painting rocks and making rainbows

I have been a little on the sick side, so we canceled art group this week. But, I still wanted to do something fun and artsy with the kiddos.

I am working on a little face lift for our nature table (fun stuff to share soon - I hope). Here are a couple projects we did to add to our new nature table space.

We have been seeing alot of rainbows lately because of all the rain we are getting.

So, I thought it would be fun to make some stained glass rainbows as a backdrop to the nature table. I've had quite a few people ask me how we do this so I am going to give more detailed instructions here.

Supplies:

* tissue paper in pretty colors
* construction paper (black works great, but any color is fine)
* clear contact paper
* glue
* scissors

What to Do:

* First off, decide on the shape you want to do. Keep it simple. We have done flowers, stars, moons, houses, the sun, houses.

* Draw out your shape on the construction paper and cut out two identical pieces. You have to think about it like stained glass, leaving a solid outline all around and openings where the color will show through.

* Cut a piece of contact paper a little bigger than the shape you are making. Peel off the back and stick one of the cutouts to the paper.


* Tear up small pieces of tissue paper and fill in the holes with whatever colors you like. You can also use scissors and just cut one big piece that will fill in each individual hole. I just like the textured look of overlapping pieces.


* Once everything is filled in, dab a little glue all around the outline and stick the second piece on top. This has your stained glass look nice from both sides.


* Cut a second sheet of contact paper and stick it sticky side down on top of everything. Use your hand to rub out all the bubbles and smooth it out.


* Cut close to the outer edge of your shape. Hang up and enjoy!


Here is the rainbow that Enrique did, mostly all by himself. He worked very seriously on this and was so cute, "I don't need ANY help, Mama!"


This is one of most favorite projects and is a great way to bring more color into the house. I loved that E got so into it this time.

Now onto some painted rocks....

We collected a few rocks from the yard and sat outside to make them pretty.




Anabel got really messy. She is LOVING painting these days!
Aren't they pretty? We are doing some paper mache bowls in the next few weeks with the art group and I think they will make a nice holding dish for these.