Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Paint a few snowflakes for the Christmas tree

This wooden flat snowflake will be painted with many greens and blues using acrylics.
   
Oh, there is a little artist
Who paints in the cold night hours
Pictures of wee, wee children,
Of wondrous trees and flowers.

The moon is the lamp he paints by,
His canvas the window-pane,
His brush is a frozen snowflake;
Jack Frost is the artist's name.

I chose to follow the contours of this snowflake using pinks and purples.

       Snowflakes don't need to be white only. You can paint them in any color or shade that you like to match your collections on the tree. I've included one in cool blues and greens here and the other in pinks and lavenders. Students may follow the outlines of each snowflake or draw an abstract web of shapes within shapes in order to create multiple opportunities within each snowflake for color.

These snowflakes are painted but they would also be interesting decorated
 using colored glitter to fill the spaces.


Paint a polka-dotted puppy for the Christmas tree

I purchased this wooden flat at my local hobby store.
I've drawn a few spots on his fur for painting.

       Not many young children receive purple, polka-dot puppies beneath the Christmas tree. But, you could realistically hang a few among the Christmas tree branches if you'd like. Folks who like to craft with these wooden flats at Christmas time are welcome to use my design here to apply to similar wooden flats, if they choose . . . to do so. This colorful house pet comes with a bone shaped tag on his silver collar and a mischievous expression.

Above is my finished interpretation of "how" to
paint this purple polka-dot puppy.

More About Dogs From Our Blogs:

Paint a peppermint striped kitty for the Christmas tree

Sample woodcut may be purchased from craft suppliers. I've drawn my own design here
to help folks "imagine" how to paint this peppermint cat for a Christmas tree.

       Sometimes it is hard to imagine just what a peppermint Christmas cat might look like on your own. So, I've included one of these unusual species here! You may copy my version or use it as a starting point to think of your own. This one has a cute heart charm hanging from her collar. She is a red, white, and pink striped tabby and her favorite thing to do is hang around the branches of a Christmas tree, of course.
The painted version of my peppermint cat.

Monday, August 8, 2022

Retro Hollow Egg Ornament Craft

The original vintage, diorama egg ornament from the 1970s.
Supply List:
  • Styro Foam egg
  • gold twine
  • straight pins (short)
  • wooden figure
  • acrylic paints: pinks, blues, whites, gold and flesh color
  • white fur
  • tiny white silk flowers
  • white school glue
  • wax paper
  • hot glue and hot glue gun
Step-by-Step Instructions:
  1. Hollow out your styrofoam egg just enough to give it room for the wooden figure. Try to keep the walls thick; use a metal spoon to carefully remove the unnecessary foam.
  2. Now carefully pin the gold twine about the backside of the egg. 
  3. You may add small amounts of white glue to help hold the twine in place. Let this dry thoroughly on top of wax paper.
  4. Paint the wooden angel figure as you like.
  5. Glue gold braid onto the angel's head.
  6. With hot glue line the interior of the egg with scrap white fur.
  7. Hot glue the angel figure inside and the tiny white silk flowers.
  8. Pin on a wire hanger to the top of the diorama egg ornament and decorate the tree.

Thursday, July 21, 2022

Print and Draw Candy Cones and Santa Claus

Vintage Christmas cut-outs by Barbara Hale.

       Kids can print and cut-out cute Vintage paper ornaments and paper cones to hold candy by Babara Hale.

I sniffed a jolly woodsy smell
As I came in today.
It was a great big Christmas tree,
I'll trim it right away.

 

Directions for Christmas Cut-outs:

  1. Click directly on the printable to download the largest possible size and print on a home computer.
  2. Paste the entire printable sheet on a piece of green or red paper.
  3. Cut out Santa Claus.
  4. Punch a hole in his cap where the white dot is.
  5. Tie a piece of red ribbon or string through the hole and hang on your Christmas tree.
  6. Cut out the flat designs.
  7. Paste the edge A-B along the dotted line on the tab B-C.
  8. Paste the edge E-F on E-D.
  9. Past G-H on H-I.
  10. Tie a string through holes punched in the candy cones and fill with popcorn or candy.

       Now that you've cut and pasted things for Christmas, try drawing this funny little Santa Claus as he walks across our page...

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 - draw a series of circles to lighten his steps and dress him as he goes!


Description of Coloring Page: Santa receives a present too, Christmas gifts, appreciative children, a boy and a girl surprise Santa
Santa, here's a surprise for you
'Cause we like giving presents too.
A gift for Santa on Christmas day
Proves turn-about is fair play!

        Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.
 
More Links to Santa Claus: