8 minute read
23 Art Attack - Get crafty with these arty activities
Local illustrator, artist and all round creative guru Suzie Brown has shared some of her favourite lockdown creations for for you and your family to enjoy making this summer. Enjoy! Art Attack
Jasmine Bath Bombs
Advertisement
90g Bicarbonate of Soda - 30g Citric Acid (This can be purchased online) - Essential Oil (Jasmine, Lavender or your choice) - Food Colouring, Rose Petals, Lavender Flowers or Similar - Water Equipment: Bowl, Spatula, Spray Bottle, Silicone Moulds, Tissue Paper (optional but lovely for presentation as a gift!)
First clean and remove sticky labels from your glass jar and dry it. Choose your colour theme and cut some tissue paper shapes to apply to the outer surface of the jar with glue. If you don’t have tissue paper you may like to use drawings you or your children have made. You could also use Sharpie or craft marker pens that work on glass. Black paper cut in silhouettes of a theme you like also look effective! Brush an even layer of glue to the outer surface of your jar and start to lay the paper shapes flat on the surface! If they overlap this is fine, you just add to the lovely colour selection available to enjoy once your project is complete! Leave to dry! Once dry – measure the wire around your jar and enough wire to form a handle you will be adding beads to, plus enough to twist a finish at the end of the rim and the end of the handle so the beads and wire don’t fall off! Add on a border of glitter or perhaps inside if you choose.
Glass Jar - Tissue Paper - PVA/water based craft glue - Glue Brush - Paper Scissors - Wire 50cms approximately - Pliers Beads - Jewels/Bio glitter (optional) - battery operated night lights
Measure out in a bowl the Bicarbonate of Soda and Citric Acid, add a couple of drops of food colouring and essential oil, rose petals, dried lavender flowers or other petals if available. Stir the mixture well to break down the oil and food colouring and integrate it with the soda and citric acid, you may like to use the back of the spatula for this…keep going until it looks spread fairly evenly. The Bicarbonate of Soda and Citric Acid want to react with water and fizz, so by adding a fine mist of water a little at a time and stirring the mixture, you can combine the ingredients to form a sticky dough that holds together enough to add to the silicone moulds. The silicone moulds work effectively to release the bath bombs once they have set, 45 minutes later. Wrapping the bath bombs in tissue helps to protect them!
DIY Kaleidoscopes
Kitchen Roll Tube, Mirrored Card or use aluminium foil backed on card - Scissors - Three discs the same size as the circumference of your tube, 2 x Transparent, 1 x Semi Transparent 5cms diameter approximately! (you could use baking or tracing paper) Measure your roll first as diameters may differ. - Transpaernt Beads and Sequins Black sugar paper or opaque card to make a circle for the view finder - Tape/Sellotape - Ruler
Have fun decorating your roll with paper and glue or paint or pens! Cut a piece of mirrored card 21.5cm long and 13.5cms wide, score it along the width twice at 4.5cms, tape to together to form the prism. Insert the mirrored card or foil backed card in to the roll. You will have a gap at one end to add the clear plastic disc. Add your beads and sequins on top of the clear plastic disc in the roll – you do not want too many and you do not want too little – try out assembling the semi transparent lid on top and see how it looks turning it in your hand as if complete! Attach the semi transparent disc and second clear plastic disc on top to seal the bead end of your Kaleidoscope, you can do this with tape! Cut a circle of black sugar paper to fit the diameter of the view finding end of your Kaleidoscope and tape or glue in place!
Sunlight - Small shoe box - Large box (that the shoe box will fit inside) - Packaging for insulation – Tape - Black paper to line the shoe box - Glue Stick - Repurposed Clear plastic to create a viewing window - Scissors
First line the shoe box with black paper, glue in place. Place insulation packaging in the bottom of the larger box and add the small shoe box in the centre. Build up the packaging around the shoe box. Place in your cut cookie dough biscuits. Seal up the shoe box with tape and a piece of clear plastic so you can keep viewing the progress of your cookies! Seal up the outer box with tape and place in your sunniest spot! Be prepared to change the angle as the sun moves! Last but not least keep an eye on your cookies but be prepared for it to take all day or maybe even 2-3 consecutive sunny days! (What materials you use for insulation are the key here and thin cookies will be faster to bake too). Yummy!
Microwave Salt Dough Fun
1 Cup of Plain Flour - Half a Cup of Cooking Salt - Half a Cup of Cold Water - Flour to dust the rolling surface. Equipment: Microwave Oven - Cookie Cutters - Knife - Rolling pin or similar - Watercolour Paints or similar - Paint Brushes - Craft Glue/PVA to seal the dough once painted - Items such as felt tip pen tops, fabrics scraps, scissors or a pencil to make textures in the salt dough.
Measure and pour in to a mixing bowl your flour, then the salt. Add the water and mix the ingredients together to make a dough. Then flour a surface to roll the dough out flat with a rolling pin and cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a knife to create or model any shapes you like. Keep the thickness of the shapes fairly thin 0.5 – 0.75cms. Time to decorate them with any texture and any made holes you would like to hang them or adorn. Now place the shapes on microwave proof plates and batch microwave – Only microwave 30-40 seconds at a time, not too much more as they will burn. Your shapes will start to look drier and lighter in appearance now so turn the shapes over each time they have been in the microwave before heating them again. You are looking to have your shapes dried out evenly on both sides and biscuity. Your shapes will also gain a salty looking texture. Watercolours give the best results due it being a lighter substance, or you can blend and water down acrylics, just don’t add too much water otherwise the baked dough gets too soggy. Have a go with any paint you have at home available, you can even use marker pens and try a wet brush to blend the colours! Gradients of colour are effective and using a dark colour for indentations with a lighter colour or removing colour with a brush to create highlights by wiping away paint. Have fun with this stage of the process too! Consider using some silicone moulds normally for fondant/cake decorating to make smaller shapes that could be glued to the larger shapes to add detail. Once the paint is dry coat your shapes in craft glue to seal them and this will make them a bit more durable.
Follow Suzie Brown and her bloomin' great arts and crafts blog online, giving you some great activities whilst the children are at home. Bloom is the creative hub, devised and owned by Suzie Brown and started life as a shop on the High Street in Overton, Hampshire. Currently only trading online Suzie and her friendly business has a passion for building confidence through the medium of arts and crafts. Support her new blog journey at littleblooms.blog
Movie Magic
We review some of the current family flicks available to stream and some new films to look out for in the coming months
Dream Stream's
"Jim Carrey is scarily funny in his relentless chase to capture Sonic. Great mix of graphics and family fun entertainment. Ideal for rainy summer days." Streaming on: £4.99 on Virgin Best Part: Fight scene at end... Rating: 9/10
Sonic the Hedgehog
"The last in the third trilogy set of the Star Wars empire and it does not dissapoint. Answers lots of questions from the previous two films." Streaming on: Free on Disney + Best Part: Rey's Acrobatics... Rating: 10/10
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
"A strange role for Will Smith but eventually you get into it, lots of funny parts for all ages to understand. Another fantastic Sunday afternoon flick for the family to enjoy!" Streaming on: Free on Disney + Best Part: Magic Carpet Ride... Rating: 8/10
Aladdin
"Surprisingly dark to begin with but then due to a great story line turns itself around to be a very funny feel good movie with good morals incorporated." Streaming on: Free on Netflicks Best Part: Happy Ending... (spoiler) Rating: 8/10 The Willoughby's Jumanji: The Next Level
"The follow on from the very popular first movie in 2017, this dynamic and hit team delivery funny plots and comedy capers that will deliver again and again." Streaming on: £4.99 on Virgin Best Part: Hanging Rope Bridges... Rating: 10/10
Watch out for... "Superb animation and graphics, make this film a feast for the eyes, all ages will be engaged with the colours, plot and journey the Yeti and friends embark upon." Streaming on: £4.99 on Virgin Best Part: The Solo Violin Song... Rating: 9/10
Abominable
Vic the Viking - The Magic Sword
Based on the ever-popular European children’s book and TV series, Vic the little Viking stars in his first feature length film - his biggest and most colourful adventure yet! Release Date: 25th May Digital, 6th July DVD
Paw Patrol: Ready Race Rescue
It's the Adventure Bay 500 and legendary race car driver, The Whoosh, can't compete! Can Marshall take the championship trophy in this all new paw Patrol movie! Release Date: 25th May DVD
H A N F O R D
