

I don't know about you, but I really love the beach, especially with the kids. OK, I do hate all that sand, but why not do something fun and crafty with it! Not only can you find FREE items on the beach, but you have the best time finding them! The next time your heading out to the beach on a fun filled family day, put some plaster of paris into your beach bag! Yup, you heard me right! Here are some GREAT idea projects with all the instructions you need! There's the Sandy Hand Mosaic The Sand Cast Bass and my absolute favorite Footprints in the Sand. Here are a few more beach craft ideas I like the first one - Ocean in  Bottle - You can just reuse all those water bottles you have around already!

One last idea, and this one came to me last week when my family and I were spending the day at Oceanfest in Long Branch, NJ. The Jersey Shore city puts together a beach festival every year, with sand castle contests, arts and craft shows, and fireworks. As I was perusing the crafts I noticed this woman who was selling flip flops. What she did, and they were so super cute, was tie pieces of fabric and ribbon over and over and over around the straps. You can add ribbon with a glue gun around the bottom to make a nice finishing touch.


Hope you have a great time with these crafts. ENJOY!

Summer Projects on a Budget

So I have a few pet peeves, but the one thing that truly bothers me is when people spend tons of money at craft stores on really expensive craft projects that just end up in the garbage. I have been teaching, heading camps and art programs for nearly 12 years now and it never seems to stop bothering me. I have heard all the excuses and I am completely aware that it can be a very daunting challenge to pick the "right" glue that won't dissolve in the wash, or the "right" paint that says it's washable, but come on we all know it's never coming out of your daughters expensive shirt anyway.

SIDE POINT- One of my favorite stores to shop in is Michaels and when I first moved to Jersey, they didn't have one! So I went searching for other local stores, but for the really good stuff I would order from Dick Blick. Finally a Michaels opened up about 2 minutes away (I know right? I was sooooo happy!) - Baruch Hashem!

Needless to say, I understand the horrors and the sheer craft overload one may feel when they go into a craft store. It is so much easier to pick the projects that have all the pieces ready to go, like kits, rather then finding new "creative" ways to save money by finding the pieces individually. The only place I would ever buy kits from because it is SO economical would be Oriental Trading the only downside to this company is that you have to buy the projects in bulk - usually sets of 12. This can be good since kids like to make projects multiple times, and they can make projects for grandparents, friends, or siblings, also it spreads out the time of the activity. The only time I would ever buy wood pieces or foam craft pieces (they are so expensive in craft stores) is if the project we were making would be kept and cherished. These are the projects you save.

When I started teaching Preschool kids 6 years ago I found Discount School Supplies. They are like Oriental Trading with crafting kits, but they also have coloring and painting supplies. My favorite item in the whole world to do with little kids is the Colorations Liquid Watercolors they come in large bottles for $2.99 and you put about 1 tsp into one of the 6 paint cup holders and fill the rest up with water. They come with nifty tops so you don't have to spill it out when they are done painting, you can save it for next time! The best thing about watercolors by the way moms, is that it should - notice how I stress the word should - come out of most fabrics since it's water based. Just a few things you might want to be aware of. The best type of paper for water coloring is hard card stock. If they paint with regular paper, it will get too wet and the paper will rip. If you have your own printer then you can google any image - for example let's say your kid wants to paint a picture of a ladybug. Just google "ladybug coloring page". Click on the top tab "images" and tons of pictures of ladybugs will come up. Pick the one she wants and copy and paste it into a word document. Resize it so that it's big enough for little hands and print it on card stock. You can get that at any Staples, Office Depot, or Target. I'm telling you she will have hours of fun, plus you have the bottles of paint that will last you virtually forever, and all your real cost is new card stock every few months. It's a really nice alternative to markers and crayons, and not as messy as "real" paint. One last idea is that you can put the water color into spray bottles and when it's sprayed you get the most amazing effects! Your kids will LOVE IT! You could do this with white lunch bags (make some for the start of the new school year), use the effect as a background for a card, or spray the entire car in watercolor and then give it a wash!

The last idea I have for you is something that I also fell upon about 8 years ago. My other favorite cheap art supply is liquid starch. You can pick this up at most grocery stores. When applied to paper it makes it crisp and hard. I found this to be very helpful when I was trying to save money as a teacher not laminating every project. I wanted to use flimsy paper, but at the same time give sturdiness and stability so the project could be saved. The best craft items to use with starch would be colored tissue paper. You can also get the type that bleeds when wet so the color run into each other. Just have you child put some starch down unto the paper to get it wet, then add the tissue paper on her picture. When she is all done seal the entire picture and tissue paper with the starch. FYI- this is a sticky project so sensory sensitive kids beware. Also you must wash the brushes immediately after use or they will get hard and crusty. Other ideas to use with starch is using sentence strip to make crowns, cut out the picture punch a hole at the top, add string and voila! a necklace, and lastly you can make beautiful seasonal door signs that will last through the weather. 

One last thing and I can not stress it enough. Sign up for the craft store cards and add/include your email. I receive coupons weekly, for 20-50% off an item, plus you can rack up points to save even more. For example at AC Moore, if you reach 200 points they send you a $10 coupon in the mail. Just last month Michaels came out with their own saving card. Also check out the websites of these craft stores for project ideas. They always have some really good ones.

I think I have given you guys a few good ideas to get started. I will be posting project ideas that are GREAT for any budget throughout the summer. Please comment below and let me know if this was at all helpful to you and if you have any ideas of your own PLEASE SHARE! I love getting new ideas!

Stock Trouble.

So I was kinda freaking out for the past few days. One of my good customers is having a Bar Mitzvah in 2 weeks. She asked me to make her a bunch of gifts for the families in town who are hosting her out of town guests. After going back and forth she settled on the Cream Rose Small Pitcher which would be personalized and then wrapped in cellophane with ribbons and raffia. One family in particular, she wanted me to make an expensive piece/set since they would be hosting everyone for Shabbos day lunch. One of my favorite sites to get gorgeous expensive crystal is Badash.  We perused the catalog together and she really like  the extra large gold wave bowl with these gold salt and pepper shakers. The only problem was that they were out of stock when I ordered them before Pesach. They told  me to not worry that they should be getting new stock soon, but they still did not have them after Pesach. OY!

Come today, I was really sweating, what was I going to do? I had nothing to give to this client!  She of course knew about the stocking issue and was also worried. There is nothing worse than a client  and a designer freaking out! I needed to go to Michaels this morning and right next door to the crafting paradise is one of my other favorite stores....PIER 1 IMPORTS. Thank god my salvation. I found this extra large serving bowl and this accenting small bowl. I knew immediately she would love the pieces.

 So here are the pieces before I started painting. What I loved about them was the texture and the vibrant colors.  It was all encased in gold leaf that was tinged red.




I then took my gold paint and painted scrolls all around each of the bowls. I wasn't sure if I should do it sideways or straight up and down, but when I played around with it I think what I got was the right effect I was looking for.

She had originally wanted the salt and pepper shakers so I decided to included a mini set in the gift, but slight problem, the tops were silver. I decided to sponge paint them with gold and then added some scroll work design.

When it was all done I baked the pieces and PRAYED that they would not crack from the heat of the oven. Since I had never used these glass pieces before I was worried that after spending so much time and effort it would all be wasted!

When it came out of the oven these are what the pieces looked liked all together.

Now all that needed to be done was wrap up the pieces in cellophane- which unfortunately lent itself to another problem. It was a large round bowl that I wasn't sure how to wrap it. Should I make a huge poof at the top, create a nice smooth top? After trying both and getting no where I just created a smooth top and added ribbons. The top was so large it looked so empty so I got out my paints and actually painted the cellophane and added more and more ribbons and raffia!!! Here's the end and FINAL result.

I give the pieces to her tomorrow. I really hope she likes them! What do you think???

Spring Project for Little Hands

Before I was a designer, I spent a few years as a Preschool Teacher. Looking back, I must say that what thrilled me the most about Preschool were the crafts and projects. You can be as creative as you want and the kids just eat it up and love it! This project is something that I loved to do with my students in the springtime and will be planning to do this summer in my workshop series at Camp Summer Playland. You can see the original idea here from the Family Fun magazine. Enjoy, and I would love to see how your projects come out so PLEASE post them!

Pounded Flower Prints

This pretty flower poster is its own reward, but the hammering technique — pounding flowers onto paper — can be irresistible to kids. Experiment with a variety of flowers. Primroses, pansies, and irises pass along their colors brilliantly.

Materials

• Scissors or clippers
• Jar with water
• Heavy board or sturdy worktable (one you can pound on)
• Watercolor paper
• Stack of newspapers

• Paper towels
• Hammer
• Tweezers
• Clear acrylic coating spray (available at craft and hardware stores)
• Pencil

  Instructions

1. Cut flowers from your yard or pick a few common and abundant wildflowers and weeds, such as dandelions. Place stems in the jar of water as soon as they're cut.
   
2. On the board or worktable, set a sheet of watercolor paper on the newspaper.
   
3. Place a flower on the paper and cover it with a paper towel. Use the hammer to tap it gently and repeatedly, making sure you tap the entire flower and the stem, if desired. Peel back the paper towel to see how well the color is transferring. If the paper towel looks saturated, the watercolor paper will be too. When you're satisfied with the color, remove the paper towel and the smashed flower, using tweezers if necessary.
   
4. Repeat step 3 with the other flowers.
   
5. To protect the colors, spray the paper with the clear acrylic coating and let dry, then write the flowers' names in pencil.
   

 

Inspiration All Around

A lot of people think that I am insane for selling my pieces at boutiques/shows. I have to shlep all my pieces in crates, unload, set up, SELL, and then repackage everything in the hopes that nothing will brake in the interim. I definitely admit that it’s true pain, however, I absolutely love going to them and do quite a few throughout a month. I personally get a high from meeting new people, discussing my pieces, and gaining inspiration from other vendors. (The best happens at other craft fairs when you are among other creative nuts like yourself). I am always the first to arrive and the last to leave, always getting distracted by those around me.

A couple weeks ago I was at the YNJ show and I met a couple people that truly inspired me. Jennifer, who I will talk about in my next blog post shall remain a secret till Sunday when I will post her exclusive items that I will start carrying…..so excited!!! The second person I can’t even tell you what her name was, because I have no clue who she was. She was a sheitel macher who was selling wigs. Now I meet a lot of sheitel machers, but what was so awesome about this one was that the heads the wigs were sitting on were decorated. One in leopard print, the other in cheetah print , and the last in zebra print. How cool I thought, is that painted? When I got a closer look I realized that it was decopauged with paper, rhinestones, and flowers around the neck. Now if anyone truly knows me, they know that my very first love, and the first thing I ever tried to sell handmade were my decopauged wall letters and picture frames. I knew in an instant that I could do that. The sheitel macher kindly told me that she got it from someone in the Five Towns (if anyone knows who, I would love to find out her name) and that she sells a lot in Long Island.

I personally am a shabby chic lover. I appreciate the old world style and romanticism in art. Eyelet lace speaks to me. It just does. Weird, I know. But anyways, I went out to my nearest Micheals, and bought all the supplies I needed and got down to work on decoupaging my sheitel head. Never did I realize how long it would take. Seriously. Lots and lots of time was spent on it, BUT ITS SOOOO  AWESOME! What I love the most about it is that not only does it become a piece of art, but it’s functional. NO LONGER WILL YOUR KIDS OR HUSBAND BE FRIGHTENED OF YOUR SHEITEL HEAD! I want to do more sheitel heads in different designs and colors, and wish I had the time to play around with it all day. The black and white zebra print was really chic looking so maybe I will do that next. Just out of curiosity what do you think? Leave a comment and let me know, please.

A Purim Masterpiece

Last Shabbos, I was reading through my sons Olemainu and came across this wonderfully ARTSY version of the Purim story. I absolutely loved it and I know you will too! ENJOY!  

“Hear ye! Hear ye!” Yellowed the Grand Announcer of Shushan as he blue his trumpet. He red the announcement “King Achashveirosh is making a party in Shushan in 18 days to celebrate – and everyone is invited!”

Achashveirosh’s party was very lavish. There were gold and silver utensils, white, parsley green and aquamarine, sheets embroidered with fine linen and purple wool cords were spread about. Golden and silver couches were set up over marble floors.

At the party, Achashveirosh wanted to show off his beautiful queen, Vashti. He commanded that she appear, but just then Hashem made her break out in pink pimples and she was embarrassed to come.

Achashveirosh was purple with rage at her refusal to come. The artful Haman, who wanted his daughter to become queen suggested that Vashti be killed. She was. 

After Achashveirosh’s temper cooled off, he realized he needed a new queen. He sent messengers throughout the land to gather all eligible young girls. Esther, a Jewish orphan who was raised by her uncle, Mordechai Hasadik, was forcibly taken to the palettes. Mordechai warned her not to tell anyone that she was Jewish.

Alone in the palettes, Esther felt marooned. When she was brought before Achashveirosh, he chose her to be the new queen. Esther did not reveal her true colors. 

Haman, one of the king’s ministers was elevated to a high rank. Everyone had to bow down to him, but Mordechai refused. People asked Mordechai, “Orange you afraid of him?”

“He is wearing an idol around his neck. I will not bow down before him, and I’m not afraid of him. I serve only Hashem!”

He sat outside the palettes gates in order to be close to Esther. Haman turned colors every time he saw Mordechai. How dare he!?! He thought. I’ll show him!

First Haman went to the king. In clever tones, he painted a scene depicting the Jews as being a nation of different color stripes. 

He gave Achashveirosh lots of gold and silver to kill the Jews. The king’s messengers quickly spread the word in all of Achashveirosh’s 127 provinces that the Jews in all the lands would be killed on the thirteenth of Adar. 

When the Jews heard the decree, their world turned black. Mordechai put on sackcloth and gray ashes as a sign of mourning. 

Next Haman went home and asked his wife Zeresh for advice. “White don’t you hang him on a tall evergreen or other type of tree?” she suggested. Haman was tickled pink by the idea and lost no time preparing the tree. 

Mordechai begged Esther to the king and pleas on behalf of the Jew, she was the Jews only gray of hope. Esther agreed- even though by going to the king without being called by him was risking one’s own life.

In an ironic twist, Haman was forced to dress Mordechai in colorful royal clothes, ride him around on a horse and call out before him, “ This is what the king does to one that he wished to honor!” Haman was green with envy and red with shame!

At the second of 2 feasts that Esther hosted for Achashveirosh and Haman, Esther told the king how Haman was planning on killing her people. The king blue his top! He stepped out on the porch for some air!

Haman turned white. He tried to easle his way out. He turned to beg Esther for mercy and a malach (angel) pushed him down and he fell near the queen. Before he had a chance to get up, the king returned. Haman was colored form embarrassment and the king was livid! 

Achashveirosh agreed to give Esther all her art’s desire. Haman was hanged on the very tree he had prepared for Mordechai! Mordechai became the second to the king and was dressed regally in robes of aquamarine and white. A large golden crown and linens in purple cloaks

Truly – “Ain Sa’ir B’Elokim” There is no artist like our king. For the Jews the world turned from darkness to light. The rainbow of colors blended to bring brightness and joy to the Jews of Shushan and to all the Jews in the cast spectrum of Achashveirosh’s kingdom. The Purim story is a masterpiece that portrays Hashem’s watchful eye over his nation, even as His presence is hidden. Because the Jews did Teshuvah, their brush with death was replaced by graceful strokes of love from above.