This can be a quick journal project for kids to record some of their favorite memories from last year, or write hopes and wishes for the new...
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Homemade Holiday Gift Box
I admit I get an urge to make more crafty things this time of year. But when I am looking for a good gift project, I tend to end up more in ...
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Free Draw a Winter Town Download
This time of year it’s easy to add a little winter flair to architecture drawing. I love vintage features found on old buildings, so I’ve ma...
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How to Draw Rudolf the Reindeer
Here’s a follow-up to my Santa drawing from a few days ago. I used a grocery bag again and made this drawing that was inspired by some clip ...
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How To Draw a Santa Stamp
I had really good results with this Santa drawing today. Any colored paper works, but my favorite is just a swatch of a brown grocery bag fo...
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How to Draw a Giraffe
I tried out this giraffe drawing project today in my afterschool class. Just when I thought that maybe it was a bit too difficult for my you...
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DragonArt Evolution Book Giveaway
And the DragonArt Book Giveaway Winner is. . . Janet who wrote... I teach in a depressed urban district and my students love “how to draw ...
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Draw a Christmas Ornament Card
I made this Christmas ornament drawing using a set of fine tip markers. If you draw the edges of a shape lightly in pencil, fill in the insi...
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Cut & Tear Candle Card
This is a very simple paper project that has been my holiday staple for kinder classes for many years. Just change the colors to blue and go...
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First Printmaking Project
I learned in my afterschool printmaking class, once again, that keeping things simple really helps to introduce young students to a new proc...
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Tinted Christmas Tree Painting
This picture looks best with just white crayon lines (no pencil) so my lesson plan calls for tracing cut-out shapes instead of drawing them....
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FREE New Year's Card Coloring Download
I’ve used the illuminated letters at clipartETC.com to create a template for a New Year’s card. Click here to download your free pdf file....
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Tissue Paper Christmas Tree
I’ve seen some really beautiful decorations made from just clear contact paper and tissue paper. 1. Cut two matching rectangles...
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Gingerbread Man Drawing
My graphic design days taught me that simple shapes take on much more interest when cropped or positioned in unusual ways. This gingerbread ...
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“Stained Glass” Holiday Candles
I’ve found that a candle theme works well for the holidays as so many religions celebrate with them. This is simply drawing candles and th...
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Monoprint Holiday Stars
My afterschool printmaking class last week learned how to make simple monoprints. I found that given the diversity of students (and the you...
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Giant Paper Mache Nutcracker, Part 2
My paper mache Nutcracker is now ready to be covered with a layer of white paper towels. The outlined figures represent 4 ft. tall students,...
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Giant Paper Mache Nutcracker, Part 1
I had often thought that my collected juice cartons could make a really cool giant paper mache figure, so with my Nutcracker theme going on ...
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Gingerbread “Cookie” Painting
This is a good way to turn ugly brown construction paper into something pretty cute. The white tempera paint looks a lot like real frosting,...
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Nutcracker: Crayon with Texture Rubbing
Here is the most budget conscious version of my Nutcracker project , using just good old-fashioned crayons on white paper. I added a twist o...
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Giant Paper Mache Nutcracker, Part 3 and 4
Last week my giant nutcracker project was completed, just in the nick of time for the school’s holiday show. White paper towels were paper ...
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Nutcracker: Colored Pencil on Black Paper
Here is a sample of my Nutcracker project using metallic marker and colored pencils on black construction paper. I used black construction ...
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Nutcracker: Watercolor Painting
I like to have students create one really special piece of art for the holidays, and I remember having good results with this nutcracker dra...
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Nutcracker: Oil Pastel on Black Paper
This is a breakdown of my Nutcracker drawing project, this time using oil pastels on black construction paper. I tried the steps shown in...
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Klutz Craft Books Giveaway
My friends at Klutz are sponsoring a great giveaway – an assortment of craft books plus a $25 gift certificate, all valued at over $100, for...
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Homemade Christmas Card
There’s nothing like a homemade holiday card. I tried this method to make a quick “quilted” card that didn’t actually call for any sewing....
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How to Draw Thanksgiving Pumpkins
Students can learn how to make circles look like spheres when they practice drawing pumpkins. I’ve broken my drawing into steps to show how ...
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Abstract Snowman Card
I needed a simple and quick card project, and was inspired by some stock snowman art. After deliberating on all my options, I settled on usi...
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Stained Glass Hanukkah Menorah Mural
This year's Hanukkah celebration, the Festival of Lights, begins on Dec. 1st. My Hanukkah Menorah Mural consists of a 30 pages and measu...
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Last-Minute Thanksgiving Day Card
This my gift to all you super-busy creative types who still want to make a homemade Thanksgiving Day card, but are flat running out of time....
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Turkeys from Brentwood, CA
Volunteer art docent Tricia, from Brentwood, CA sent these beautiful turkeys painted by 4th graders. Based on my "One More Turkey Drawi...
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Turkey “Hand” Print
The idea of turning a hand into a turkey has been around for awhile. Here’s a twist using a craft foam hand and acrylic paint to make a simp...
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Burlap Weaving Bookmarks
Weaving lessons can come in many forms, the simplest being with just plain paper. My preference though is using actual fabric, and burlap ha...
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How to Draw a Turkey
I found this turkey shape in a stock art illustration, and I think it works well for a basic turkey drawing lesson. It also uses radial symm...
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Paper Mache Pumpkins from Barcelona
One of my favorite blog finds has been “ Fem Manuals ” from Barcelona, Spain. This teacher always seems to have amazing and unique projects....
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Warhol Hand Prints
I’ve started a new afterschool print class, and this Warhol hand print turned out pretty well, for even my young kinders. The watercolor bac...
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Kinder Watercolor Resist Snowman
This is another kinder art + book match that I feel is about as good as you can get. “The Biggest, Best Snowman” by Margery Cuyler not only...
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Turkey Pinch Pot
I found this pinch pot in Arts & Activities magazine and it's a great project for 1st graders on up. 1. Give each student a lump of ...
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Creativity for Kids Giveaway
And the Creativity for Kids Giveaway winners are. . . Briana who wrote... My little girls would love either one of these! and katiebird who ...
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36 Strathmore Art Journal Kits Giveaway!
I recently tried out a great new art journal, the Art Journal Kit made by Strathmore® and designed by Artterro® . They've teamed up to ...
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Strathmore Journal Kits Giveaway Winner!
The winner of the 36 pack of Strathmore Art Journal Kits Giveaway is... Samantha B. from Somerville, MA Congratulations Samantha, I hope yo...
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Student Art from Minnesota
Last week I received this wonderful photo from a 4th grade class in Royalton, Minnesota. Their teacher, Erin, had tried out my Picasso Paper...
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Day of the Dead Skull Drawing
Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and Latin American on Nov. 1st and 2nd. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and fr...
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A Positively Negative Pumpkin
I tried this with 2nd and 4th graders, and they both seemed to enjoy the puzzle aspect of making a whole pumpkin from cutting out just a hal...
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Halloween Monster Gloves
OK, so maybe this is more craft than art, but Halloween can be a great time to challenge your creative muscles. And if I could inspire even ...
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Bone Letters
You could make this a lesson about anatomy and what the different kinds of bones in your body look like – or you could just make some creepy...
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Black Cat with Glowing Eyes
These glowing cat eyes are made from blending a few layers of pencil crayons. White on the bottom, then yellow, and for those interested in ...
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Halloween Pasta Skeleton
A fun way to teach students how to apply basic anatomy to art is by creating skeletons from pasta. 1. To make a sturdy pallet, the students ...
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Jack-O-Lantern Painting in the Round
Most kinders have trouble drawing large free-hand circles on rectangular paper. For this project, inspired by a window decoration I recently...
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