Pebble Mosaics @ WBCL

Pebble mosaics or pebble art has been a hit everytime we have tried it. I have been looking for a new glue to hold it all together and think I found one. It was so simple and produced an old-fashioned paste kind of like I used as a kid. I love these cook-it-up-in-the-kitchen items.


We used thick cardboard as our base and drew our designs. Any design was fine as long as the 4 colors of stone I brought would work in their project. We had green, blue, lavender, and red stones to use. The nicest part about using paste is that you can see the lines you have drawn so the design is much easier to complete. 
The kids, all the ages of them from parents down to about age 3, slathered on the glue and created dogs, flowers, t T-rex, fish, and even the Titanic.
I found the recipe for the Paper Paste on the web and made it up in about 10 minutes. 


The Family Arts & Crafts group meets at the Wells Branch Community Library every Wednesday night at 6 pm taught by Dianne Koehler. The program lets us turn donated materials and imagination into great projects.

You may also want to take a look at the new Art & crafts database the library recently subscribed to for the patrons. check  the library website for details.

Watercolor Fall Leaves @WBCL

This was definately a project that got wows and oohs and aahs! We started with large sheets of heavy watercolor paper (120 lbs) and student tube pigments. Everyone traced around wooden leaves with the direction to have the overlap. Then the fun began.


We used foam brushes to wet the paper which was actually hard for some of the group. They kept wanting to take a paper towel and blot the water back off the page. Once they started adding a bit of color though, everything changed. Showing them how to make the color run by moving the paper and push it around with a brush turned them into Jack Frosts. Finally we used pallete knives to scratch in veins which got more oohs and aahs.


The Family Arts & Crafts group meets at the Wells Branch Community Library every Wednesday night at 6 pm taught by Dianne Koehler. The program lets us turn donated materials and imagination into great projects.

You may also want to take a look at the new Art & crafts database the library recently subscribed to for the patrons. check  the library website for details.

Drawing and Painting Pumpkins @ WBCL

What a fun project and everyone was able to draw a grouping of pumpkins and gourds then paint them and take home a finished project. We used cardboard from shipping boxes as our surface and drew with chalk until we had the composition how we wanted it. Amazing that they we quick and great shapes.


Everyone used acrylic paints and a variety of techniques to complete the paintings. It did take a bit longer to complete but was well worth the effort.

The Drawing and Painting group meets at the Wells Branch Community Library every month on the 3rd Sunday and is taught by Dianne Koehler. The program lets teens and adults try out their artistic abilities.

You may also want to take a look at the new Art & crafts database the library recently subscribed to for the patrons. check  the library website for details.

Picture collages @ WBCL

This really turned out to be fun and more creative than ever before. 3rd time charm, I guess. I precut pictures from travel magazines and cut foam core into 6x7" squares then put out construction and scrapbook paper and some confetti, silk flowers, and fuzzy yarns.


This was a full room crowd again so I think we'll be back to tickets. The creations were great and the number of parents doing a "me too" project was about 100%. It is great to be able to craft and create with the kids and "leave the mess behind."


The Family Arts & Crafts group meets at the Wells Branch Community Library every Wednesday night at 6 pm taught by Dianne Koehler. The program lets us turn donated materials and imagination into great projects.

You may also want to take a look at the new Art & crafts database the library recently subscribed to for the patrons. check  the library website for details.

Creating sculpey clay magnets @ WBCL

It is like a treasure hunt to go through the cabinets and drawers for supplies to use in this class. Almost 2 years ago we accumulated a boxful of sculpey clay for summer projects then packed away the remainder for later. Much later!


Using a cute resource book called Make your own Fridge magnets and a free guide from Michael's/Americana on SmoothFoam we again launched our imaginations. Everyone learned how to knead the clay and roll it out using a dowel as a rolling pin. 


What a great group of magnets! sure beats the boring ones on my fridge advertising last year's calendar and what day to push the trash out to the curb.


Parents and kids alike got into the act and created bugs, elephants, fish, jewelery, and more.
Using the directions on the clay, we baked them for 15 minutes @ 275 degrees then added self adhesive magnets. For more projects like this check out sculpey.


The Family Arts & Crafts group meets at the Wells Branch Community Library every Wednesday night at 6 pm taught by Dianne Koehler. The program lets us turn donations, left-over supplies, and imagination into great projects.

Summer ends with back to back painting sessions @ WBCL

 We used the giant sunflowers on the wall for our guide and drew sunflowers to paint. 
We used our fists and fingers for gauging the size of the center and the petals but had to revert to the size of mom's finger for some of the smaller attendees. 
As you can see the outcomes are totally different and the others were just as varied. Hate it when the battery dies on the camera when you have fabulous examples to show off!


The next session started off with a quick slide show of the Talavera tiles and other painted and fired Mexican tiles. Each of the participants (including most of the parents) painted on glazed tiles using Liquitex Glossies paints. I offered up all the leftover tiles I had, 4", 2 1/2", sets of 4 2" tiles and let their imaginations and creativity run wild. At the end of the night I had my example and NO tiles left. 
Such a great variety of outcomes. Most chose to add magnets to the backs but several will sit on a desk or other surface. 

One of the best comments last night was from a parent who has attended with a pre-school child for a couple of years: She did this all by herself and I can really tell how well she does. Kids younger than 7 do attend regularly with parents and really grow in their art over time. 

The Family Arts & Crafts group meets at the Wells Branch Community Library every Wednesday night at 6 pm taught by Dianne Koehler. The program lets us turn donations and imagination into great projects.

you may also want to take a look at the new Art & crafts database the library recently subscribed to for the patrons. check  the website for details.