Fall is in the air. The leaves are changing color and an array of apples, pumpkins, gourds and tomato baskets flood the farmers markets. This season for us (as I am sure for many of you) means tons of candy, costumes, scary movies and parties! And to celebrate the beginning of the end (of the year!) we decided to make some kid friendly crafts.
So the first one (the most challenging one) was making bats and ghosts out of paper Mache. It was a challenge because the finished product takes a very long time to dry and a lot of patience. It took us about 4 days to finish 3 bats and 1 ghost (only 1 because we failed miserably with 4 other balloons). I don’t know if any of you have ever done any paper Mache crafts but it’s fun, easy (not so easy for a 3 and 5 year old) and you can create pretty much anything with a little creative thinking and imagination. So for this project we used:
- Balloons
- A mixture of warm water and flour (about 2 cups of water and 2/3cup of flour) to act as adhesive
- Newspaper, ripped into small pieces
- Acrylic paint, nothing too expensive since most of it will end up on the floor
- Paint brushes
- String
- Tissue paper
- Eyes (plastic) and glue
- Construction paper or painted cardboard.
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Hello! Suzanne here making my official introduction. I was raised in Mexico and have lived there most of my life. I have an incredibly artistic family, just about everyone here beads! My cousin and I got really into it as teenagers when we would sell our designs in our towns centre. I moved to Toronto, got married, had kids, and went on a beading/art hiatus for a while until Emily and I took over fortheloveofbeads.com recently.
I was put in charge of buying new material. It was a lot of work to figure out what kind of beads I wanted to sell. I’ve always worked with mostly glass beads and semi-precious stones, but a few years ago I discovered seeds. While on a trip to the Pacific coast of Mexico a young man on a motorcycle stopped for an overnight at a beachside hotel I was staying. After dinner he unloaded his only suitcase which was filled with beads and jewelry he had made himself. He had a lot of turquoise mixed with shells, wood pieces and seeds he had picked up along his way. He gifted me some crescent moon shaped seeds that I used to make a necklace, and ever since then I have had an affinity for natural materials.
I still use seed beads and glass from time to time, and am planning to explore into polymer clay and lampwork. This blog is meant to be an insider’s resource, as Emily and I learn new techniques and materials we will share our creations, inspirations and frustrations. As we learn more about selling our jewelry, running a bead business, and buying beads in exotic locations we will also share our experiences. I hope you enjoy it! These necklaces are very popular in Mexico where my cousin and I sell them in the winter.
- A Tagua Necklace
Suzanne
