Party Craft - Part One

Ava's 10th Birthday party was GREAT!!! We had so much fun getting ready for it and then it was so very sweet; we had just a super time with our guests. I love Ava's friends and they are easy to plan a party for. It threatened rain, as usual, but there was plenty of time to jump around on the trampoline, smash a pinata, eat loads of good food, and make this spectacular craft. I had a feeling it would go well, but was so happy when I watched everyone busy busy busy- the 4 year olds to the 45 year olds - crafting away. I chose a craft that was pretty open-ended in terms of creativity, but which had a specific direction to move in (so no one would feel frustrated or unsure of what to do). I showed them an example that I made, then let them loose. The only real instruction given was to draw their shapes on the backsides of the decorative paper so they would know what they were cutting out.

The craft? They simply made paper collages on wood and each one was so different and each one was beautiful - from the Pokemon design to the abstract. Oh, and I should say that this craft was inspired by these - gorgeous, huh?

drying

Ava's- oooh!

Mine - surprise! It's an apple!

Harry's - good use of that glittery black paper, don't you think?

These are to hang on the wall. I'm going to hang all 3 of ours together.

What you'll need:

-6" square pieces of plywood

-sandpaper

-decorative paper

-pencils

-scissors

-mod podge

-foam brushes or paint brushes

Here are the directions:

1) Either cut up a piece of plywood into 6"x6" squares, or get something pre-cut at the craft store. Sand as needed.

2) Provide a big variety of decorative paper, scissors, pencils, mod podge, and brushes. I didn't direct anyone, but I think the wood looks really pretty if it's exposed, so you may want to say that to your crew before they cover the whole piece of wood. Just my preference, though there were some beautiful ones the kids made where the paper was totally covering the wood.

3) Design your art and lay out papers on the board until it is how you want it to be. Layering paper is encouraged!

3) Remove paper shapes and apply a thick base layer of Mod Podge on the wood..

4) Place your design pieces on the mod Podge, smoothing bubbles out with your finger. Glue down any layered pieces with more Mod Podge.

5) Apply an even layer of Mod Podge on top of everything to seal, with strokes aligned in the same direction. It goes on white and dries clear. The younger kids were a little worried.

6) If you want, you can use fine sandpaper to smooth out anything rough after first layer dries, then apply another thin layer.

It was sooooooo much fun! The kids were really happy with their final pieces of art.