Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Craft Papier Mâché Heart Shaped Ornaments

These papier mâché hearts are very light weight. Each torn piece of paper was applied meticulously by hand. Although it is difficult to see, I glued a tiny wire loop between the two humps of each heart shaped ornament so that I may add beaded hangers to these hearts when I am ready to set up my Valentine tree.
On the left, you can see the paper that I used to layer on top of my masked forms. The paper was imported from India; It's texture is quite soft and dense. This is ideal paper for mâché work.
Here you can see from left to right, the step-by-step process that I used when shaping and masking my hearts for our Valentine's Day tree.
The crushed paper hearts were masked with tape completely and then set
aside until I was ready to cover each heart with layers of
paper and Modge Podge.
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100 Victorian Scrap Resources

 

Large Online Victorian Scrap Collections:

Victorian Clip Art Collections Online:

Victorian Scrap From Journals:

Victorian Scrap from Flickr Photostream:

Victorian Pinterest Boards:
Victorian Scrap Collections from Picasa Web Albums:
Victorian Scrap Merchants and Dealers:

Victorian Reprints: Cards, Ornaments, Gifts, Scrap Etc...

Societies:
The John Grossman Collection of Antique Images  printed ephemera of visual culture from 1820 to 1920.
ephemerastudies.org at Louisiana Tech University

Samples and Articles About Victorian Print:

More Victorian Trade Card Links:

Research Victorian Subjects:

Curator, Randall Thropp talks about 
Victorian Christmas Artifacts.
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Thursday, December 19, 2013

The Santa Claus Fortune Teller Puzzle

(Warning: fortune teller's do not promote truth.)

      In the system of the astrologers, the horoscope was cast from the conjunction of the stars at birth, taken in connection with that zodiacal sign which ruled the month when life began. For the Christmas horoscope we use signs, familiarly associated with the season. 
To Read Your Destiny.
      Find the sign in the inner or black circle, that represents the month in which you were born. Select any letter in the space allotted to you and write it down. Count six letters to the right (not counting the one already set down) and write the sixth letter next to the one already written. Proceed in this manner until you have gone the round of the circle. Point off the letters thus obtained into words and by commencing at the proper place you will find they make a sentence.
      The first or inner circle of letters relates to LOVE; the second, FATE: and the third, BUSINESS; and the fourth or outside circle Santa Claus offers some Christmas advice.
The Twelve Signs of Birth.
If born in January, the month of the reindeer.
If born in February, the month of the sleigh.
If born in March, the month of the fireplace.
If born in April, the month of the Christmas tree.
If born in May, the month of the stocking.
If born in June, the month of the pudding.
If born in July, the month of the boar's head.
If born in August, the month of the mistletoe.
If born in September, the month of the holly.
If born in October, the month of the star.
If born in November, the month of the turkey.
If born in December, the month of the bells.
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"O Christ The Child"


O Christ The Child
Author Unknown

You little children in whose eyes
the undimmed light of heaven
glows,
Whose dreams are bright of para-
dise,
Whose thoughts are whiter than the
snows,
From holy lips and undefiled
Breathe your soft prayers like Christ
the Child.
And you whose thinning looks are
spent
With unreturning autumn's rime,
Whose forms, like wind worn trees,
are bent
Beneath the heavy storms of time.
Take Christ the Child to be your
guide
Past the dim shoal where shadows
hide.
Oh, saving hands; oh, thou that hears
An earthly mother's lullabies,
Who sharest all our doubts and fears,
Whose bosom trembles to our sighs,
Teach us thy gospel pure and mild.
Make us like thee, O Christ the Child!
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"The Partridge In A Pear Tree" Candy Cone

       I handcrafted this candy cone one Christmas for my oldest child. It is based upon the theme of the 12 days of Christmas. 
      I purchased a prefabricated half mold from a hobby store to press the intricately designed 3D flowers from Sculpey clay. The partridges were Styrofoam birds left over from a Christmas beading craft. 
      I frequently purchase discounted craft supplies after the Christmas holiday for use in some project that they were not originally intended. These supplies are sold for pennies on the dollar from hobby retailers after customers have no interest in them. 
      However, this does not mean that these items can not be upcycled to create something unique, beautiful or of sentimental value. "Usefulness" is in the eye of the beholder!
Far left, I lined the inside of the cone with gold tinsel. The handle is strung with both seed beads and faux pearl beads. Middle, the partridge is made from Syrofoam. Right, there are actually two partridges included on the cone to enhance the 3D effect.

Close up views of the details on the candy cone; these were created by combining 3D sculpted clay pieces with bright colored acrylic paints.
Four different views of the same candy cone or horn of plenty, "A Partridge In A Pear Tree."


"Ever wonder about that silly little Christmas Song. Find out why it was written and how it helped preserve the message."
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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Clip Art of Christmas Toys

A little girl's Christmas kittens get a surprise when the jack-in-the-box pops open!

A small boy opens his stocking to see what Santa has brought him.


Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.
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Monday, December 16, 2013

Craft An Ornament of The Baby Jesus in His Manger

Young children ages 6 and up can craft this simple ornament of the baby Jesus in a manger without help from
 an adult. If you'd like to help younger children make a similar version, it is probably best for adults to assemble
 some of the parts in advance.
Top 1. Assemble and glue together mini craft sticks for the manger,
2. Tie on and string the gold beads for the hanger,
3. Glue the Easter grass onto the manger,
4. The finished first part of the baby Jesus in a manger ornament
This little baby Jesus ornament is crafted with the following supplies:
  • mini craft sticks
  • white school glue
  • thread
  • gold beads
  • Baby Jesus printable (included below)
  • flesh colored construction paper
  • paper grass
  • brown markers or watercolor paints
  • soft colored pencil in pink for subtle cheek color
Instructions:
   For the first part of the ornament craft project students or the teacher, depending on the age of the former, needs to glue together a small manger using mini wooden craft sticks. In the first example (1.), I have shown three possible ways to assemble the manger. Glue the pieces together using white glue and let these mangers dry overnight. If you are working with very young children, I suggest assembling this part of the craft in advance for them. (ages 2-5)
   For the second step (2.), tie a thread around the back side of the manger and glue down the edge of the thread. Let this dry for a bit before stringing gold beads on to the thread. Be generous with the length of the gold hanger so that there will be plenty of room for the paper baby Jesus that will be pasted on to the manger later. After stringing the beads on to the thread tie the end to the opposite side of the manger. 
   Glue onto the front side of your ornament a bit of paper grass (3.). I used a natural color because I prefer it but you may wish to use a yellow or gold variety of Easter grass on your own version of the ornament.
   To finish the little manger (4.), students may then color the mini craft sticks with brown watercolors, markers etc... I chose to color my mangers with a fine tipped marker to imitate the grain of wood that one might find in a wooden trough.
      Open a Word Doc and swipe in the little baby printables. Alter the page settings so that you can fit multiple images onto one page before printing them out. Because I assemble so many Christmas craft kits for young children, I print and cut batches of babies out for students to color and glue in their manger ornaments.  By these means, a teacher can print 100 baby images on as little as six or seven sheets of 8 1/2 by 11 inch standard sized paper. (You will need to trim down standard sized construction paper in advance to printing.)
   I highlighted the cheeks and elbows of my baby Jesus with just a hint of blush color before pasting him onto the manger grass.
Print your little babies on many flesh colored papers. I used pale brown and mauve
colored construction papers for my samples, but you may use whatever colors you like.
You may even print these images on white paper and offer your young crafters
flesh toned markers instead.
The finished, assembled manger ornaments.
Printable baby Jesus, version 1.
Printable baby Jesus, version 2.
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