Salt dough magnets and plaques (Part 3)

In this third lesson , we will finish our plaques and magnets . As a teacher , art docent or mother , you have baked your  students art projects and it is now time for the finishing touches .

Materials needed:   * Old newspapers to cover the desks

                               * paintbrushes of different thickness

                               * old rags or paper towel to wipe your paintbrushes

                               * plastic cups (for water)

                               * acrylics paints of different colors

                               * gloss and matte varnishes

                               * paper plates (for acrylic paints)

                               * round magnets

                               * super glue

                               * thin colorful ribbons

Project :  (1) Each student will get their magnets and their plaque back .

               (2) Each student should get a little bit of acrylic paints of different colors . They should paint their magnets and their plaque . This stage should not take them very long .

               (3) Let it dry for at least 24 hours .

               (4) The teacher or art docent can apply some varnish on all the pieces .

               (5) Using the super glue , glue a round magnet on the back of the small art pieces to make the magnets . Let it dry !

               (6) Attach a beautiful ribbon to each plaque .

Examples : Here are the finished pieces I showed you last week :

 

Glass of lemonade magnet

 

Apple on a book magnet

 

Cactus magnet

 

Little mermaid plaque

And here are more beautiful pieces :

 

A head magnet

 

A green head magnet

 

An army shark magnet

 

A kid plaque

 

An Arizona landscape plaque

Here it is . This project is now done ! I certainly hope that you and your students had a lot of fun creating your very own magnets and plaques . Have a wonderful weekend :)

Salt dough magnets and plaque (Part 2)

In this second part of the lesson , we will make some magnets and a plaque . This is one of the most exciting process in this project .

Materials needed:
                               * Some salt dough we made last week  (give each student a generous amount so he/she will be able to make two magnets and one plaque)

                               * A rolling pin

                               * Some plastic knives (to cut the dough neatly)

                               * Some toothpicks (to make designs on the dough)
   
                               * Some plastic straws

                               * Small plastic cups for water

                               * Some plastic picture frames 5" X 8" (to measure the plaque )

                               * Wax paper

                               * You may want to have some flour handy , in case things get too sticky .

Project :
              Start by covering each desk with wax paper .

              (1) Each students will start by kneading the dough a little bit to get rid of the air bubbles .

              (2) Each student will then roll the dough flat with the rolling pin . He/she will use the plastic picture frame to measure the size of the plate . With a plastic knife he/she will cut around the frame . We now have the base of our plaque .

              (3) Use a plastic straw to make two holes at the top of the plaque (so we will be able to put a ribbon through later on , to hang the plaque) .

             (4) Now each student can decorate their plaque the way they want to . They can add flowers , ice cream , make a cat or a dog , or simply make a landscape . It is really up to their imagination ! When they add additional pieces of dough on the plaque , they should "glue" it by adding a little bit of water .

             (5) The student can add details to their design , by using toothpicks , a plastic knife ,a straw , etc.

             (6) Once the student is done with the plaque , he/she should set it aside on his/her desk .

             (7) With the extra dough that a student has , he/she can now make a couple of magnets , once again , simply ,using their imagination . They should just use the dough as they would using play dough . They can once again add details by using toothpicks , a plastic knife or a straw .

             (8) After the student is done , they should set the magnets aside on the wax paper .

Teacher's job :
Once every students are done with their salt dough art , it will be the teacher or art docent's job to bake every single piece . BE AWARE ! It will take some time . Use the oven at 350 F . The magnets could take about 2 hours (depending on their sizes ) and the plaques about 4 hours . Make sure each piece is completely dry on BOTH sides !!!!!!!!

Examples: Here are some examples of magnets and one plaque after they were baked .

 

A glass of refreshing lemonade . Look how the lines on the lemon and on the straw were added by using a plastic knife .

 

An apple on a book .

 

A cactus . This time the details were added with a toothpick .

 

A little mermaid . The mermaid , the flowers and the algae were all modeled separately and then glued onto the plaque by using water . As you can noticed , there is already a little bit of paint on this item , which bring us to our lesson next week  ,where I will explain how to paint and varnish the items . We will also add all the other finishing touches . 

Salt Dough Part 1

With the cold weather , I thought it would be a good idea to make some crafts with salt dough . I will divide this tutorial in 3 parts :

                                 (1) Salt dough recipe

                                 (2) How to make a plaque and magnets

                                 (3) Painting and varnishing your items .

Part 1 : Salt Dough Recipe 

I did this project with second graders . But once again , it can be adapted for any grade .

My mom knows how much I love to create things , so a few years back she sent me a book on how to make salted dough projects . The book was a French translation of "Salt Dough" written by Cheryl Owen . The book contains a lot of amazing creations and is very inspiring . I love her salt dough recipe and that is the recipe I use whenever I want to create something out of salt dough .

Here is the recipe :

                               2 cups of flour

                               1 cup of salt 

                               1 cup of water 

You need to mix the flour and salt in a big mixing bowl . Then you add the water , little by little until your dough becomes smooth and firm . 

Be careful , if you add too much water , your dough will be extremely sticky and it will be hard to do anything with it . If you add too much flour , some cracks will then appear in your creations after you baked them .

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it for at least ten minutes . By doing so you will eliminate the air bubbles . You may used the dough immediately , but it is better to let it rest about 30 minutes in a closed container in your refrigerator . 

And it is done . As a teacher or an art docent , you may choose to make the dough yourself , in advance . If you are a mom and doing this with your kids at home , you may want to have them  help  you out .

Cat in papier mâché , part 3

Part 3 .
Painting your cat .

Material needed :
* your cat in papier mâché
* gesso (or white acrylic paint)
* HB pencil
* acrylic paints (as many colors as possible )
* old newspaper (to cover the tables)
* paintbrushes of different thickness
* small cups of water (to rinse the paintbrushes)
* rags or paper towels (to wipe out paintbrushes )
* small plastic plates (one per student) to put a small amount of acrylic paints of different colors
* Varnish (to protect the paint from chipping off )

Activity :
(1) Each student should take their cat , now entirely covered with newspaper ...

and apply a couple of coats of gesso (or white acrylic paint). You should plan that one day ahead of the painting of the cat itself, so it has plenty of time to dry . If you are an art docent and are limited by time like I was (I only had one hour a month !) , you could go to school and apply the gesso on all the cats yourself . It will save you some time and ensure that all the students will have enough time to paint their cat entirely .

(2) Each student now has a "white" cat . They can take an HB pencil and draw the outlines of their cat's eyes , nose , a particular design , etc.

(3) Now they can choose the colors they want to paint their cat with and put a small amount of each color in a small plastic (or paper) plate . Ideally it would be a good idea to put two coats of paint , but again if time is limited , one coat of paint will do . Each student should have a small cup filled with water to rinse their paintbrush , and a rag to wipe it out .

Here is the finished cat ...

Once the paint is dry , don't forgot to apply some varnish to protect the cat . (It will prevent the paint to chip off too easily .) I would suggest that you do day the day after the painting .

Other examples of cats :

When I did this project with these 5th graders , the teacher had a classroom filled with "Garfield"... so we made some "Garfield" cats...Here is an example from one of the students ...

Examples of cats with random designs...

A black cat. Perfect for...Halloween ...

I hope you and your students or children had fun =0)

Cat in papier maché , part 2

Part 2 :

How to make the cat itself .

In part one , I explained to you how to make some papier mâché paste . I gave you some alternative recipes as well. Now we are all ready to start the "real" lesson : the students will learn to make a cat in papier mâché . How exciting ! They will love it !!!

Material needed : Here is what you will need :
* some clean empty plastic bottles ( like Gatorade , soda or juice bottle )
* some uncooked rice
* some dry beans
* a funnel
* a plastic spoon
* some labels (one for each student)
* sharpies
* some aluminum foil
* cardboard (from old cereal or cookie boxes)
* a pencil
* scissors
* masking tape
* newspaper (that you will have collected from the students )
* papier mâché paste (we made in part 1)
Activity :
(1) Each student will fill the bottle with some rice (using a funnel and a plastic spoon). They will add a little bit of dry beans and then mix .(The rice and the beans will put some weight in the bottle , which will prevent it to tip later on .) Close the bottle .



(2) Have the students write their name on a label with a sharpie . Then have them glue the label at the bottom of their bottle . (It will make the identification of each cat easier after they dry !)



(3) Next ask each student to make a ball with some aluminum foil .

They should cover it with about half a page of a newspaper ...



and secure it with some masking tape at the top of the bottle . This will be the head of their cat .


(4) To make the tail , each student will need another piece of aluminum foil . This time they will roll it as if they were making a snake with play dough ...

They should cover it with a newspaper page as well and secure it with masking tape ...


And attach it to the base of the bottle with masking tape as shown .



(5) For the ears , the students will simply draw two triangles on a piece of cardboard ...

cut them with their scissors ...



and attach those two triangles to the head with masking tape . The ears can be a little bit tricky to secure and some students may need your help with it .



(6) Each students will then gather a few (2 to 4) pages of newspaper and and tear it up in pieces of all sizes and lengths (long , short , wide , narrow).



(7) The students are now ready to dip their strips of paper , one at a time , in the papier mâché paste .(Each student should be provided with a small paper bowl containing some papier mâché paste .)



After dipping the strip in the papier mâché paste , they should directly adhere the strip to the bottle and smooth it with their fingers . They should start at the bottom and work their way to the top , go over the head , the ears and of course the tail . Once they are done , they should go over a second time , so they will have two coats of papier mâché .




Now they will have to let it dry...until next lesson ...