Happy Back to School! Hope you’ve had a wonderful time slowing down, celebrating, and soaking up summertime under the sun and stars!
Our studio artists recently showcased ~ A CARNIVAL CIRCUS IN COLORFUL CHAOS! This was our final + full-week workshop of the splendid summer! It was F-U-N and completely filled with construction, creativity, children, color, creatures, cheer, childhood and of course, a teeny-tiny bit of chaos! Take a peek at this delightful process combining circus + carnival + celebration + childhood + construction + collaboration + community + color! We were inspired by Up Warsaw’s beautiful + handmade furniture and wooden circus tents @upwarsaw on Instagram! Be sure to tag @handmakery on Instagram if you give this process-art project a GO! Take a peek below!
Early online enrollment is highly encouraged as seating is limited! Start a new school year making + creating + connecting in a colorful community focused on a creative + collaborative childhood!
Glues – white glue, cool temp glue gun + glue and hot glue gun + glue {adult use}
Paper straws
Pipe cleaners
String + yarn + wire
Wood parts and pieces {assortment}
Wooden peg dolls
Poster board
Sparkle foam
Fabric
Paper and markers for signs + flags + garland
Embellishments- sticker stars, pom poms, and more!
A SIMPLE PROCESS FOR ~ CARNIVAL CIRCUS IN COLORFUL CHAOS:
BUILD + CONSTRUCT
ONE Construct in pairs using 4 – 12″ dowels, masking tape, duct tape, and a 12 x 12″ heavy-weight box with a separate lid, to create an initial structure for the circus tent. All four tent poles should angle towards the center, to connect together at the center point of the tent.
TWO Use light-weight cardboard, ex. cereal boxes, to draw, cut, and create the curtain elements on the upper front and front sides of the tent. The top curtain can be sketched scalloped and cut. Tape all three cardboard pieces onto the box so they’re secure and frame the stage.
THREE Coat the above structure with newspaper and paper-mâché mixture. Dry overnight.
FOUR Use the box lid as the circus stage. Place the dry circus tent onto the stage. Line up the back of stage and box lid so they’re flush. Tape in place using duct tape strips. Add a round cardboard cutout on top and center on the stage. Mark where the circle overlaps the box sides with a pencil. Cut this overlap so the stage sides are squared off and the front only rounds.
FIVE Paper-mâché connection points so the tent and stage become strong and one unit. Paper-mâché all four sides of the upper tent so the dowels are enclosed. Dry overnight.
PAINT + EMBELLISH
SIX Paint the entire dry tent and stage unit white using acrylic paint to get a solid covering on top of the newspaper. Dry overnight. Use a ruler to draw pencil lines from the center tip of the tent down to each curtain scallop. This will create the red and white divisions for the tent stripes. Mark the red stripes with a light “x” so children know which sections to paint red and which sections to keep white. Use red acrylic paint with a small brush for tent stripes. Encourage young artists to take their time and travel slow to get crisp + clean lines.
SEVEN Move into dreaming up, sketching, and constructing both carnival and circus creatures using clay. We used an airdry clay to create 3D figures. Dry figures before painting using acrylic paint. Children painted their animals solid before moving into smaller details.
EIGHT Once your circus tent is fully painted and dry, move into stage construction. We precut silver sparkle foam for the stage base and hot glued this piece on top of the spark-tacular stage. Cut a piece of black poster board to bend and set into the stage background. Tape in place. Sticker stars can be added to the black poster board for sparkle + shine + a little stage magic! Children used cool temp glue guns to create their stage structures using patterned paper straws, painted wood pieces, yarn, string, fabric, and more! Precut strips of striped fabric were attached by artists using cool glue around the stage for added color, texture, and stage-like appeal!
NINE Painted people (aka wooden peg dolls) and creatures were added to the stage to complete the ~ CARNIVAL CIRCUS IN COLORFUL CHAOS! Artist amazed and awed as they created tightropes, trapezes, lyras, acrobats, magicians, imaginary animals, and more! These ringmasters also made the most detailed signs to sell tickets, announce the event schedules, direct guests to tasty cotton candy, popcorn, and candy stands! The imagination and creativity of these artists… truly over-the-top bright + beaming + brilliant!
TEN We added face paint, carnival hats, and popcorn to enhance the full-circus experience for our community art show celebration!
Celebrate childhood + creativity + color + community by creating and collaborating!
My artful friend, Bar Rucci, created an incredible DIY ~ Circus Tents Made By Kids (photo above) on her lovely ~ Art Bar Blog and over on Handmade Charlotte for another fantastic way to bring a circus experience into any creative environment! You’ll definitely want to take a peek at this project and ALL her gorgeous goodness by following her @artbarblog on Instagram or visiting her on Art Bar Blog!
Tag us @handmakery with your creations on Instagram! Follow our blog for more inspiring process-based art projects! As always, thank you for following our artful adventure on Main Street in the heART of the Carbondale Creative District! Send us a note anytime! We’d love to hear what you’re thinking, dreaming, and envisioning! Much love and happiness creating in this creative + colorful world, filled with collaboration + connection + community + arts & crafting! Happy School Year! Ami
Join us! Today we’re celebrating my dear friend, Barbara Rucci of Art Bar Blog, and her #1 New Release, Art Workshop for Children: How to Foster Original Thinking with more than 25 Process Art Experiences!Beyond excited to highlight two inspired projects from this book that we themed under an Art Bar Dessert Party: Cakes + Doughnuts with young artists in our own studio!Here’s a creative clip to give you an idea, just how beautiful Bar’s new book is for creating a creative childhood. To get the inside scoop, juicy details, chance to meet the maker and all her magic, dive in here!
Barbara invited me to join her book blog tour that will feature 26+ amazing kid + art bloggers. Over the summer I had the honor to preview and endorse Bar’s new book, Art Workshop for Children. I was on a three day camping trip, and basically couldn’t put this incredible book down. After returning, completely inspired, I preordered it on Amazon and spent all fall anxiously awaiting its arrival! When my book arrived on October 15, it felt amazing to finally have it in my hands. It’s truly a gem that will shine in our studio for years to come. Beyond amazed at all the 25+ creative workshops, simple in both setup and supplies! Bar basically delivers a rich, open-ended, studio experience, keyed into unleashing a child’s creativity. Bar unfolds an easy to follow, beautifully visual layout, that guides one towards expressive exploration and artistic discovery in a studio, classroom, or home.
Warm weather brings childhood memories of an ice cream truck sounding and strolling neighborhood streets. In our recent workshop ~ BEEP BEEP! SWEET TREATS, artists created ~ Ice Cream Truck Sculptures! Love that we still have a few days to celebrate and soak up summer! The workshop week was spectacular and our mini makers were beaming to exhibit their one-of-a-kind creations. Along with an ice cream truck, each artist also created a mini picnic table and handmade sweet treats for imaginative + interactive play! Turn it up and take a peek at our short + sweet clip to an ice cream truck melody, highlighting the wondrous week!
You may have seen our Collaged Ice Cream Cones created with children in our outdoor art studio for a recent downtown event. My friend Bar Rucci, over at Art Bar Blog was a huge inspiration in creating these paper sprinkled + cherry topped cones. Take a look at her fantastic process creating Paper Mache Ice Cream Sundaes and Cardboard Ice Cream Cones! Here’s a little secret, Barbara has a beyond inspiring book coming out this fall which I’ve had the opportunity to preview (cover to cover) and preorder ~ Art Workshop for Children: How to Foster Original Thinking with more than 25 Process Art Experiences. All I can say is reserve your copy today, it’s truly one of the BEST BOOKS for creating with children that’s ever hit the printing press. Personally promise it will be a studio go-to and gem that you’ll open again and again!
On a side note, Handmade Charlotte just shared the cutest + tiniest + tastiest treat, Gingerbread Ice Cream Trucks! Maybe you’ve also seen Hello Wonderful’s DIY Pretend Play Ice Cream Cones using plaster? Just a wee bit in love with both ideas!
Enrollment is currently underway and filling quickly for our 2016/17 School Year {mixed-media + hands-on} Art Workshops. Follow our artful adventure on Instagram and Facebook, would absolutely love to connect, collaborate, and create community through children + creativity!
On First Friday, we celebrated our fourth yearmaking and creating at the annual Family Block Party in downtown Carbondale, Colorado! This year we were inspired to paint and embellish ice cream cones, as we’re heading into an ice cream theme for our upcoming workshop: BEEP BEEP! SWEET TREATS! This workshop will be focusing on retro ice cream truck sculptures, sweet treats, and more! There are just a few spaces if you’d like to join in! Here’s a peek at our upcoming summer + school year {hands on + mixed media} art workshops for Modish Mini Makers! My magical + mama + maker-friend, Bar over at Art Bar Blog, created an amazing DIY~ Cardboard Ice Cream Cones, which inspired our paper ice creams for this downtown event! Can you believe in just four hours, young artists created over 115 of these lovely ice cream cones as take-home treasures! The evening was like running our own ice cream parlor as it buzzed with sweetness! Join us over on our Instagram for more daily inspiration!
As the ice cream cones were drying, each unique piece created such a colorful + eye-catching + delicious backdrop!
You can take a peek below at our stations and setup within our outdoor art studio, but head on over to Art Bar Blog for the supplies and process on making your own Cardboard Ice Cream Cone, it’s truly a happy place! The possibilities are endless! Art Bar is a must-follow + favorite + colorful-creative on Instagram, stop by her collection and say H-E-L-L-O! You’ll find so much clever-colorful-crafty-creativeness!