Go Green Fashion Show!

To celebrate Earth Day we designed and created our own earth friendly fashions!

We collected all kinds of things to repurpose into cool new threads and accessories...

- paper grocery bags - we turned into vests, hats and skirts!
- plastic shopping bags - different colors braided together to make belts!
- foam packing peanuts - strung on dental floss to make necklaces!
- toilet paper rolls - painted to become hip arm cuffs!
- and more!

Turn trash into fashionable treasure!  Let your imagination run wild!

We spent one class period designing, painting and constructing our fashions.  Then Earth Day week we had a fashion show where we walked down a "runway" to show off what we made.  It was a blast!

April Showers mobile

Materials needed:
- wire coat hanger
- sturdy watercolor paper, 4 pieces of 11x14
- lots of cotton balls!
- school glue in bowls
- pre-made templates for the cloud shape and rain drop shape
- watercolor paint
- scissors
- string
- hole punch

Directions:
1.  Have kids trace the cloud shape twice on separate pieces of sturdy watercolor paper.  Cut out both.  Set one aside.
2.  Kids will glue cotton balls all of over one of the cloud shapes by dipping the cotton balls into the bowl of glue, eventually covering the entire cloud.
3.  While the cotton ball cloud is drying, give them 2 pieces of 11x14 watercolor paper and the rain drop template.  Have them trace the raindrop as many times as they can fit on the two pieces of paper.
4.  Then they will paint the raindrops with watercolor

Since my students are all pretty young the rest of this project I put together myself.  It was rather tedious but the results were cute.  If you have older students you could have them put together the raindrop strands.

First, staple the clouds back to back with the hanger inbetween.
Next,
1.  Cut out raindrops.
2.  Cut string, 3 pieces approx. 2 feet long.
3.  Glue the raindrops back to back with the string down the middle.   I glued 2-3 raindrops onto each strand (See photo)
4.  Hole punch the cloud and tie the raindrop stings to it

I added a lighting bolt made from lightweight cardboard with aluminum foil glued on to each child's mobile.

Georgia O'Keefe's flowers

Georgia O'Keefe
American
1887-1986

Mainly known for paintings of flowers, rocks, shells and landscapes.  She often transformed her subjects into powerful ABSTRACT images.

She uses bold colors in her often huge paintings.  She tends to concentrated on just the little details, like the inside of the flower or just the petals.

"Filling a space in a beautiful way.  That is what art means to me."
-Georgia O'Keefe

Materials needed:
- Large watercolor paper
- Examples of Georgia O'Keefe's work
- Pencils
- Watercolor paints (or Tempera or acrylic paint if you prefer)
- Brushes
- Fresh flowers or photos of flowers (optional)
- Magnifying glasses (optional)

Directions:
1.  This part is optional, but I brought in an old calendar that had wonderful photographs of flowers.  The kids took magnifying glasses and we studying the photos, concentrating on the details.  We talked about how O'Keefe painted her flowers, up close and almost abstract.
2.  We started by lighting drawing in pencil our flowers shapes, stress the importance of really filling up the page, don't be afraid to let the petal "fall off the page", remind them that we are trying to draw a flower as if we were looking at it through our magnifying glass.
3.  Once they are happy with their sketch, add color!  Try to not leave any white space on your paper.