Tag Archives: art

Worth the Splurge III

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box portraitI use a fair amount of boxes for my projects, and what wonderful boxes they are!

While said projects can be done with tissue or household boxes, I admittedly splurge on these 100% recycled gift boxes from Nashville Wraps (the “economy matte white” ones are shown above). Why? Oh, let me count the ways:

  1. They’re packed flat, which makes them super easy to store (and since my storage is limited, this is a huge plus).
  2. They offer a blank template to begin with (instead of having to cover a tissue box with white paper, for example).
  3. They hold up really well to marker, crayon, tape, white glue, glue sticks, and hot glue.
  4. These dandy boxes also come in brown, which I’ve used to make this adorable little produce stand, this fantastic boat hat, this splendid garden, this candy factory, this bouncy bed, and this creepy carrot basket.
  5. They’re 100% recycled! And I love me some recycling.

So, how much of a splurge are these boxes? Well, if you want to buy a case of the white 4 ½” X 4 ½” x 9” size (which I use pretty often – see this monster feet project, this dog project, this ice cream truck, this robot marionette, and this dragon), you can buy a case of 100 for $26.50. That’s 27 cents a box. Pretty good!

They come in different sizes of course. I used a white 4″ x 4″ x 4″ box for this dentist project, this hot air balloon project, and this floating island. You can buy a case of 100 for $15.90 or, 16 cents a box.

Shipping can add some cost. The good news, however, is that Nashville Wraps offers flat rate or free shipping (plus a small handling fee) when your order reaches certain levels. I take advantage of this by estimating what I need for a year and placing one BIG order to get a break on shipping. The cases of boxes easily stack in a closet or under a table. Nice!

Everyone’s an Engineer

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everyones an engineerGet ready to create, build, and innovate. Today, everyone’s an engineer and the sky’s the limit!

We read Rosie Revere, Engineer written by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts (Harry N. Abrams, 2013). At night, young Rosie Revere designs gadgets, gizmos, and fabulous machines…and then hides them. She’s an engineer, but due to an unfortunate incident with her Uncle Fred (a zookeeper who mistakenly laughs at a cheddar cheese spray hat designed to keep pythons away), she’s keeping her light under a bushel.

However, when Great-Great-Aunt Rose comes to visit and expresses her life-long wish to fly, Rosie puts aside her fears and builds her a flying machine. The machine flies…and then promptly crashes. Rosie gives up. But wait! Great-Great-Aunt Rose has something to say. Failures are part of engineering, but the true failure is if you give up and stop trying. Don’t forget to check the last page for a sweet illustration of Rosie’s ultimate success!

This story time cost zero dollars because I used materials that were already in my art cabinet and storage closet. You could do something similar by sending out a call for recyclables at your library, school, workplace, or neighborhood (more about that here). Another option is to announce the story time theme in advance and invite families to bring recyclables and surplus art supplies from home to contribute.

Here’s a list of the materials I offered:

  • White matte boxes in various shapes and sizes
  • Pastry boxes (you can see the exact ones I used on this project)
  • Tissue boxes, assorted sizes and colors
  • Oatmeal containers
  • Toilet paper tubes
  • Paper towel tubes
  • Wrapping paper tubes
  • Corrugated cardboard bases (leftover from this project)
  • Bulk CD cases (the kind that look like big plastic tubs)
  • Paper plates
  • Plastic cups
  • Paper cups
  • Different lengths of PVC pipe
  • Some cone water cups
  • Pieces of tagboard
  • Assorted beverage caps
  • Film canisters
  • A variety of tea tins
  • Black plastic top hats
  • A selection of sparkle stems
  • A selection of pipe cleaners
  • A selection of craft ties
  • A selection of color masking tape
  • Aluminum foil
  • Construction paper
  • Poster board strips (regular and metallic)
  • Metallic paper
  • Clothespins
  • A variety of craft sticks
  • A selection of twisteez wire
  • A selection of large plastic buttons
  • A few spools of metallic tie cord
  • Plastic drinking straws
  • A few spools of britelace
  • Some marabou boas
  • A selection of dot stickers and star stickers
  • The Bling Bin
  • Scissors, tape, hole punch, and glue stick for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • A box cutter
  • Hot glue

One building supply I didn’t list above are these…the round plastic guides at the ends of large rolls of paper. Pop them out and you have some excellent tires:

tube tiresTo prep for story time, I piled everything onto side tables, plugged in the hot glue gun, and invited everyone to make a machine. No additional prompting was needed!

Here are a few fabulous creations, beginning with…”The Dollycopter”

dollycopterWhen you pull the craft sticks on top of this computer, they jiggle the strings of buttons inside the monitor.

cone computerAn “alien” computer with with furry frame and space scene!

furry computerThere were plenty of robots, widgets, rockets, and flying mechanisms…

table robot robot 1robot 2 Remember the enthusiastic young fellow who started this post off? He designed a “Police Train” and believe it or not, the thing actually rolled when you pulled it!

train walksGuess we’ll be seeing him at MIT in a few years…

Recyclable Kingdom

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recyclable kingdomQ: I want to do one of your projects, but where am I going to get 30 oatmeal containers for my classroom?

Don’t start eating a mountain of oatmeal just yet!

Here at Princeton University, I have a recycling program that involves the entire library system. I send out periodic calls for recyclables (oatmeal containers, tissue boxes, paper towel tubes, tea tins, etc.) and people regularly bring these items from home and drop them off at our office. The lovely pile of goodies you see displayed above is about six week’s worth of supplies, all donated by Princeton University Library staff.

People drop off useful odds and ends as well, like old jewelry, wrapping paper remnants, plastic lids, stickers, and ribbon. Sometimes, I’ll request something specific, such as coins from foreign countries to serve as “pirate treasure,” or old neckties to transform into stuffed snakes.

People also know to contact me if they have office items they’re recycling or throwing away. I used two big boxes to create a spooky tree adventure for this post. An extra large box became a fabulous Humpty Dumpty climbing wall for this project. I used discarded white archive boxes for this miraculous mechanism project, this fast food stand, and this haunted dollhouse (and I still have some left over!). Have an overflow of legal size manilla folders? Try this camping backpack!

Another giant box became Crackenhopper Field for some creepy carrots. An avalanche of leftover brown packing paper was used for this tree project. An influx of bubble wrap was used to secure giant feet at this dance party. A friend who works at a pharmacy sends me a steady stream of tagboard he salvages from box packaging. And if you’re wondering what to do with those leftover 8oz water bottles, try this simple ship in the bottle project.

Yes, I get pretty giddy about recyclables. Not only do these materials get a fantastic second life, they allow me to splurge on other art supplies (like this, this, this and this). I even reuse the paper and plastic bags the recyclables arrive in – kids use the bags to carry their projects home.

You can do something like this too. Send word to colleagues and friends at your library, school, workplace, or neighborhood and see what you can find. There’s also Freecycle, the national network for freely getting and giving all sorts of stuff. When I was a grad student at the University of Virginia (and a Public Programs Coordinator at a children’s museum at the same time), I used a UVa listserv to request recyclables for my programs. Perhaps your learning institution has something similar you can tap into?

There’s also going right to the source to find something. I’ve circled around camera shops to collect clear film canisters, snagged branches from grounds crews, grabbed rocks from roadsides, pawed through piles of discarded spice bottles to find juuust the right ones for a project. I spent weeks repeatedly going to Starbucks to claim empty gallon milk jugs to transform into an igloo (I’m afraid I don’t have a picture of my igloo, but I pinned one like it on my “Ideas & Inspirations” board on Pinterest).

Worst case, you could buy 30 oatmeal containers and consume 1,260 ounces of oatmeal. I’ve done that too. Oh yes.

Have a question of your own? E-mail me! danas@princeton.edu