Eye Can Art: A Project with the Layered Wax Drawing Kit

On a lazy, damp Sunday with nothing to do,
a Budding Artists art kit is pulled out with a big Yahoo!
Not any old art on this soggy day
but an EYE CAN ART kit to chase the blues away.

So we opened the can and looked inside
to see what goodies our creativity could guide
Joy, oh bliss, in a small wood frame
"and a set of pastels to decorate it!", we exclaimed.




The girls set out with a vision in mind
their colours were brilliant, all combined
A landscape emerged, a tree I see
with flowers in a row, how pretty!




The last touches added,
and it was ready to go!
One last glimpse
before into the oven, it was stowed.

Just add beeswax

overtop

 

Watch the bubbles

til they stop!

Out it came
all hot, hot hot!


Till it cooled
and the wax did clot

One last task

Before we were through

To decorate on top

and add more colours anew!

My vampire girl

was ever so pleased

with her Eye Can Kit

and the artwork she conceived

~

Big thanks to Maria & Budding Artists

for the fun Layered Wax Drawing Kit 

that filled our Sunday afternoon

with some creative fun!

It was as easy as...

draw, melt, cool, colour a little more

and hang on the wall to enjoy!

Find more creative art projects online 

or in one of the new Budding Artists workshops

as highlighted below;

What Time Is It?

What Time Is It? Craft Time!

Hold your horses and wrap your mind around this fantastic art project that you can do with your kids - a Hand-Designed Photo Frame Clock. In fact, it can be an art project that will carry you over 14 days! One day for each picture that corresponds with a number on the clock, another for painting your frames and the last day for assembly. Got you covered for two weeks of creativity with the kiddos here! The excitement and pride you all will have as the final project gets attached to the wall, will be well worth the effort as well. So go ahead and get crafty!

Now, while I cannot lay claim for the original idea (found this awesome clock on the ohdeehdoh.com website), I think that with a little finagling this would be a fun and functional art project to do with your own kids. So what do you need for this unique craft idea? It depends upon how much work you want to put into it. You could always pick up pre-painted frames and just add artwork, but if you want to take this project one step further (like we do!), you could pick up some plain frames and paint them in hues of your own choosing. You can mix and match frame shapes and sizes or keep them all a uniform size. Its all up to you! So, let's see what we require for today craft;

HAND-DESIGNED PHOTO FRAME CLOCK

ITEMS YOU WILL NEED:

• 12 unfinished photo frames
• Acrylic paint (various colours) 
• clear coat
• paint brushes, sponges and other applicators (various sizes to give different depth/style per frame)
• 12 pieces of paper to create 12 wonderful & unique backdrops for your clock faces
• 1 clock mechanism 
• nails
• hammer
• level
• pencil
 

DIRECTIONS:

Day 1- Day 12:

• Break out the paint, pencils and pastels, its time to get crafty! Set your child up at the easel to create a masterpiece every day. Experiment with different colours, a variety of applicators (sponges, paint brushes, apples, potatoes, leaves, etc.), and whatever else you think might work for the artwork you want to highlight. Introduce other mediums like chalk, crayons or pencil crayons too! You are only limited by your imagination!

Day 13:

• Now that your masterpieces are complete, it is time to decorate the frames. I suggest that you save the frames for last, as this way you can colour coordinate your frames to the pictures that are going to go in them. Open up the acrylic paints and start designing your frames! Make sure the frames are well coated, so that their colour lasts.

• Additionally, you can clear coat the frames to ensure that the frame's vibrancy remains intact for years to come. This is not absolutely essential, but it will give longevity to this special piece. Leave the frames to dry overnight to ensure that no tackiness remains before you hang your frame clock the next day.

Day 14: 

• Ensure that your frames and artwork are all completely dry before proceeding with the last step to install your clock. Remove the back from your frames and insert the artwork into them. Now take a look at your framed pictures and decide what order you want to put them in for your clock face. Hint: A dry run will help to prevent rearranging your pieces after the nails have been hammered in, if you have frames of varying sizes. With the help of a pencil and your level, mark on the wall where your pictures will be hung, marking sure to note the centre for the clock mechanism as well. Carefully hang your pictures and put the clock mechanism in place. 

Voila! You know have your very own hand-designed photo frame clock, as designed by your children. It will be an eye-catching conversation piece for years to come. You can even have your children create new artwork for the clock in the future, if you want to update the look of it.