Paper Beads Photo Frame

If you have gone through our earlier post, you would be familiar by now on how to make paper beads. This tutorial shows how to make a frame using the same paper beads. If you haven't visited the earlier post here's a link to the same, that will show you to make paper beads using a straw. It's a very easy method and my 8-year old kid had lots of fun making these paper beads. Also, you don't need any expensive stationary stuff for making them and it keeps them occupied for hours. All you need are some glossy and colorful magazine papers. Just select the color and print of paper as per your requirement and choice.

If you haven't visited our previous post that contained the tutorial to make the paper beads, here's a quick snapshot of the steps to make the paper beads using some magazine paper strips and a straw. 

Now, making the photo frame was also a fun activity. We used a simple cardboard from a waste carton and recycled it. This small exercise was not only fun for my kid but also taught her a lesson in using and recycling waste materials like paper and cardboard sheets. 

A photo frame could be made in various ways but here's how we went about it. Keep reading ahead and you will definitely find it useful.

Materials required to make the frame:

Cardboard, CD, pencil, glue, paper beads, a pair of scissors.

Procedure to make the photo frame:

Step 01:

Place an old CD on the cardboard sheet and trace the outline of a circle with a pencil. Also, trace the inner outline of the CD for reference purpose.

Trace the outline of a CD with a pencil

Also, trace the inner circle for reference purpose

Step 02: Once the circular outline is ready, use a pair of scissors to cut it out.

Cut out the circular shape from the cardboard

Step 03: The circular background for the frame is ready. Now, take the paper beads and start gluing them around the center. We had drawn a small inner circle as a reference in the first step. Keep gluing the beads in a circular manner and cover up the entire cardboard in the same way.

Glue the paper beads around the circle

Step 04 & Done: Once, the beads are arranged and the entire cardboard is hidden with the paper beads, glue a photo in the center and we have a circular frame ready.

Circular photo frame from paper beads

Wasn't it easy?
Just try it out...I am sure you will enjoy making this one.

You can attach a ribbon or a string and use it as a wall hanging or just fix a double sided tape at the back of the cardboard and fix it to the wall.

Thanks for stopping by...Have a good day.

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Paper Beads Jewelry: Easy Craft ideas for Kids

Summers are getting hotter and hotter here in Dubai and we are getting stuck indoors. This is the right time to do some indoor activities and engage in some creative art. Now, we wanted to make something that would be fun and easy to make. So we tried our hands at making paper beads. Making paper beads is fun for kids and with a little help from us, elders they can make some interesting stuff. We were not sure what we would make at the beginning, hence all we focused, in the beginning, was collecting some colorful magazine papers and making beads out of them. It was entirely my daughter's responsibility. My 8-year-old had to search for colorful papers, make beads and then sort them and also decide what to make. This entire activity spanned over a week. She would make some beads, while she watched cartoons or just make them during the hot afternoons and leave them aside for the day...but by the end of the weekend, we had loads of paper beads, all of different colors and sizes.

Before we begin any activity, I always have this habit of researching a little bit about the craft and my quick search introduced me to an interesting website that had all the information we needed to make paper beads. Also, we came across some interesting information about the history of paper beads. Did you know that making paper beads goes back to the Victorian era when young ladies would gather in their dining rooms and make beads from scraps of wallpaper rolled on a knitting needle! This activity was revived in the 1920s and 30s for paper bead jewelry making. 

Interesting isn't it? Making something useful out of scraps...well that's my kind of activity! It is always a challenge and fun to make use of scraps and make something interesting out of them.

This post contains a tutorial for making paper beads from magazine paper. It is a fun activity for kids and can keep them occupied for hours together. Also, making some handmade jewelry is always fun for us girls! Yes, this is what we did in the end. We made some paper beads jewelry...bracelets and lockets.

Materials required for making the paper beads:

Magazine paper, straws/toothpicks, glue, scissors, paper cutter

Procedure:

Step 01: Search for magazine paper. We used magazine papers from an A4 size magazine.

Step 02: Fold the paper into half and cut the paper into half using a paper cutter. We stacked about a couple of sheets and cut them together with a paper cutter. Saves time!

Step 03: Fold them into half again and cut them into further halves.

Step 04: Last fold and cut them into strips.

We have paper strips ready.

Step 05: Next, we cut the paper strips using a pair of scissors into triangular halves as shown below.

Triangular shapes cut outs from magazine paper.

Step 06: Next, cut off the top thin triangular corners with a scissor. This will make it easy when you glue them later.

Step 07: Now take a toothpick or a straw and start rolling the paper strips over them as shown.

Step 08: Apply glue at the end of the strip and roll it on.

Step 09: Slide the bead out from the straw.

Step 10: Make many such paper beads.

After our paper beads were ready, we sorted the beads, based on their sizes and colors, and made different accessories like bracelets and paper bead lockets and so on. 

I just let my daughter make whatever she liked....freedom to create...can be the best thing we as adults can do to unleash their creativity. I helped her in stringing the beads but rest all the hard work from making the paper beads to the design of the jewelry was hers. So here's what we made...

Paper beads Jewelry

Also, adding another picture of a completed necklace and matching bracelet made with paper beads. This particular set of beads were made by rolling the magazine paper over a toothpick.

Paper beads necklace and bracelet set

Hope, you kids out there, try this activity and have fun...

Have a great day!

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Monday Musings: Don't Look Back

Today let's start with a positive thought...let's not look back...let's not think too much about the past and analyze what went wrong or right back then, since we are not going back to the past, instead let's be positive and proceed with the day being positive and doing positive things. What we do today will reflect our future, hence tread slowly, thoughtfully and rightfully on the path to the future.

Have a good Monday...have a good day!

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Exploring the Polynesian Art: Maori, Moana and Maui

Not many of us like reading about Art History and when it comes to children it becomes all the more difficult. A tour to an art gallery can end up as being termed 'boring' by our kids today. So how do we make them learn about Art History? In the last couple of classes I wanted our Art Hours students to learn about some Art History... so how could I make it interesting for them? I thought let me pick up something interesting from the Polynesian art...and as I went through various websites and art blogs, I mostly came across Polynesian tattoos, which are popular worldwide. Digging into the internet further, I came across the words like Maori, Moana, and Maui... this is probably how much people on this side of the world including me know about Polynesia. But these words gave me the clue on planning my lessons for the Art Hours class on Polynesian Art.

Maori, Moana, and Maui

If you search on the internet for Polynesia, it will show you this map with a group of scattered islands. When I questioned my students, none of them had heard about Polynesia. Then I reminded them of the cartoon character Moana and we had answers close to Hawaii, Samoa and bingo...those are the places we are talking about. Polynesia is a group of about 1000 scattered islands in the Pacific Ocean, located on the eastern side of Australia. They were also known as the South Sea Islands in the past.

Polynesia Map, source: wikipedia

Geographically, the group of islands forms a triangular shape if you connect the points of New Zealand, Hawaii and Easter Island. Polynesians include Marquesans, Samoans, Tongans, Cook Islanders, Hawaiians. Tahitians, Maori and are linked to the indigenous people of parts of South East Asia.

For us people staying in the Middle East, we would have hardly heard about that part of the world. The Polynesian islands have a long history of Colonization by European countries yet it has a rich cultural and historical heritage that covers both its own traditions and those of its colonial past.

The most famous Polynesian art forms are the Maoi or statues of Rapa Nui/Easter Island. Polynesian art is characterized by ornate work. A search for Polynesian art on the internet will yield various results that depict the colorful and beautiful Tiki masks. These masks are a depiction of ancient Polynesian culture and pay homage to an ancient Polynesian god, Tiki, who was considered by them as the first man. Tiki masks were designed to capture the power of ancient God. Art Hours students sketched out some beautiful tiki masks as a part of the exercise in understanding Polynesian art.

Pencil sketches of Polynesian Tiki Masks

From our Art Hours Students' portfolio:
Sketches of Tiki Masks and Origami Masks

Another popular form of Polynesian art is tattoos. The tattoo designs vary from island to island but most are simple geometric patterns. In fact, tattooing is a sacred ceremony in the Polynesian culture. The tattoos and their location on the body were determined by one’s genealogy, position within the society and personal achievements. A quick search over the internet gave us an overall insight into the modern tattoo designs. The modern tattoo designs are really beautiful and intricate and each one of them actually symbolizes something.

Polynesian Tattoo Designs & their Meaning:
Interpretation by Art Hours

Paintings inspired by Polynesian tattoo designs

'Feathers'-Painting inspired by Polynesian tattoo designs

If you watch the Disney animated movie Moana, you would have noticed the character of Maui, the Polynesian demigod who accompanies Moana in her journey. If you already have watched the movie, then please do so again…and this time make a note of the character played by Dwayne Johnson - Maui whose torso and arms are covered with intricate tattoos. These images are like a scrapbook of his accomplishments. The animated movie will definitely give you a small glimpse and insight into the Polynesian culture and art.

We had a great time at Art Hours discussing the Polynesian Art and culture, understanding the tattoo designs and talking about Moana and Maui. The students had a great time making sketches of the Tiki masks, sketches of Moana and Maui, and also made some origami masks decorated with Polynesian tattoo designs.

Hope, you readers too enjoyed learning something about Polynesian art and culture with us. Thank you for reading this post and being a part of our journey in the exploration of art.

Have a good day!

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Sources referred:
http://www.apolynesiantattoo.com/polynesian-tattoo-history
www.wikipedia
http://www.articlez.com/
http://www.zealandtattoo.co.nz/tattoo-styles/polynesian-tattoo-history-meanings-traditional-designs/