painting newspaper again

 

the august bed

making the bed: art of the month

For the march bed I had this idea to make a bunch of frilly newspaper flowers to put up on the wall but couldn't decide on which kind to make. I then spotted this project (via decor8) which I immediately pinned and wondered how it would translate into larger flowers.

I love painting newspaper. Love it! It takes me back to kindergarten and gives me a chance to play with odd color combos. By doing up a new sheet of paper every week or so (or day), I manage to create a small pile for crafting into when the mood takes me there. All you need to do is blob paint onto one side and along the center fold, fold paper in half and smooch away. It's quite cathartic, inexpensive, and it packs a pretty punch. Thank goodness for that stack since I somehow managed to miss-cut my flower base three times! I kept cutting all the way through my folds thus ending up with two pieces instead of one happy flower shape (I was beginning and ending my cutting on the same side, don't do that). Not one to let it all go to waste, I figured out a way to incorporate the mistakes and ended up with a large floofy flower of sorts that adds just the right touch to my march bed.

You might be able to see that I accordion-folded the two miss-cut pieces and then tied them together. I cut two small slits in the large flower and used the yarn-tails to adhere the middle sized petals by lacing the yarn through the slits and tying the ends together in the back. I then cut one of my other miss-cut pieces into a smaller flower following the pinned instructions, with success! A short length of crepe paper streamer was fringed then rolled to create the center of the flower. I used a piece of washi tape to keep it together and a big whopping blob of glue to adhere the smallest flower to the middle and then the flower center to the top. Does that even make sense? Let's see...the largest flower layer is layer one, followed by the tied layer two, then the glue layer three and finally the center. The whole shebang is taped to my wall using packing tape that so far has not attacked us in our sleep. Overall, a fairly quick (save for drying time) and easy project (as long as you cut along the right folds...think diamond shape).

ten garlands in ten days: more newspaper hearts

This easy garland is the byproduct of yeaterday's garland. All you need to do is to trim the heart punched newspaper into smallish squares or rectangles and then stitch them together using a sewing machine. 

I love all the neon and black on the newspaper. Love it! 

ten garlands in ten days: hearts all o' cluster

Being quite fond of the wonder that is the garland, I thought it was time for me to revisit ten garlands in ten days. I had meant to begin this a few days ago, ending on Valentine's Day but I simply dropped the ball. All but one of the garlands is already made and so I hope you enjoy them! 

This cluster garland was created by stitching painted newspaper hearts together, with various lengths of garland stemming from the top heart. I'll show ya how! 

Grap a sheet of newspaper and some happy neon paint. Drizzle, drip and blob your paint onto the newspaper. Fold in half and rub like ya did in kindergarten when you made blobby butterflies. If yer newspaper is too wet it will rip so gentle is the key. Open gently and allow to dry. 

Once dry, either hand cut or paper punch out your heart shapes. I used a large heart punch makign the hearts about an inch and half tall.

Bring to your sewing machine and stitch together with a short stitch, ten hearts. Gather up eight hearts and chain them together using the top heart of the first row. Next, gather six or seven and also stitch those in a row to the top heart. Your top heart will be covered in stitches with your various chains dangling below. 

Hang in a happy place and go paint more newspaper to make more! My next batch will have paint on both sides of the heart! **

**I'll take a picture of the top heart so you can see better soon! 

day of the dead: newspaper calavera garland

Things are pretty Day of the Dead here in the tiny casa. I've been working on bits and pieces here and there as my plate is a tad bit crowded these days. Here is a simple painted newspaper garland that I made not too long ago.

Paint up a large full-sized sheet of newspaper with white paint and set aside to dry. Once dry, cut out a six inch tall strip from one end to the other and accordion fold into a final piece that is about four inches across. You may need to trim any excess paper off. Draw a skull shape atop your top sheet making sure your cheek parts and part of the skull touch the edges. Carefully cut with scissor and unfold to see your magic.

 Use sharpies, paint pens and/or acrylic paint to decorate using hearts, swirls and flower shapes. Affix to your wall surface of choice with a bit of happy washi tape and you are good to party! Note, the tape may stick to your paper so make sure you want it there before affixin'. Happy almost Day of the Dead!

paint and fold

 When it came time to do up the june bed, I knew I wanted to paint some newspaper and create some sort of geometric fun. 

 

Soooo...out came the newspaper (which I horde from the mama a-go-go's newspaper bin) and the paints and I painted away, both the fronts and the backs of a couple of sheets of newspaper.

 

After I all that paint dried, I cut the pieces up into square{ish} bits and then cut some of those into smaller square{ish} bits. I folded each piece in half then in half again; then I opened them up and folded in the corners as if I were making a cootie catcher.

 Then I took the whole shebang to the bedroom along with a roll of double stick tape and got to taping.

The double stick tape is a bit wonky and likes to eject various squares off the wall (usually while one is visiting dreamland). As long as the square{ish} bit doesn't land tape-side down in yer hair, it's all good....kinda like an evolving art installation (or a mess, if you ask the mister). 

Every day is a different bit of pretty!

make a little rainbow

 Last month I whipped up a happy garland for one of the classrooms I work in. I utilized a large arty piece we had the kiddos paint up with oodles of glue, paint and glitter. It was such a happy garland it inspired me to create a bit of rainbow happy and now you can as well. Your kiddos can even get in on the fun.

Materials

*1 large sheet of paper (8"X17")

*ruler & pen

*acrylic paint

*white glue or mod podge

*glitter

*paintbrush

*scissors

 

 

 Garb a large sheet of paper, I used white paper but newspaper would be pretty happy as well, and mark out six portions at two inches each. Fold paper using the marks as guides. The folds will act as guidelines for each color and if yer doing this project with kiddos, they can use their happy motor skills to fold and crease.

 

Set up paint. I love a rainbow. Instead of your classic rainbow, I went with its punchy-poppy cousin and used brighter lighters versions. Magenta, dark orange, yellow orange, lime and pale blue. Paint each fold one color and set aside to dry.

 

Once dry, pop out the mod podge and paint on a layer of sticky along the bottom of each color. Sprinkle with glitter and set aside to dry.

 

Once dry, use your scissors to cut out each row of color and then use your hands to tear each row into smaller pieces.

Now it is time to assemble the garland. I stitched mine up on the sewing machine but you can fold and staple or tape each piece to your yarn or string.

 Hang in a happy place!