tutorial

Tree Frog Oil Pastel

TreeFrogPin This is a fun way to build a textured canvas. Children use black glue on black construction paper to outline the frog. Then use colored oil pastels to fill him in. The results are stunning and worthy of any classroom gallery!

Materials:

Black Construction Paper
Glue
Black Paint
Oil Pastels
Inspiration Photo

Amazon Rainforest

There is so much to explore in the Amazon! Readers are taken on an adventure through the Amazon rainforest to learn about the lush plants and beautiful animals, deforestation, and rainforest conservation in this fascinating nonfiction reader that features striking photographs and riveting facts.

Step 1

Using your inspiration photo, draw an outline of your rainforest animal. Use pencil so that it can be seen but easily covered up.

Step 2

Add some black paint to your glue bottle and stir. Carefully outline your animal with black glue.

Step 3

Set your drawing aside to dry. I put mine outside with a rock on top so it wouldn't blow away. You could use a hairdryer to speed up this process just be careful not to blow your glue too hard.

Step 4

Using your inspiration photo again and your oil pastels begin to add color to the appropriate areas. In this case my frogs eyes are black and red, and I added in bright green on his face, and legs.

Step 5

Look carefully at the colors. I see blue in the belly and chin. Yellow and orange at the tips of the feet. And more blue and purple in the middle of the legs. Use your finger to blend.

Step 6

Add in white along the belly and chin area. Blend the blue towards the center of the belly.

Step 7

Highlight the edges of the face with a lighter green (or mix green and white if you don't have a lighter color) I added a white highlight stripe on some of the legs as well.

Step 8

I colored my leave in orange and read so as to contrast with the green of the frog. You don't have to make your image exactly like your inspiration photo, it is only meant to be a guide!

Tiger Eyes Oil Pastel Tutorial

July 9, 2013 By Valerie Mcclintick 3 Comments

We are getting tons of use from our Crayola Oil Pastels.
I’ve purchased other pastel kits in the past, but I love the amount of crayon you get with this set. They are so much thicker and have lasted us much longer.

Plus they are nice for little hands.

Amazon currently has them for $3.88 and free shipping as an add on for Prime
I highly recommend them!
They are wonderful quality, and produce stunning results:

I know right?!

This is our latest project, Tiger Eyes!

I’ve posted the two part photo tutorial

Drawing your Tiger Eyes
Using Oil Pastel on Tiger Eyes

I’m guessing that this would be perfect for 6th and 7th graders,
or very enthusiastic elementary students.

The tiger is the national animal of India, and would also tie ie with our previous oil pastel tutorial of India’s national bird, the peacock.

Can you guess what country we’ll be studying this coming year?

Shabby Adventures

November 4, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 5 Comments

Hey.How are ya?

It’s been a while…

I know.

I’m sorry.

You see I recently bought one of these.

That’s where I’ve been.

Well, actually….this is where I’ve been:

Reading my newest book:The Handbuilt Home by Ana White.

And I’ve been pinning all sorts of things here.

I’ve really been very busy doing things.

Non-computer things.

It’s good for me I think?

To prove that I didn’t just ditch you,

that I was actually doing SOMETHING….

Here are some Recent Projects I’ve tackled
(with inspiration/tutorial links)

I heart Oregon HOME Sign
(Inspiration via The Vintage Lemon and Shanty 2 Chic)
(Painting on Wood Tutorial: My Wonderful Walls)

Wash Your Hands Printed Fabric Bathroom Frame
(Tutorial: My Repurposed Life)
(Graphic: 4 Men and 1 Lady)

Photo Collage
Frames were repurposed from garage sales or goodwill.
I did this in our mudroom bath,
the lighting is horrible, but it really helps
that tiny little room feel a bit more cheery.

Glass Knob Wreath Decoration
Scroll wood from Home Depot and
The rest is just a piece of walnut stained wood,
with a knob and a wreath….simple but pretty!

Printed Fabric Shabby Pillow
(Tutorial: My Repurposed Life)
(Graphic: Graphics Fairy)

Repainted my Mirror
(Inspiration Color via The House of Smiths)

Cedar Planter
(I need like ten more of these!)
(Ana White)

Gallery Shelf Ledges
(Ana White)

And more gallery shelf ledges….

The gallery shelves are simple and cheep. I love them!

Storage Crate
(Shanty 2 Chic)
This turned out HUGE and fits all of our floor pillows,
and even a couple of babies.

Fireside Bench
(Ana White)
Love this one! I still haven’t coated it with poly,
just enjoying the rustic look.

And finally my VERY FAVORITE project this month:

Framed Wall Maps
(Frame Tutorial via Shanty 2 Chic)
I cut my boards with my miter box and a hand saw, just like the tutorial above,
but I actually used this video tutorial from Kreg, for assembling the boards.
My frames were done in a few minutes.

The longest part was beating them up a bit and then waiting for the stain to dry.

Aren’t they wonderful?
Here’s what I used:

Boards: 1 x 3’s
Stain: Minwax Walnut
Maps: US and World (though I might replace with these antique looking ones)

Phew.

That was a lot of work!!

See, it wasn’t you.

It was just me being busy.

And believe me, I’m just getting started on my “list”

I am always finding new links for fun projects on Pinterest!
so if you’re starting to miss me, follow me over there too!

Sewing a Pillow

September 16, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 4 Comments

If you follow me on Pinterest you might have noticed my Pillow board.

I have been drooling over all sorts of amazing pillows,
quietly “planning” to do them….SOME DAY.

I was waiting for the perfect weekend to start sewing.
a weekend in which I had nothing else to do,
when the laudry is all folded, and the windows are clean,
the children are HAPPILY playing together on the carpet.

But as the weeks passed,
I slowly realized that the day would NEVER come.

So amid huge towers of laundry, fingerprint windows,
and bickering children I dropped everything, got out
my sewing machine and went to work.

I chose to tackle this neck roll pillow.
by DIYDesign.

It seemed most simple, she posted lots of photos and measurements,
and I already had the pillow forms.

Also, just a side note that this is a Stash Buster project!
There are small amounts of fabric required so it’s great for using up left over fabric,
or to clear out those remnants you picked up on impluse from Joanns.

Ahem.

I used some White Blossom Eyelet fabric left over from my curtains,
and the other white fabric is “who knows what” from the sale bin.

As embelishment I used cheepo lace, some twine, and some tan edging.

So want to see how they came out?

For some reason my first pillow came out a little tight.
On my second one I added another half inch to the length of the pattern as I seem to take liberty with my seam allowances.

Here is one next to my “store bought” pillows.

Not to SHABBY if I do say so myself!

My daughter was so impressed she gasped at how pretty they turned out.

(or perhaps in surprise that I was the one who sewed it. )

And the best thing about this pattern is that you can easily untie the sides
and change your pillow case whenever you like!

Freezer Paper Stencils

November 28, 2010 By Valerie Mcclintick 3 Comments

Oh man….

You are going to want to bookmark this site right here.

This has been my favorite website this month, as I get ready for baby….and baby cousin.

My latest crafty craze has been these fantastic freezer paper stencils. I’ve seen these all around the web, but I really love the tutorial I found here, because there were step by step photos, and a fantastic link to free stencils online.

Anyway, I’ve had this project “In the Works” for quite sometime. I’ve slowly been collecting cute clipart and images (from google image search) and this week I finally had a spare second to put it all together.

I’ll show you some pics of the process, but you’ll want to check out the above tutorial for all the details!

First I cut out my stencil: